I’m shocked when Jonas comes into the bedroom and insists his examination be done in Sophie’s presence. After a few questions from the doctor, it’s clear by the sudden worry in her eyes that Sophie is clamming up. I wonder if going to the doctor was a regular occurrence for her growing up. By the cagey glances she fixes on the newcomer, I’m guessing not.
“When was the last time you had a physical?” Jonas asks Sophie in a quiet voice.
She looks away guiltily, and I’m guessing it’s been a while.
Jonas nods without lecturing her, which I appreciate. I see it crackling in his eyes—the first signs of him caring about someone enough to be kind. “Then I’ll go first. Whatever Doctor Reeds does to you, she’ll do to me first. Then you’ll see this is no big deal.”
Doctor Reeds has a gentle demeanor, her hands moving slowly with what looks like featherlight touch. Her questions are clear and concise, devoid of judgment, but Sophie still has that bracing look about her whenever Doctor Reeds touches her.
Jonas goes the extra mile, overexplaining things in a roundabout way to put Sophie a little more at ease. “So you’re saying you need to test all my reflexes to see if any permanent damage has been done?” It’s not a challenge from the comfy chair he’s taken up residence in, but more of an open explanation for Sophie’s benefit, in case she’s nervous. He’s in the beige recliner next to my bed—the one he’s slept in too many nights to count when he watched over me when I couldn’t get out of bed. There used to be a hard-backed desk chair, but Jonas replaced it with something he could sleep in so we didn’t have to be parted when I needed help. He nods to Doctor Reeds, leaning forward. “That’s fine. If our reflexes are delayed, what’s the next thing you can do to get us back on track?”
He keeps calling them “our injuries” and says things like “will this hurt us?” They went through something together in the woods. I don’t understand the full scope of it, but the difference in the way Jonas regards her is shocking. “‘Us?’” I ask, trying to make my prying sound casual.
Jonas straightens. “I was inside her mind, Cary. I didn’t understand before, but now I get it. I felt her pain. I saw what he’s done to her.” He shivers. “I can’t shake it. So if she’s nervous about all this, the least I can do is go through it with her.” His jaw tightens. “She’s been dealing with everything by herself for far too long.”
Doctor Reeds shines a penlight in Jonas’ eyes, and for a second, I debate asking her to check if he’s been taken over by aliens or something. Maybe Jonas and Sophie really did go through something life-altering in the woods together. Perhaps her brokenness triggered his own.
For the most part, Jonas keeps his gaze away from Sophie’s face, but I can tell he’s doing this whole show to put her mind at ease. When anxiety flares in her eyes, he rests his elbows on his knees so he can finally fix her with a look of solidarity. “I’m not going anywhere. I know we don’t trust each other, so instead of trusting, just watch. I won’t leave you in a room with someone that makes you anxious.” The corner of his mouth quirks. “We’ll get through his, little witch.” The way he says the nickname adds a friendly tease into the air that irons out the crease between her eyebrows.
I want to thank him, but I worry acknowledging the kindness will make it disappear.
Doctor Reeds switches between Jonas’ examination and Sophie’s, and Valor holds her hand through the entire thing. Hagan watches the whole thing like a gargoyle, ready to pounce if she makes the slightest noise of discomfort. But Sophie doesn’t speak. Frankly, after a few minutes, I’m not even sure she can hear the doctor. I made sure to bring her a woman physician, just in case she prefers that. Also, I’m hedging my bets, in case Hagan loses his shit over yet another guy seeing her body.
The doctor is patient but Hagan is not, asking question after question so we all know how best to care for our girlfriend until she can speak for herself again. “I can’t tell how deep the trauma goes,” Doctor Reeds explains. She’s a spritely Indian woman who speaks with a forcefulness that’s actually pretty reassuring. “I’ve scheduled an MRI for her in the morning. I’ve set up an IV drip for her because she’s dangerously dehydrated. Here’s all that I recommend.” She hands me a note for Sophie, along with a script in case she wakes up in pain in the morning. Hagan’s already out the door to go fill it before I can get through the whole list.
