Page 41 of His to Keep

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I’m backin bed when I come to. Glancing around the room, my heart jumps to my throat when I spot Callum sitting on the floor beside the bed, ghostly pale as he stares ahead, lost in deep, tormented thoughts. I try to move but my head pains. Oh, ithurts. Why does it hurt so bad?

“Ava.” Callum gets off the floor and rushes over to me when he sees I’m awake. “Don’t move. You fell down the stairs and hit your head. You’ve been out for an hour. You probably have a concussion.” Lifting my hand up, I touch the back of my head where the pain is at its worse, wincing when I feel the golf ball-sized lump there and dampness. Pulling my hand back, I look down and see blood coat my fingers.

“I was looking…for…for you,” I gasp, tears rolling down my cheeks as I breathe through the pain. “I heard someone scream.”

“What? No one was screaming.” He wipes my tears away with his fingers, concern in his eyes. “We were having dinner when we heard the banging. I was so worried when I saw you lying there. You shouldn’t have gotten out of bed. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there when you woke.”

“It’s o-okay,” I say to him, reaching out and putting my hand on his arm. He flinches from my touch and moves away from me. His rejection stings worse than my head. If I didn’t feel so bad, I’d have asked him why, but I’m suddenly too tired. I could’ve sworn I heard screaming. Did I hallucinate it?

“We’ve given you pain relief. It might make you sleepy. Don’t get out of bed again. I mean it,” he says, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look as eerie as he does now. There are circles beneath his eyes, and he seems so distant. “Promise me, Ava?”

“I promise.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

It’s mid-January now, which marks my seventh month here. Like promised, I don’t get out of bed, only to use the bathroom or to shower, in which Callum carefully carries me to and from like I’m fragile and could easily break. Despite looking after me, he’s still distant with me, barely speaking and not coming near me unless he must. It’s beginning to remind me of how he was when I first came here. The silence and persistent space he put between us back then is the same as it is now.

Finally, after what feels like the longest time being sick, I get better, my strength eventually returning. Though, it still hurts to breathe at times. When Callum’s close and all I can think about is kissing him—for not even being sick has diminished my feelings for him. It’s only intensified them. Formed a deep ache in the bottom of my stomach.

What if it’s not the same for him anymore?

But I’ve other worries. Like tonight, after being happily away from them for weeks, will be my first meal with the family. And I’m not looking forward to it. I would almost take being bed-bound with a nasty flu than sit and eat with the monsters who are making me suffer.

I sigh, shaking my head from my thoughts. Callum’s sketching in his book at his desk. Something, I realize, he hasn’t done in a while. I’m staring out of the window, nothing but white outside. Thick, undisturbed snow covering the ground and trees, the winter’s sun doing little to melt the icy wonderland away.

Turning away from the sight, my eyes slowly drift to Callum, like they seem to constantly do. My insides clench, my stomach doing a funny little flip at the concentration on his face. The way his sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, pencil shading parts of his skin.

Nibbling on my bottom lip, I sidle up behind him and place my hands on his shoulders. His body jerks, and he slam’s the book closed, even though he should know by now that I’d never look without his permission.

“Ava.” His tone is full of warning, and I drop my hands, frowning down at him. What’s wrong with him? Why is he so tense and closed off? Anger comes unexpectedly, like it was always there, ready to explode out of me.

“You don’t have to be such a jerk!” Turning on my heel, I stomp over to the door, knowing I’m acting like a petulant child but not being able to help it. He’s pushing me away, and I don’t know why or what I’ve done wrong.

“Where are you going?” he asks as I wrench the door open.

“Away from you,” I toss over my shoulder. “Don’tfollow me.”

With that, I walk out, slamming the door after me. But I stop halfway down the corridor, wariness puncturing my anger. What if Father Aaron’s lurking somewhere? John?

Craning my neck, I peer down the hall to where his bedroom is. Everything’s quiet—the whole house is. While it’s unsettling, knowing I don’t want to go back into the bedroom, I go downstairs, keeping an eye out for anyone who may be there. No one is, and I end up back in the library, the only place I like in this house.

Opening the door, I’m relieved that nobody’s in here. The fire is lit, and the chaise next to it looks inviting. I yearn to curl up on it and read a book. Allow my mind to drift from Callum and how he’s acting toward me since I got sick. Deciding to do just that, I go over to a random shelf. Closing my eyes, I move my finger along the titles, picking out a book at random. I smile at the cutesy book cover of a western romance and go over to the chaise to read. Sitting down, I open to the first page, and then I’m lost in a world of cowboys fighting over a widowed damsel with a fiery attitude. I’m so engrossed in my reading that I don’t realize I’m being watched until it’s too late.

“I’m glad to see you well again,” Father Aaron startles me enough to gasp. He’s standing in the doorway, shoulder against the frame. How long has he been there? “Do you like this room?”

I nod anxiously. “Y-yes.”

“Address me properly.”

“Yes, my Lord,” I quickly add. Even though I remember Callum telling me that he never comes in here, Father Aaron walks inside, a deadly gleam in his eye as he stares at me. I’m rooted to the seat, my heart now thumping hard.

“I was going to wait until dinnertime, but since we’re here now, I’d like to tell you that the ceremony is only a few months from now.”

Months.

My body shakes as he sits next to me and grabs the book I was reading. When he throws it to the floor, I’m frozen, wishing I hadn’t come down here. How could I be so stupid?

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