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“You’re absolutely right,” Aiden said placatingly. “The professor and nurses said Blaire would be just fine. For now, though, we should all get some sleep because Blaire is going to need us tomorrow.”

Lukas got up from the floor. He had stalled long enough. He took his clothes off before stepping into the shower to wash away the lifeblood of his one true reason for living.

After his shower, Lukas came out wrapped in a towel to find Kai and Mera gone, but Riley had made herself at home in Aiden’s spare bed and was already asleep.

“Hey,” Aiden said as he came out of his closet. “How are you holding up?”

Lukas shrugged. “I’m still alive.”

Aiden sighed as he nodded, choosing not to push, which Lukas felt grateful for.

“Riley packed you some clothes in that bag over there.” Aiden pointed toward a black duffel on the desk. “But she didn’t get anything to sleep in… so I figured you’d want something comfortable.” He held out a stack of clothes, passing them to Lukas.

“Yeah, thanks…” Lukas said quietly, his energy completely gone after what happened between him and Blaire before his meeting, and then this. He shuddered and tried to move his mind away from his swirling thoughts before he fell victim to another panic attack.

Nodding toward Aiden’s spare bed, Lukas asked, “So… what’s up with that?”

Aiden chuckled and crossed his arms, looking at Riley, who was snoring softly. “She missed sleeping near her big brother.”

Lukas raised an eyebrow at him, and Aiden started laughing.

“No man, she didn’t want to be alone tonight, and I don’t blame her, so when she asked me if she could stay, I caved. She might be a pain in the ass sometimes, but she’s my little sister, and I’m going to be there for her when I can.” Aiden shrugged. “You go ahead and get changed and I’ll go bag up your clothes so the professor can dispose of them tomorrow where other students can’t get their hands on them. You can take my bed tonight and I’ll take the floor.”

“What? No…”

“It’s fine. You need to rest, and the floor doesn’t bother me.”

Aiden went into the bathroom, not giving Lukas the chance to protest.

Lukas quickly changed in the middle of the room, since Riley lay turned away from him, already asleep. Climbing onto Aiden’s bed, he lay back and sighed, staring at the ceiling. He wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight.

“You can have this bed if you want it,” Lukas said as Aiden came out of the bathroom without a bag of clothes. He assumed Aiden kept them in the bathroom to keep the scent away from him, to avoid riling him up again. It was a good idea, honestly. “I’m not going to be able to sleep, anyway.”

Aiden shook his head. “No.” He stepped into his closet and came back with blankets in his arms and laid them out on the floor before pointing at Lukas. “You need to rest, because Blaire is going to need you tomorrow.”

Lukas sighed as Aiden turned off the bedside lamp and moved to the floor.

“I’m sorry…” Lukas whispered in the dark.

“What for?”

“For thinking you wanted to take Blaire away from me.”

After a brief silence, Aiden chuckled. “While I do care for her and would have been happy to be her partner, her heart belongs to you and your heart belongs to her. I would never ruin that, or our friendship.”

Lukas said nothing in response as he stared up into the blackness of the room. He listened to Aiden shuffle as he settled in.

Aiden spoke the truth, and it took a lot for him to be honest about the fact that he did care about Blaire. Honestly, it would have pissed Lukas off more if Aiden had said he didn’t care about her that way after claiming he did, but his friend was not that wishy-washy. Lukas trusted him, and right now, he needed him more than he ever had since they were children.

30

THE ORDER

Muffled voices filtered through the haze of Blaire’s mind as she found her way back to consciousness. A severe migraine pounded like someone had taken a sledgehammer to the side of her head, and her body ached, particularly her arm.

With a pained groan, Blaire peeled open her eyes and stared at the ceiling. She willed the room to come into focus, but she was having difficulty with the overwhelming feeling of being underwater. She felt sick.

Blaire turned her head and saw Professor Velastra smiling at her, sitting next to her bed in a desk chair. Confused, Blaire sat up, but lay back down as a wave of dizziness washed over her. She placed a hand on her head, covering her eyes.