by Mae Doyle
Now, though, I’m beginning to see that maybe I do need them. Maybe they were right – and that if I want to make it through the rest of my time here at Meyer’s Grove, I need to learn to rely on them for any and all help that they’ll give me.
It’s been a week since I was with Caspian, and while being with him was amazing and I can’t stop thinking about it, I also can’t stop thinking about the rest of the devils. Parker and Luca are waiting on me to walk me to class, but I’m trying to explain to Sophia exactly how I feel in the few minutes that I have before I’m going to make us all late.
“I just…I care for them all, Soph,” I tell her, reaching out and taking her by the hands. “I’ve never felt this way about one guy before, and to feel it for four of them is overwhelming, but amazing. Do you get it?”
She laughs and shakes her head. “I don’t,” she admits, squeezing my hands, “but I’m really happy for you, Kiera, and it’s obvious that they care about you. I mean, look at them.” She points with her chin and I glance over at Parker and Luca.
They haven’t moved from their spot by the sidewalk, even going so far as making the rest of the students walking by move around them. Their eyes are locked on me and I shiver.
“I just don’t want you to think that I’m crazy.” I don’t have anyone else to talk to about the devils. Even if my mom were still alive, I don’t know that she would have approved or wanted to hear about how I’m head over heels in love with four different guys.
“I don’t think you’re crazy.” Sophia drops my hands and pulls me in for a hug. “I just want to make sure that you’re safe and you’re happy, but it sounds like you’re going really good.”
I didn’t tell her the whole truth – that I not only slept with Caspian, but want to be with all of the devils in the same way, but knowing that she understands how I feel makes me feel a lot more better.
“Okay. Thanks. You’re the best, Soph, you know that?” She tosses her hair and laughs.
“Oh, I know. Now, you better run along to your little harem so that you won’t all be late to class.”
When I give her a shocked look, she just laughs and shoos me away. “Get on! Go to them, Kiera!”
I laugh and turn away from her, but I don’t make it to Luca and Parker. Before I can take one step towards them, something comes flying into the corner of my vision. I turn my head, trying to tell what it is and if I need to move out of the way, but I’m not fast enough.
It slams into my temple, knocking me down to the ground. I fall, completely unable to catch myself, and land face-down on the pavement. My head throbs and aches so badly that I feel like it’s going to explode, and when I reach up to touch it, my fingers come away covered with blood.
Blood.
The smell instantly fills my nose and I feel my stomach start to twist and heave. I gasp for air, trying to fill my lungs, but having a hell of a time, since each breath feels like it only fills the top of my lungs and leaves my body screaming for more.
“Kiera!” Parker and Luca scream out my name in unison and run to me, both of them crouching down next to me. Parker cradles my head and looks at the injury while Luca first grabs my hand and then stands back up.
“I’ll get help.” I watch his feet as he runs away, and then Parker starts to stroke my hair, gently pushing it back from my face so that I can see. There’s a bit of blood threatening to run into my eye, and he wipes it away.
“Kiera, oh, Kiera, are you okay? What the hell was that?” His voice is soothing, but I still feel a little panicked. I have no idea what hit me, no idea what that small thing was that came flying out of nowhere, but it packed a punch.
There are tons of feet around us as students hurry off to class, but none of them stop or slow down. I can see them stepping by us, but the only person that I want to focus on is Parker.
He looks around, concern scrawled all over his face, and then his face suddenly darkens. From my vantage on the ground, I can’t see what he’s found, but he picks it up and holds it in front of me so that I can look at it.
It’s a ball, which means nothing to me, because I really don’t like sports and can only tell the difference between a soccer ball and a football.
I shrug, or I try to, but my whole body still hurts and none of my muscles respond the way that I want them to. “Do you know what it is?” My speech sounds a little slurred to me, and I have a feeling that I should worry about that, but he just glances at me and then looks back at the ball.
“It’s a lacrosse ball.” His voice is hard and angry and he looks around before standing up and over my body like he’s trying to protect me. Even though the tones for class are about to go off, there are still a lot of students out milling around.
“Who did this?! Who the fuck thought that it would be a good idea to hit her in the head with a lacrosse ball?” His voice booms out over the quad, but nobody answers.
I do see that all of the students walking by have stopped. There’s isn’t nearly as much movement, and it’s obvious that students are listening. They’re looking. I want to cover my head, but I’m so dizzy that all I can do is close my eyes and try to block out some of the light.
Everything makes me want to throw up, but with my eyes closed, things aren’t so bad.
Maybe I could nap.
The thought sounds amazing, and I feel myself sinking, even as Parker continues to yell. His voice doesn’t wake me back up, though. It sounds more like a soft lullaby, and I lean into it, enjoying the way it wraps around me like a blanket.
Part of my brain knows that I shouldn’t be sleeping right now, not after I just got hit in the head, but the ground suddenly doesn’t feel as cold and as hard as it did a moment ago. Even when I try to open my eyes, they feel stuck shut, and I realize that I don’t really care.
Taking a nap sounds great. In fact, it sounds like the only thing that I can do right now. I’m not at all worried that something’s going to happen to me. I can still hear Parker’s voice, and as long as I keep focusing on it, I’m going to be just fine.
