There was some exchange happening between them. Something I couldn’t understand. Then he stepped aside and waved us toward the door where Aurora was. “My work here is done. You two head on down. I’m expecting some company.”
Sera turned. “Company?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “I made a call to a Morelli friend. They’ll deal with the Chad situation.”
Another silent exchange between them. Then Sera nodded and said something to him I never thought I would ever hear her say to him. “Thank you.”
He nodded. “It’ll be done by the end of the day.”
Sera turned and headed down the hallway. I followed after her. “What’ll be done?”
Sera’s voice was low. “If he’s calling who I think he’s calling, he’s got some very nasty men going to go after Chad. Going after him in the kind of way that her security team can’t.”
“After him? Like, how after him?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“Yes, I do. We should call the police.”
“Do you want to call the police, or deal with your friend?”
“That’s not fair.”
“Rhys isn’t brainless enough to have someone murdered. But they’re going to beat the shit out of him for sure.”
“Christ.” Who the fuck were the Hellfire boys?
At the end of the hallway, we knocked on the door and Aurora called out, “Come in.”
I poked my head through first before entering. “Hey, there you are. I’m looking for you.”
She sat up in the bed. When she saw both of us, she sighed. “Surprised you don’t have Sloane with you.”
Sera sighed too. “Well, Sloane can’t keep a secret from Lennox, so I figured you didn’t want him up your ass. We’re going to grab you and take you back to the townhouse so you can pack for school.”
She frowned. “What day is it?”
I took her hand. “It’s Monday; classes start on Wednesday.”
She huffed. “Oh God, I’ve been here a whole day, then. All right. I’ll get my stuff.” Her voice was steady—too steady, maybe. Sera and I shared a worried look.
Sera’s voice was low. “Are you going to tell us what happened?”
Aurora shook her head. “No, I’m not.”
I opened my mouth to fight her on that, but Sera took my hand and squeezed it twice, letting me know to stay quiet. Instead, Sera said, “Okay, that’s your choice. But in case you do want to talk about it, just know that both of us are here.”
Aurora dragged in a deep breath. “Yeah, I just want to forget the whole weekend, get back to school, and get back to normal.”
As I watched her gather supplies Rhys had gotten her, I wondered if anything would ever be back to normal. I wondered what normal would even look like now. There was no un-losing Aurora, there was no un-hooking up with Owen, and soon we would all be back at Pembroke, trying to figure everything out together.
That last thought gave me a little hope, though, as we left the Four Seasons.
Together.
Owen and I were together—after everything that had happened.
I had the boy, and the internship, and my friend was safe. What more could I want?
Chapter 16
Tanith
After the debacle that was our hunt through New York City, we’d been back at school in Vermont for a few days, and mostly everything was back to normal. Except Aurora. She wasn’t back to normal.
Oh, she said she was fine, walked around like nothing was wrong, but there was a haunted look in her eyes.
Also, there had been no need to keep secrets from the other Hellfire boys. The cat was already out of the bag. While the boys had all still been at the Montgomerys, Felix—forever the worst—had been going on and on about how fucked up Aurora had been and how badly she’d wanted to party with him and Chad. So now everyone knew.
God, what the fuck was wrong with him?
I’d just finished my morning classes and was charging across the massive courtyard in the snow, heading back to the dorms, when I ran into Aurora at the main doors as she was hopping down the steps toward either the kitchen or the laundry.
“Hey, didn’t see you this morning for breakfast. Are you okay?”
She gave me a brief nod with a stiff-lipped determination. “Fine. I wish everyone would stop asking me that.”
I winced. “I’m sorry. Probably the worst question to ask you.”
She inclined her head downstairs and I followed her to where it was quieter. Most of the students were just trying to go to their rooms, to somewhere warm, so they could bemoan the frigid weather. We entered the colossal study. As she plopped into the couch, I eased my backpack down and shook off my coat. I kept my scarf on, though, because . . . well . . . it was Owen’s and it smelled like him.
My belly did a little flip and I had to bite back a secret smile. I hadn’t really had time to talk to my friends about any of it. Sera knew, of course, because she was nosy. But while we’d been together, everyone’s focus had been on Aurora. No one else had really noticed the change between me and Owen. This was fine by me because I didn’t need too many questions or to be the object of ridicule. Girls at school could be giant pains in the ass. So, for now, it wasn’t exactly a secret, but we were keeping it under wraps.
I refocused my attention on Aurora. “Have you heard from Felix? Has he apologized for leaving you with Chad? Better yet, has Chad apologized?”
Has Chad encountered Rhys’s “friend” yet?
Aurora shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
I chewed on my lip. “Aurora, I’m not going to pretend to get it. But I want you to know that you can tell me. Anytime. Even if it’s five years from now, I’ll be here to listen.”
Aurora tossed her jet-black hair from her shoulder and looked down at her hands. “I—” She shrugged and tugged
