Page 3 of Blood Magic (Ariel Kimber 3)

They all heard me screaming, all seven of them. Quinton was the only one cool enough to point it out to me.

“Ariel.”

Always persistent, was Uncle Quinton.

One thing he was good for? He made my tears stop leaking out of me.

“I’m fine,” I grumbled quietly. I was worried he wouldn’t have heard me, but I shouldn’t have been.

He didn’t respond, but I knew he was still out there. Five minutes later, I heard his body slide down the wall, and I knew when the sound stopped it was because his ass had landed on the carpet.

I sighed again. This time it wasn’t loud or annoyed. More like sad and frustrated.

I closed my eyes even though I knew there would be no more sleep for me tonight. Just like I knew Quinton would be sitting guard outside this room for the rest of the night. I didn’t imagine there would be more beauty sleep for him either.

Then again, I had no clue how I had managed to fall asleep in the first place. Exhaustion, perhaps?

I thought about my mother being buried in the basement and sat up quickly. I flicked my fingers out into the darkness and willed the lights to come on. The ceiling lights flickered to life. I couldn’t be alone in the dark after thinking about her.

I thought about Quinton sitting out in the hallway all by his tortured self and shook my head.

I think I hated this house. Dash needed to hurry up and heal so we could go home to his house and get out of this one.

I threw off the covers and climbed out of the bed made for a freaking giant that this room housed. On bare feet, I walked silently across the room, stopping when I made it to the door. I turned so my back was against the wall and silently slid down until my butt hit the carpet. I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around my legs.

Quinton was on the other side of the wall, if not for it we’d be back to back.

It was his fault I was here, in this house, his house.

Mr. Cole was gone, having left as soon as I had told him I would be moving in with Dash. He’d texted me, telling me the moving company he’d hired would pack me all up and leave my belongings at the Alexander’s house. He assured me he would keep in touch, and that he’d be back to see me soon enough. I had sent him two text messages since then but had yet to hear one word back from him. I tried not to think on it, but I would find my mind wandering to him and I couldn’t help but worry about him. He’d been way off, and I couldn’t help but feel like he was hiding something from me.

I had every intention of figuring out what he could possibly be hiding from me, but then Quinton went and did what I learned Quinton did best. He got bossy and had told us all what we were going to do when we left the hospital. All my plans about going home to Dash’s so we could bond while I played nursemaid to Dash and momma to Binx went right down the shitter when Quinton told us we were all going home, with him, until Dash made a full recovery. Even Damien and Julian, who had their own separate house, had to stay at Quinton’s house. Quinton had insisted we all stay together, and no one had the good sense to argue with him. Not even me, even though I had balked at the idea of going back to this house. But Quinton had had this look in his eyes that had made me uneasy, so I had gone along with his demands. That look hadn’t gone away since, and it hadn’t gotten any better. In fact, it had deteriorated to extremes in the three days we’d been here. He looked like, at any given moment, if the wrong thing got said or the tinniest little misstep got made, he was going to become unhinged and turn into a freaking mad man and explode.

This lack of sleep wasn’t helping matters either. For him or for me.

I laid my head back against the wall and closed my eyes. I imagined him doing the same on the other side.

Yes, if Dash didn’t heal fast so we could get out of this house soon, I was going to go insane. I feared I would be dragging Quinton along with me for the ride.

Chapter Two

Something gently brushed my hair off of my shoulder, and I jerked awake with a start.

What the hell? I had actually fallen asleep sitting on the floor beside the door. That was a new development.

Quinton was squatted down beside me. For one brief moment his dark eyes met mine before quickly skirting away. Just what in the hell was his problem? I did not know, but ever since we left the hospital, he had a hard time meeting my eyes. Come to think of it, I couldn’t remember if he had looked me in the eyes when we’d been in the hospital. Weird.

“Breakfast will be ready in fifteen minutes,” he said as he stood up. “I expect you to be down there with everyone else.”

Bossy, bossy. I rolled my eyes up at him as I got ready to launch a verbal attack, but I choked on my words as I got a good look at him.

“You look like crap,” I blurted.

He winced, and I immediately wished I could shove the words right back inside my mouth. Alas, I could not. However, I had not lied; he looked like crap.

On any normal day, Quinton Alexander was a looker. You couldn’t walk past him on the street without turning back around and giving him a second glance, even if it was just to check out his ass. Well, unless you were a lesbian and boys just flat out didn’t do it for you, then you might walk past him without giving him a second look.

Quinton was built like a swimmer. Tall, broad shoulders with slim hips. He had a presence about him that had nothing to do with his size. But there was something about him that filled whatever space he occupied. He could be in a large, open space, and he’d fill the entire room up without moving or even speaking.

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