Everything’s going to be fine.
***
“Why hasn’t she woken up?”
It’s Asher’s voice. I would recognize it no matter where I was or what he was saying, and I want to roll over and tell him to stop being silly, that I’m right here, that I’m awake, and that I can hear him, but my tongue feels stuck to the roof of my mouth.
As soon as the thought of rolling over and talking to him appears in my mind, it’s gone just as quickly. I can’t seem to hold onto it, even though I know that there was something I should be doing.
Right. Talking to Asher.
When I try to lift my hand, I realize that I’m simply exhausted. Nope, no matter how hard I try to lift it, I can’t seem to get it out from under the cover and off the bed. I turn my head, just a little, towards the voices that are still arguing, but I hope that the movement is enough to catch their attention.
“Kiera!” It’s Luca, and he reaches under the blanket to find my hand. As soon as we touch, there’s a spark of electricity that flows through me. “Darling, can you hear me? Are you okay?”
Someone brushes my hair away from my face, or at least, I think they do. There’s something bulky on my head and it’s uncomfortable. It’s probably a bandage. The memory of getting hit in the head with a lacrosse ball comes back to me and I shift a bit in the bed.
Fuck, that hurt. Who knew that the balls were so damn hard? No wonder the players all wear full gear and helmets. I can see now why they’re important, even though they seemed ridiculous at first.
“Remember the itching powder?” My voice is slurred and I don’t think that they’re going to understand me. I try again, and this time, I hear a chuckle.
“Oh, we remember, Kiera. Why are you thinking about that right now?” It’s Asher, and I turn my head to him, even though I haven’t opened my eyes yet.
“Because I see now why you need your helmets.” My voice is coming back to me, and I h
ear them all laugh a little. Good. They understand me and I can tell that they’re all here. “That hurt.”
At this, they fall silent, and I wonder if I said something wrong. Surely they all know how bad it hurts to get with a lacrosse ball, right? Finally, I manage to open one eye.
All four of the devils are staring at me. Asher and Luca are at my head, while Parker and Caspian are down by my feet. They all look exhausted and worried, like they’ve been here the entire time that I’ve been asleep.
Which makes me wonder…
“What time is it? How long have I been in this bed?” I’m suddenly overwhelmed by how sore my body is, and I shift position, trying to find a way to stretch out that will relieve some of the soreness in my muscles, but I can’t seem to find it.
Caspian sighs and runs his hand through his hair. “It’s after dinner, Kiera. You’ve been here all day long and we’ve been taking turns sitting with you to make sure that you’re okay.”
“Well, I am.” When I struggle to sit up, both Luca and Asher help me, their strong arms supporting me as I lean up. Asher then grabs some pillows and props them behind me to help hold me in place. “And when can I take this off?”
When I start to pluck at the bandages on my head, Luca immediately reaches out and takes my hands to hold them still. “Not yet, darling. Let’s get the nurse back in here to check you out and see what she has to say, okay? Just be patient.”
I glare at him, but I have a feeling that the effect is probably diminished thanks to the thick bandages around my head. “Great. Get her.” I want to lay back down, but there’s no way that I’m going to admit that to the four of them or they’re never going to let me out.
Parker leaves and returns a minute later with the nurse. She’s young and peppy, with a perky ponytail, but she frowns when she looks around at all four of the devils.
“Out. All of you. Miss Lampley needs her rest and to be taken care of, and there’s not enough room in here for all of us, so you need to go.”
“But she needs us,” Parker argues, crossing his arms and standing up straighter. He easily towers over her by a foot, but she doesn’t seem threatened.
“I’ll have her contact you if she does need you, but right now, there’s only one person she needs, and that’s me. So out, gentlemen.”
I want to laugh at the sight of them getting bossed around by her, but even smiling hurts. Luca leans down and drops a kiss on my forehead before turning to go.
“We’ll be back,” Asher says, reaching out and caressing my cheek. “We’ll be right outside, and all you have to do is yell if you need us, okay?”
Parker and Caspian both squeeze my feet and then the four of them leave.
As soon as the door shuts behind them, the nurse turns back to me. “Okay, Kiera, let’s talk. You need to tell me exactly what happened and who did it to you so that we can figure out what steps we’re going to take to fix this.”
It takes me a minute for my mind to catch up. “I thought that you were the nurse,” I tell her, choosing my words carefully. “But you sound like a cop.”
She sighs and pulls a chair over to the side of my bed. “Listen, Kiera. Everyone knows who you are, and everyone at Meyer’s Grove knows what’s going on. Do you want help or not?”
“Why would you help me?” I’m immediately suspicious and I wish that the devils hadn’t left me in here, although they really didn’t have much of a choice. “And what do you mean that everyone knows?”
She grins at me and suddenly she doesn’t seem so cute. “What I mean, Kiera, is that you have rocked the boat since you got to school here, and I’m here to make sure that it stops rocking. You and I know some of the same people. Let’s talk and get you out of here and I’ll tell Levi and Serafina that you said hi.”