Jonas’ prognosis is more straightforward, but he insists on an MRI too, telling the doctor that whatever tests need to be done on Sophie, he wants the same ones. He’s just rich enough to be able to say things like that to doctors without them putting up too much of a fight.
When the doctor leaves, Jonas double-checks Sophie’s IV bag to make sure the cord doesn’t get twisted. I watch as he remains by her bedside, leaning his elbows on the armrests and tenting his fingers in front of his lips. I don’t say anything, and he doesn’t explain his vigilance while he watches Sophie stare at the ceiling beside Valor, who drifts to sleep twenty minutes later. I recall Jonas watching over me in the same way when I was too ill to get out of bed. He’d do his tasks for the day from his laptop, studying me like a hawk as if the cure for it all was just out of his reach. I would listen to his thoughts that blazed through one possibility after another, silently brainstorming ways to get me out of the constant cycle of hospital visits. We’ve had many a silent conversation in this room, using our psychic abilities to voice the pain that came out all wrong when we opened our mouths. We’ve done different variations of that since childhood, but I never realized how intense the whole thing is until I study how closely Jonas watches Sophie.
It’s not until Jonas yawns that I intervene. “You want me to help you to your bedroom?” I ask. The room down the hall has always been unofficially his.
Jonas doesn’t look at me, but keeps his eyes on Sophie while she stares vacantly at the ceiling. “Nah. I’m staying in here tonight. I’m not leaving her alone after all that.”
“She’s not actually alone,” I remind him. I don’t know why I’m pushing for him to care less about Sophie, so I shut my mouth and wait for Jonas to tell me what the crap is going on in his head.
“I can’t explain it, but I don’t have it in me to up and leave her. I saw it, man. I saw what Casek’s done to her. He’s controlled all of her big moves in life. Now that he’s gone, she’s…” He shakes his head and rubs his hand over his tired face. “I’m staying with her until she’s up and moving again. I don’t care how long it takes. I’ll work from home. Here. I’ll do videoconferences until this is all sorted.”
I don’t know what to make of Jonas’ refusal to leave Sophie’s side. I don’t want to convince him not to have a heart after he’s finally grown one. His presence doesn’t seem romantic or affectionate, but more protective. Like they’ve shared some secret that links them together far more than he’s capable of severing.
I run my fingers across my forehead as fatigue sets in. “Alright, but you’re sleeping in the bed. I’ll take the chair.” When he opens his mouth to argue, I hold up my hand. “Doctor told you to rest, so I don’t want to hear any arguing.” I tip the back of his chair forward, upending him so that he has to move toward the bed.
I know Hagan won’t tolerate being parted from her tonight, so I resign myself to the recliner and tip up the footrest. I watch Valor hold Sophie in his sleep. Jonas props himself up on the pillow on Valor’s other side so he can keep an eye on Sophie at a respectable distance.
My girl stares at the ceiling, and I wonder if any part of her understands that Casek is gone, but we are here.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Jonas
I have never been so sore in my life, even days after we’ve been home. The medication the doctor prescribed makes me sleepy, which messes with my normal routine. I’m usually up and about by six in the morning, and don’t need my espresso until one in the afternoon. Today, I’m dragging, though I’ve been through too much in the past few days to be bothered about it.
&nb
sp; I never thought I’d enjoy living with a vampire, but having someone cook up an endless supply of scrambled eggs, bacon, and oatmeal is something I could seriously get used to. I’ll eventually move back into my own home, but for now I’m going with the flow.
Hagan’s got Sophie on his lap, and this morning Valor’s feeding her bites of oatmeal. She’s got sensation in her arms, but she can’t grip a spoon yet. I can see her silent anger in the tightening of her gaze as Valor feeds her. For how humiliating the whole thing is, I don’t blame her one bit. Her face is nearly emotionless, but ever since Casek left her and smacked into me, I understand her. It’s not that I can read her mind; I can sense her moods somehow. It’s a phenomenon somewhere between magic and straight up empathy, but it’s so strong that it’s nearly tangible. It makes it so that I can’t walk away and do nothing when I feel how messed up she is about being fed. It seems obvious to me that she’s miserable, but the guys aren’t picking up on it.
