Page 64 of Fighting the Darkness

Please be okay, Freya. I don’t know what I’ll do if something happens to you.

Chapter Twenty-eight

Freya

Iblinkslowly,mysurroundings coming into focus.

I jerk to a seated position, my heart pounding a mile a minute before I realize where I am.

I’m in Wilder’s bedroom, but how did I get here? The last thing I remember was telling him about what happened, and how I found myself standing beside the bridge. After that, it’s all blank. I don’t know why I’m losing time, but I know it can’t be good.

My bladder lets itself be known then, and I practically sprint from the bed to the bathroom. I still barely make it.

I realize I’m no longer wearing my workout clothes while I’m washing my hands. I flush because I know it was Wilder who changed me into one of his shirts and a pair of his sweatpants. They’re swimming on me, but I like wearing his clothes. It’s like when I wear Freyr’s, but somehow different.

Knowing I need to face the music, I open the bedroom door slowly and peek my head out. I don’t see anyone, but I do hear raised voices from the living room. Following the sounds, it takes me a moment to realize there are three voices, and that I’m familiar with all of them.

“Soren, you have to make this right!” Wilder yells. “What happened today set her off and she could’ve been seriously injured or even died.”

“Hey, now. Don’t put all of this on Soren,” Griffin says, his voice gruff. “I had a hand in this too.”

Soren scoffs. “And I’m sure you disappearing off the face of the earth after sleeping with her had nothing to do with it. So, yeah, go ahead and put all the blame on me.”

Wilder sighs. “That’s not what I meant. Of course, I’m at least partially to blame for this. I’m going to have to apologize to her just like you are.”

“That’s why I was looking for her in the first place,” Soren admits quietly. “I know I messed up, and I wanted to apologize to her—tell her why I did what I did.”

“Hopefully, she’ll wake up soon so you’ll get that chance,” Griffin offers.

“There’s something else we need to discuss while she’s resting,” Soren says quietly.

Wilder snorts. “What could be more important than making sure she’s okay?”

Griffin sighs. “Do you have to be so combative? He’s not wrong. We do need to talk, and it has to do with making sure she’s okay.”

There’s a moment of silence, and I can’t help wondering what they’re doing.

“It’s clear that Freya is interested in all three of us,” Soren finally begins, and I feel myself flush.

Ugh, maybe I don’t want to hear this conversation.

Griffin takes over for him. “It’s also clear that we’re all interested in her.”

Another moment of silence that I expect Wilder to interrupt, but he doesn’t.

“Freya’s special,” is all he says.

Both Griffin and Soren hum their agreement.

Soren’s the next to speak. “Griffin and I have decided to stop being idiots, and we’re giving this relationship a shot.”

“Seriously?” I hear Wilder’s feet hit the ground. “Then why the fuck are you here? To break her heart? Send her over the cliff for good?”

“Wilder, let us finish explaining. It doesn’t do any good for you to make assumptions about something you know nothing about.” Griffin’s voice rumbles throughout the room. “If Freya is open to it or even interested, we’d like to talk to her about entering a polyamorous relationship.”

Wilder scoffs. “So you want to be in a relationship, but cheat on each other? That sounds great.”

“That’s not what polyamory is about, Wilder, and if you don’t knock off with the attitude, I’ll knock it out of you.” Griffin pauses before continuing, “Polyamory is about dating more than one person, and every relationship is different, but generally it’s monogamous within a polycule—which are the people involved in the relationship. In our case, it would be me, Soren, Freya, and you, if you could get your head out of your ass.”

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