Page 6 of Awakened and Betrayed
“What the fuck, they moved you into Enoch’s house?”Sabin shouts into my head, and I wince.
The guys must have said something to him because he quickly apologizes for the volume. I hate that they’re all together, and I’m notallowedto be there.
“This whole thing is fucking ridiculous! Why the hell do they treat casters like children until their awakening?”I ask.
“Before an awakening, a caster is not in complete control of their magic. It’s not safe for them to be on their own before they can fully control their abilities. After an awakening, there are way less magical accidents. That’s why casters are free to be independent and make their own choices once they have full access to their magic and the control that comes with it. We hate this as much as you do, but like I said earlier, it should only be for a couple of weeks,”Valen reassures me.
I wish I could argue that I can control my magic and deserve to be on my own. But magicjacking an elder probably wasn’t the best example of that. Maybe if I hadn’t looked just as shocked as the elders had when it happened, I could have played it off as intentional. I focus on Valen’s reassurances that this will only be temporary. One way or another I’ll make sure of that.
“If you need anything Bruiser, just use that handy new trick we discovered the other day, and we’ll be there as soon as possible.”
I look down at the runes on my ring finger at Bastien’s reminder. I immediately feel better knowing that if I need them, I can call on those runes and they will feel it.
“They told me they were bringing my stuff over; can you guys keep Laiken and Talon with you? I don’t want anything to happen to them.”
“Already done. We also kept the tablet and folder the Readers left for you. We figured it would be safer with us.”
“Thank you, Sabin—”
A heavy knock at the open doorway pulls me from my mental conversation.
“Guys, Enoch’s knocking, I’ll talk to you later… over.”
Bastien chuckles, and a round of irritated goodbyes and promises to see me soon sound off in my head. I run my finger over the runes behind my ear, turning them off and sit up. Enoch presses his palms on either side of the doorway, his sun-kissed skin and muscles flex as he pushes against the frame. His gray-blue eyes run over me, and he seems nervous.
“I want to introduce you to Becket. You haven’t met him yet,” Enoch nods his chin in the direction of the hallway, the sun from the window catching the white-blond highlights in his tow-colored hair.
He backs out of my doorway, and I follow him to the living room where Nash and Kallan are lounging. I trade awkward waves with them as I’m introduced to the only unfamiliar face in the group. Becket has a very boy next door appeal. Short ash brown hair, straight eyebrows over dark brown eyes, and high cheekbones with a smattering of freckles. He’s good-looking, but not in an overwhelming, my-brain-stopped-working-because-he-looked-at-me, kind of way.
“Beck is the fourth member of our coven,” Enoch explains.
I give him a confused look. “I thought Parker was in your coven?”
Enoch takes a seat on the couch next to Kallan and sweeps his hand out in an invitation for me to sit down, too. I stay standing.
“No, he’s a friend we go rock climbing with occasionally. That’s what we were coming back from when we ran into you that day on the road.”
The room falls silent, and it seems none of us know where to tread when it comes to talking about what happened that day. Just as the silence teeters on awkward, Nash breaks it up, his jovial tone overcompensating for the dark thoughts surrounding the lamia abduction.
“Consider yourself warned,” he teases. “After Parker woke up the next day, and was told what you did, a heavy dose of hero-worship kicked in,” Nash chuckles, and his eyes light up with mirth. It’s clear by the look on his face that he has a love for gossip that could rival any sweet tea drinking, rocking chair owning, old southern woman.
His dark hair is damp, and it makes me wonder when he had time to shower or swim before I got here. Nash is rocking some scruff on his face that wasn’t there the first time I met him. He looks tired, and for the first time, I wonder how they’ve been impacted by what happened. I’ve been so wrapped up in what happened with Talon and everything he revealed, that I haven’t bothered to step outside of my own shit to wonder what new scars the others who were taken might have.
“I didn’t really do anything,” I offer dismissively, brushing away Nash’s teasing. “I’m sure Parker will get over it when he realizes that.”
I look around the living room and just catch the shadow of a figure as it streaks past a window. Curious, I move toward the window to get a better look.
“Um… were we not at the same abduction, because I don’t think what you did could be classified asnothing,” Kallan tells me, the tone and look he’s giving me are incredulous.
I shrug my shoulders, not sure what else to say. I’m tempted to point out that none of them would’ve been there if it weren’t for me, but that’s a road full of potholes I don’t want to go down right now. I continue to look for whoever just walked past the window when the front door opens, and someone walks in. A familiar blond man smiles at me, as he makes his way into the living room and plops down in a chair. I look from him to Enoch.
“What is Pebble doing here?”
“My name is EliasRock, and I’ve been assigned as your guard.”
My face immediately scrunches up, like I just smelled something nasty. The council assigned me a fucking babysitter? I stare at his cocksure smirk and shake my head, letting out a soul weary sigh. I absently pinch my bottom lip between my thumb and index finger. Everything about this situation suddenly feels really claustrophobic.
“I’m going for a walk.”