I stand, drawing back my shoulders. “Hagan, can you set Sophie up in the recliner in the bedroom? I need to talk to her in private for a few minutes.”
Hagan mumbles something negative about me, but I couldn’t care less. Sophie gives half a nod, so I take my plate of eggs into the bedroom and shut the door. I sit on the edge of the bed and wait until I hear Hagan’s footsteps leave the hallway. I wish she’d speak, but I realize this is all on me, so I give it a go, awkward as this is. “Look, I know you don’t like them feeding you, so I thought you might want to eat in private. Is this better?”
Sophie’s eyes land on mine and a note of relief surfaces. I’m fairly certain this is the first time she’s looked at any of us directly since we got back from the woods. “Thank you. I hate that. I know they’re being great, and I need the help, but it’s humiliating.”
“You could always just tell them that, you know.” I sit on the edge of the bed and spear some eggs before lifting the fork to her lips. She eyes me suspiciously, I’m guessing to check me for notes of pity, but I don’t give them to her. It’s clear she hates being the weakest link. I can respect that.
After experiencing the full force of Casek’s anger and desire for control, I respect Sophie—which isn’t something I ever thought I’d say about a witch. “How about you and I have our meals in here until you’re back on your feet. I promise not to ask you if you’re okay.”
“Really?” A flicker of a positive emotion brightens her eyes, and it’s like the whole room lights up.
Damn, I don’t know how she does that.
Then Sophie’s lids crest into a squint. “Why are you being nice to me?”
“Because I’m a masochist, apparently.” I hold up more eggs. “Here’s another bite. If your food goes cold, I’m not heating it up for you.”
The corner of her mouth quirks before she opens up.
“Casek’s voice gave me the creeps,” I admit. “Couldn’t stop hearing it in my dreams last night.”
Her gaze dips. “I didn’t usually get words from him. It was more intuition. He pressed and I moved. I just knew what he wanted, but there weren’t actual words coming from him. I wonder why he spoke to you.”
I shrug. “Maybe he thinks I’m dense, so he has to spell it out for me. I dunno. Fuck him.”
We’re quiet for about a third of the meal. I’m positive she’s going to be the first one to speak, but when she stares out the window vacantly, I can’t help myself. “You know, I never have to ask people what they’re thinking. I get the cheat sheet whenever I want. Until you came along, that is. I imagine it drives Cary crazy when you stare off into the distance like that, and he has no idea what you’re thinking.” It’s my roundabout way of prying, but she stays quiet and doesn’t take the bait. I lower the fork and wait until she looks at me. “Where do you go in your head when you do that?”
“I’m not sure,” she admits. “I think I’ve hit some sort of pain, anger, and humiliation maximum. There’s so much quiet inside me, now that Mother’s gone. I’m not sure what to do with it.” She winces, and it looks like actual physical hurt is whipping her from the inside. “Not Mother. Casek. It was never Mother Nature. I don’t even know who she is. I don’t know what her voice sounds like or what she wants.”
I stir the eggs around on her plate. “Isn’t that kind of standard for witches? I’d never heard any witch talk about Mother Nature the way you did. You were kind of the anomaly. Might take a while to get acquainted with whatever the rest of your kind experiences.”
She bites her lower lip. “I have no idea what’s standard for other witches.”
Her words linger between us as I feed her a few more forkfuls. While she was visibly frustrated out there, in here she breathes easier because her boy collective isn’t monitoring every move she makes. It’s a small gift I give her, but watching her exhale is the present she grants me. She’s not alright, no matter how many times they ask her. By the defeat plain in her eyes, I think it’ll be a while before she’s ready to face the world again.
That’s okay. I can wait.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Carrigan
Sophie Mae gets enough feeling in her limbs over the next few days to where she can feed herself, but she still insists on having her meals alone with Jonas in the bedroom. I’m not sure why that irks me, but it gets under my skin that she shuts me out of my own bedroom.
