Page 14 of Created in Chaos

“Why would you freak out?” I move a little closer to her.

She turns, putting her back to Lucian, seeming to shut him out of the conversation. “They remind me of the dreams,” she whispers.

Damn it, why didn’t I think of that? My feet eat up the remaining space between us, and I wrap my arm around her back, drawing her to my chest.

“It’s dumb, but I get this feeling of panic when I see them.”

“It’s not dumb,” I tell her while watching Lucian, whose face has gone emotionless.

“I just know if I put it on, I’ll suffocate.”

“Nova!” Lucian barks, and I’m positive it’s the first time he’s used her name and not some nickname he made up for her.

She turns away from me as if she were caught doing something wrong and faces him.

“Will we let anything happen to you?” He leads her into the question, but his tone is still too harsh.

“No,” she replies softly without conviction.

Lucian narrows his eyes on her, and she lets out a huff before snapping, “No,” loudly. “You’d kill me yourself before you gave someone else the pleasure.”

“Oh, lamb, you know that’s not true.” He continues to watch her, and I see Nova soften under his gaze, accepting his words without argument. After a long pause, he continues. “This is a piece of cloth.” He shakes out the cloak. “It can’t hurt you, and we would never allow anyone wearing one to hurt you.”

“I know that up here.” She jabs her finger at the side of her head.

“But you’re still worried,” I interject.

“What if I freak out?” She pivots to ask me again. “They give me the creeps. I can’t even explain it.”

“Do you want us to put ours on so you can see how you feel?” I offer.

“No, but you probably should,” she answers tersely. I know she’s not mad at me, but I hate to do it if it really will bother her.

“Get over here. I’m not going to be the only bad guy,” Lucian mutters, calling me over before shrugging into the black fabric.

I watch Nova out of the corner of my eye as she crosses her arms over her chest and leans backward, as if she doesn’t want to be near us. When she just stands there, looking at us, I glance over at my brother, and we both flip the hoods up at the same time, concealing our faces. She sucks in a breath but doesn’t freak out, as she put it.

“Jesus, this is stupid. Why the heck are grown people traipsing around in robes like some Harry Potter rejects?”

Lucian swipes his hood back, revealing his face. “Because they are all chicken shits who don’t want to own up to their choices and they think it hides their identity.”

“You seem okay,” I comment, sliding my own hood back.

Nova shrugs and averts her eyes. “I’ll deal.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her she shouldn’t have to deal, but I don’t really have another option for her at the moment.

“If something changes and you need to leave, tell me and we’ll go.”

“How am I supposed to even know it’s you?” She tosses up her hands in frustration.

“Oh come on, you can tell the difference between us with your eyes closed. Don’t act like this shit is going to change that,” Lucian counters.

“Well, you do smell.” She scrunches up her nose cutely.

“You’re going to be smelling my balls in about thirty seconds if you don’t quit.”

“Ugh, for a pretty boy, you sure do have an ugly mouth.”

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