“Where the hell is she?” my mother’s voice blares, and I grip my already aching head the moment her shrill demand reaches my ears.
Damn.
With more dread than I should have to face, I open my eyes to the distraught, devastated bedroom.
Holy fuck. I did all this?
“She’s awake now,” Jase sighs out upon hearing my mind going to work.
I grab the sheets and jerk them around me as the door to the bedroom bursts open, and Araya Crush Hawkins Banner Mordel storms in with her eyes blazing.
“Morning, Mom,” I chirp with a bit of sarcasm etching my bittersweet tone.
Her eyes relax, and she props her hands on her hips as she tries to restrain her anger that is masking her terror.
Jase walks in with his head lowered, his eyes looking to be exhausted, as if something has happened I don’t know about.
What?
He doesn’t look up or acknowledge my silent question. He merely drops to a chair across the room from me. His shirtless body calls to my attention briefly, my mind dancing with memories from the night before.
He doesn’t smile, blush, or even give me an eye roll. I know this is serious now, and my eyes cut back to my mother while my accusatory glare burns through her.
“What the hell have you done?” I scold, and she narrows her eyes at me.
“What have I done? What have you done? How dare you leave me out of this,” she growls.
Oh no. She knows about the threat.
Jase shakes his head, finally acknowledging my thoughts, and I let out a small sigh of relief.
“Go on, Mother. What has provoked you?” I scoff.
“Aralia, have you no clue what I’ve gone through all night long? I waited on you to show up, but you never did. It’s fucking noon, and you haven’t even bothered to call me. Then I get here, and Jase refuses to tell me what the hell happened. Your brother has avoided me like uranium, and your aunt and uncle have somehow managed to evade me ever since you got back. What the hell is going on?” she barks.
Uncle Brazen walks into the room, wearing that I’m-sorry-but-she’s-your-mother look on his face, proving he’ll be of no use to me.
“Mom, I’m an officer of the United. Shit happens,” I say with a shrug, and her eyes darken - her violet burning through her blue contacts, and she quickly looks away before Jase can see.
At least she doesn’t know you know. She’d probably fuck up the bedroom more than it already is if she did.
Jase cracks a small grin, the life returning to him now that he’s made it through the worst of an Araya lashing. He dusts a bit of the ceiling off the chair he’s sitting in, and then he gives me a secretive, playful wink.
Uncle Brazen covertly gives her a set of contacts, and she takes them into her hand discreetly while pretending to cry with her eyes closed.
Jase’s grin only grows as she says, “Excuse me,” and walks into the bathroom as though she’s trying to regain composure.
“Aria, why not just call us?” Uncle Brazen exasperates while leaning against the wall.
I smirk as my eyes fall on the disaster zone of a room that needs to have yellow tape marking off the unsound structural damage, and suddenly Mr. Cool Full Blood squirms uncomfortably.
“Oh,” he pops out in an awkward octave, and then he realizes I’m still stained in blood, wrapped in a sheet, and bare on my bed. “Araya, I’ll wait on you outside.”
“Okay,” she whimpers, but it’s so tragically fake.
And she claims to be a good actress.
I stifle my laughter as he disappears from the room, but Jase lets his barely slip out while coming to join me in the bed. His arms wrap me up and pull me close to his body, allowing me the opportunity to breathe in his sex and candy.