Our bedroom. I’ve never begrudged Jonas anything, and I’m not about to start now. Still, when I turn on a movie to help us all wind down, they come into the living room with their hands joined. It’s not romantic exactly; it’s almost like a little girl holding onto her father’s hand so she doesn’t get lost. Their fingers aren’t twined but clasped. They stick close, like twin soldiers bearing the same marks from a war lost together. They’re both so quiet lately, but when I walk by the bedroom, I hear them chattering away like old schoolmates. I’m not jealous, I don’t think, but it’s weird. He could barely look at her mere days ago, and now she’s holding his hand like she might float away if he lets go. He leads her to sit next to me on the couch and then takes up residence on her other side. Even though there’s plenty of space on the beige wraparound sofa, his thigh is pressed against hers.
“Should we be worried that Hagan’s not back yet with Valor?” Sophie asks. It’s nice to hear her talk again. She still spaces out for whole ten-minute periods every now and then, but her MRI didn’t show any abnormalities, so I’m hoping time will help her adjust to life without Mother.
“We’ll find out,” Jonas replies with a shrug. His phone buzzes—it’s been doing that a lot this morning—but after a quick check that tightens his jaw, he pockets it without responding.
Hagan offered to escort Valor to the Nightshade to sort out a few things, namely showing the new vampire hire the ropes. I screened him over the phone, and fully believe he can turn that hole from date-rape central into something more upstanding. Hagan’s there in case Valor’s conscience goes off the rails. Jonas and I helped him draw up plans to get the Nightshade on better footing, so he literally just has to hand the new manager the list, show him around the place and be done with it. When Sophie offered to go with them so Valor could keep his conscience, we put our collective foot down. No way was I going to let my girlfriend wander back in to the place where she was attacked. Not gonna happen.
I can’t believe I actually miss having the guys around. Hagan’s the next best thing to hiring a handyman. He fixed a leaky faucet in one of the half-baths upstairs, and did something miraculous to the flickering light in the spare bedroom. Then there’s Valor, who’s always picking up after us. It’s like having a housekeeper who never tires of cooking or cleaning. I scratch my elbow and settle into the cushions, bringing Sophie’s other hand to rest on my thigh. “None of us likes the idea of unleashing a vampire without limits or conscience on Twin Rivers, but you can’t be with all three of us at all moments of the day, Sophie Mae. Eventually I’ll have to go into work without you, and Hagan won’t be able to put off his
return to Shipwreck Tavern once they reopen. We’ll find a rhythm. In the meantime, we’ll sift through witches who can help us find the amulet.”
“How’s that going?” she asks.
“Slow,” I admit. “Honestly, I have no idea what to look for. I can interview someone for a job, sure, but I don’t know how to test if a witch is on the level or not.”
Sophie straightens her back. “Maybe you don’t need to. I’m feeling much better now. I’ll can help find the amulet as soon as Valor gets back. Locating charms are simple—they just take time to temper. We don’t need to outsource this.”
Jonas shakes his head. “Not a chance. You’re not doing anything that has anything to do with Casek. He wants you too badly. Let Cary handle things. He’ll find a witch who can track down the amulet, and we’ll go pick it up. Only slightly more complicated than a trip to the grocery store.”
Sophie frowns, but she doesn’t let go of his hand. “I’m not useless.”
“That’s the problem. Casek’s well aware of exactly how useful you are, so you’ll let us deal with this. You see that television? That’s your biggest concern. You only just started walking again yesterday. Don’t push it. We’re going at this slow, little witch. Recovering from trauma isn’t a thing you should rush.”
He’s always called her “little witch” but there’s a teasing sweetness to it now. Again, I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s lurking under the surface, begging to be examined.
Jonas’ phone buzzes for the fifth time in the past few minutes. He’s irritated when he takes it out and punches in a text, so I know it’s Melanie. I’m not sure what they see in each other, other than a meal ticket and easy sex. Or very detached sex, as I understand it. She only comes to see him on Tuesdays and Saturdays, leaving plenty of time to squeeze in her Monday/Friday guy. I think Jonas told me once the other guy pays her rent. Not totally sure what she does for him to get that to happen, but I want no part of it. The whole arrangement is weird.
Savage Possessed: A Reverse Harem Urban Fantasy Adventure (Twin Rivers Possession Book 2) Page 16
