“Where do you live, Kiara?”
My teeth sank into my bottom lip, unsure how to answer. “Here,” I said after a long pause.
He glanced around with a slight wrinkle of his nose. “Sure smells like it,” he muttered. “Wiggle your fingers and toes for me.”
I did as he’d asked, not having trouble moving either set of limbs. He passed me a bottle of water and I gulped some down while he watched my throat contract and relax with keen medical interest. When I put the bottle down, half empty, he nodded.
“Those bruises are going to be a bitch to deal with, but you’ll live. Put some ice packs on them to help with swelling, and pop an anti-inflammatory if you need to. Just don’t do any of this bullshit again. Either of you, for fuck’s sake.”
His glare turned from me to Ambrose and back again, then settled on Leighton for good measure. She lifted an eyebrow at him. “What did I do?”
“It was your bright idea to bring the alpha you’re fucking into a house with an omega who’s obsessed with you.”
I flushed. Obsessed… was a harsh word for it.
“I didn’t know she had the knife,” Leighton said.
Jasper shrugged. “You let her stay in your house. Everyone was suspicious of her. I’d say that one’s on you.”
Leighton cursed under her breath. “Fine. No one is free of fault. Believe me, I won’t be calling you back for more impromptu medical treatment.”
“Better not. You know I hate practicing medicine. There’s a reason I’ll only do it for you.”
“And I appreciate you doing it.”
“Yeah, yeah. Appreciate me with a couple extra dollars on my next paycheque. I’ve got to go. My little cousin has a basketball game tonight. If Ambrose’s wound starts seeping or anything call me. Or if she can’t breathe. Christ, you people are a mess.”
He gathered up his supplies, muttering some more about how much he regretted ever going to medical school. Then he waved behind him on the way out.
“So is this like a family conversation, or can I hang out and hear the story of how the unhinged omega came to be dark bonded?” Liberty asked, her laptop now half closed as she peered at the rest of us.
Leighton looked at me and I froze under the assessment. I still hadn’t looked at Ambrose, but I felt his gaze burning into me. His scent burned the air too, the hot iron and smoke heavy with gently boiling anger. He must be furious at me for stabbing him. That was within his rights.
“Depends. Kiara? Can Liberty stay? She’ll undoubtedly hear about some of it anyway since she’s going to be running point on keeping us alive after that debacle.”
Liberty sat up straighter in her seat, curiosity sparkling in her eyes. “Debacle?”
I waited for Leighton to get into it, but she didn’t. Silence reigned in the living room until I looked up and caught Leighton’s eyes. My cheeks flared with heat. She was pointedly waiting for an answer. “It’s fine,” I squeaked.
“You sure?”
I nodded, cringing at the movement. Neck movement hurt, but it was instinctual to communicate that way.
“When I went after Kiara, I ended up listening to police scanners while trying to follow her scent away from the house,” Leighton said. “Someone called in a tip, but I wasn’t the first person to get to her. Her brother was. Tobias Connolly tried to take her back home, which I’m assuming is exactly the reason she’s been adamantly pushing for a dark bond since she got here.”
Liberty released a soft ‘ooo,’ and I finally got the nerve to look at Ambrose. His jaw was clenched, the unscarred side of his face screwed up in anger. The scarred side twitched and pulsed, the muscles dancing. Oddly, when his eyes caught mine he softened, giving me a strained smile.
“She sliced him with that knife—it’s been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours—before she got away. I caught her before they did, but we were left in a bit of a situation. It was dark bond her or let them take her.”
“My knife’s name is actually Nyla,” I said absently. I was busy playing back the moments leading up to the dark bond.
“You should get her in to see a psychiatrist,” Liberty said. “Whatever happened to her growing up with a crime family, she clearly didn’t have many human friends.”
I went pink, my hand going down to palm Nyla. I hadn’t hadanyfriends. Ever. I’d never gone to a public or private school, only ever having tutors who flitted in and out of my life by the whims of my parents. None stayed too long before being fired.
The only one who could have been my friend was Tobias.
And he’d been anything but.