Chapter 8
It’s been a week since I was hit in the head with the lacrosse ball and the school claims to not know who did it. Of course they don’t know. They haven’t even bothered to try to figure it out, and things have just gotten worse.
Somehow I managed to avoid answering too many of the nurse’s questions, although I don’t think that she believed me when I told her that I was clueless as to why I’m being treated this way at the school. The last thing I want is someone who knows my aunt and uncle to get involved.
The fucked-up part? If they do know what’s going on, they sure as hell aren’t stepping in to do anything about it.
I don’t want to tell the devils about my experience with the nurse. She knows my aunt and uncle, and from what she was saying, she’s in contact with them.
About me.
About how I’m doing here.
Probably about whether or not I’m still alive.
I have a sinking feeling that if I did ever go to the nurse with something life-threatening, that she would just look the other way. I don’t think that she would try to save me, especially if she’s on my aunt and uncle’s payroll.
I don’t like how much reach they have. They know more people than I thought, and if she’s in contact with them, then I’m sure that they know what’s happening to me here.
I hate them for it, but honestly? It’s brilliant. I can’t get good medical care and walk out of here in one piece if the oner person responsible for taking care of me is working against me.
That’s what I’m trying to explain to Parker and Luca. Even though I want to leave them out of it as much as possible, I’m beginning to see that it’s going to be better for me in the long run if they’re at least a little clued in.
“So, I can’t go back to her. I have to figure this out myself.” Somehow, on my way down the stairs this morning in my sneakers and ratty old jeans, I tripped. It didn’t make any sense at the time, especially when I’ve gone up and down those same stairs multiple times a day since coming to Meyer’s Grove, but today was different.
Or so I thought, until Parker went looking and found a wire that had been attached from one side of the stairs to the other. His face was grim when he’d brought it into my room earlier, and now it’s on my desk, coiled up like a snake.
We’re all ignoring it, or at least I am. The two devils want to talk about it, but I’m not going to let them suck me into the conversation.
There’s nothing to talk about.
“But someone tried to kill you.” Parker is maddening when he’s serious. He’s like a dog with a bone and won’t let up on it until he gets what he wants. I know that he wants me to go for help, and maybe I should have told them earlier about the nurse, but I couldn’t then.
Now I’m telling them, and I get why they don’t want to believe me. It sounds crazy as hell, and it means that we don’t have anyone we can turn to for help.
“They could have put it there for anyone! There’s no reason why we have to assume that it was for me. Don’t you admit, guys, that anyone could have tripped over it?” We’re all on my bed, and I’m curled up between the two of them, my head on Parker’s shoulder, Luca’s arm draped over my waist.
I feel safe, and I don’t want to move. luckily, neither of them have shifted position since we all curled up together.
“I think,” Luca says, slowly, obviously picking his words carefully so that he’ll get through to me without setting me off, “that it’s fair to say that it was there for you. Think about it. Most of the girls had already come out of the dorm this morning and they all stepped over it without tripping on it.”
Even Lila and Clementine. I feel sick thinking that the two of them knew that there was a wire there to trip me. Luckily, Sophia hadn’t gone to class yet, or I’d be worried that she was in on it, too.
“It is strange that so many people would step over it without tripping,” I admit. “But it could be a coincidence.”
At that, Parker barks out a laugh and then turns his head to kiss me on the forehead. “Kiera, think about it. Nobody just skips a step in the middle of the stairs unless there’s a damn good reason, like they know that if they step there, they’re going to fa
ll. It wasn’t poor luck that you didn’t know about it.”
“It was intentional,” Luca adds, gently squeezing my hip. I shift back into him for more warmth, and at the pressure, he pulls me closer.
If only I wasn’t worried about someone trying to kill me, I could think of a few other things that I’d want to be doing in my bed right now.
I push those thoughts to the side, even though I’m throbbing for one of them to touch me. After being with Caspian I can’t help but want more.
I want all of them, but now is not the time to be thinking about that.
“But I think that your wrist is going to be okay.” Parker turns his body and lifts my hand from where I had it resting on his stomach. He turns it over and gives it a gentle squeeze, and when I don’t gasp, nods like he’s satisfied and puts it back down.
Lower. I swear, he puts my hand lower on his stomach. I don’t know if he noticed or if he did it on purpose, but there’s no way that I can ignore the fact that my hand is closer to his cock.
Fuck. My wrist aches like hell, but I allow myself to think about the implication of being crushed between the two of them on my bed. Sure, someone may have tried to kill me, and that someone may be working with or for my aunt and uncle, but that’s obviously not a clear threat right now.
My devils had been there right when I needed them and brought me upstairs to my room, taking turns icing my wrist and getting me food from the cafeteria.
Luca and Parker offered to keep me company tonight and make sure that I don’t need anything.
But there’s one thing that I need. I just don’t know if they want the same thing from me. I never told them about Caspian, and I can’t help but wonder if he told them.
If they know. If they have any idea that I want the same thing from me.
My core is burning hot now and I shift position on the bed, pressing back a bit more into Luca. He sucks in a breath and I feel something hard pressing into my lower back.
Oh, fuck.
But would they want me together? Would they be willing to be with me at the same time? I don’t know how to ask them, how to tell them what I want.
