After Enzo healed me and I managed to stand on my own without falling I exit the building only now noticing the salty sir as I look around to see an array of unmarked black vehicles and paramedics then I was pulled into a hug by James.
"Hey, J-man. How're you doing?" I ask as I pull away to look him in the eyes and he smiles at me in response.
"Better now that I know you're alright." He says with a relieved sigh but before I can respond I spot Henry and Darcia talking.
"What the hell Astrid?!" A familiar voice yells and I see my brother and Kate running toward me. I pull away from James and give him an apologetic smile before they both embrace me.
"I'm ok." I manage to say as they squeeze the life out of me. They pull back and start to inspect me and stay still letting them since I know I won't be able to escape.
"Before you ask any question I have something I need to take care of." I say as I walk away from them and approach Henry and Darcia who spots me first and bears her teeth at me.
"My dear Astrid." Henry says as he turns to face me with a disarming smile on his face.
"Save it, Henry. Your compulsion nearly caused my death." I say but he cuts me off.
"But you're fine, no harm no foul." He says and I raise a hand silencing him and as I lift him into the air and he struggles to break free.
"Next time you step out of line, an angry troll rampaging through the streets will be the last of your problems." I say as I bring him closer to me and I enjoy the spark of fear I see in his eyes.
"Am I clear?" I ask and he gulps staring into my eyes struggling to keep eye contact.
"Crystal." He says in response and I release my hold on him. I spare Darcia a glance and she flinches but I walk away from them. On the way back to my brother I spot Ralph sitting on an abandoned crate head in his hands. I take a seat next to him making him jump and look up at me.
"What's wrong?" I ask him and he looks at me sadly.
"I'm sorry." He says and I look at him lost as to why he's apologizing.
"Why are you apologizing?" I ask him.
"I wasn't able to take down the wards fast enough and you got hurt as a result." He says then I understand why he apologized.
"Ralph it's ok. I'm happy that you pushed past your fears just for a moment to help me. There's nothing to be sorry about." I say as I rake his face in my hands and he lets out a sigh.
"I don't know if I could've coped if you....." He says trailing off not being able to finish his sentence. With a sigh, I place my lips gently on his and he tenses for a moment before he responds cautiously. We separate for a moment before he captures my lips again and I sink into the feeling before I pull waring with myself but I don't regret kissing him.
"I'm not going down that easy." I mutter to him and he laughs.
"I heard you're leaving." James says from behind me and I turn to face him.
"You're leaving?" Ralph asks not managing to hide the note of sadness in his voice.
"Can y'all ask me that when I'm not feeling as though I was run over by ten trucks?" I ask but get no response.
"I've decided to stay." I say and Ralph's arms immediately wrap around me from behind.
"I take it someone's happy." I say and he squeezes me a little tighter.
"You need rest." Aiden says and I nod in agreement as the exhaustion catches up with me.
"Can someone give me a lift back to my apartment?" I ask and they all look at each other warily.
"Alex and his goons trashed your apartment." Aiden says and I let out a groan.
"I'm in no mood for apartment hunting or socializing more than I have to at the moment." I say pulling at my hair slightly and Aiden watches me with concern in his eyes.
"No need to go apartment hunting. You're staying with me." James says and Aiden looks at his eyes wide while I raise an eyebrow.
"I have the space and you're clan. I protect clan no matter how small." He says looking a little sheepish and I smile at him.
"Well I'll need my stuff but we can deal with that after I get some rest." I say as I sway slightly as my head starts to pound.
"Let's go, trouble." James says as he lifts me bridal style after Ralph places a kiss on my cheek taking me to his car, placing me in the passenger seat, buckling me in. I settle into the seat feeling completely safe and it's not long before I drift off to sleep.
A cold nose nudges me once I a let out a grunt of annoyance but the nose nudges me again more insistent this time and I open my eyes to see Ollie in front of me. When he sees I'm awake he wastes no time pouncing on me and licking my face while wagging his tail happily making me burst into giggles.
"Hi, buddy." I say scratching him behind the ears and he lies on top of me letting out a whine of contentment. I look around the unfamiliar room taking in my surroundings when someone knocks on the door.
"You awake, trouble?" James asks through the door.
"Hey, J-man." I say in response and I hear him chuckle.
"Come out for breakfast." He says.
"Be right out." I say in response I hear his footsteps retreat.
"Ok buddy time for us to get up." I say and Ollie jumps off of the bed and onto the floor waiting patiently for me to get out of bed. I exit my room and it's easy for me to navigate my way thanks to the smell of bacon. I enter the kitchen to see James at the stove cooking up a storm while I take a seat on one of the stools making myself comfortable resting my elbows on the counter.
"How long was I out?" I ask.
"One day." He says as he places a plate of waffles, scrambled eggs, and fried bacon in front of me with a glass of chilled apple juice.
"Thank you." I say to him and he smiles at me in response as he starts to clean up.
"We're needed at F.A.U later today." He says to me and I nod at him more concerned about eating at the moment. Once I'm finished eating he takes my dishes and washes them before I can protest.
"I don't have any clothes." I say not seeing the need to avoid stating the obvious.
"Alice and Katie brought you clothes. It's in your closet." He says back facing me.
"Thanks for breakfast, J-man." I say as I hop off my stool heading back to my room ready to have a proper look around before looking in the closet. A king-sized bed with a lavender-colored sheet set smack in the middle of the room and directly opposite are two oak wood with rose designs on the doors leading to a walk-in closet then next to those doors is a flat-screen tv 45''.
To the right of my bed is a vanity table and to the left, another oakwood door leading to the bathroom, and a few feet away is an empty bookshelf. Along the same wall with the tv is a desk and chair for some late-night studying.
"Perfect." I say then head to the bathroom freezing in my tracks at the extravagance of it. In the middle of the room is a spacious pearly white tub that can hold at least four people and opposite it is a shower enclosure with four slabs of glass cutting it off from the rest of the room then you have a metal rack with plush lavender towels of various sizes next to the face basin with a 45'' mirror then you have another small area with a door and a concrete wall cutting off from the rest of the room that leads to the toilet.
'A girl could get used to it." I think as I strip off my clothes and step into the shower enclosure enjoying the coldness of the water. After my bath, I wrap myself in a plush towel before heading to my walk-in closet letting out an annoyed sigh at the sight of all the bright colors and brands. I dig around until I find black jeans, a white tank top with a grey jacket, and combat boots. I smile as I pull on some simply black undergarments before I get dressed and then put my hair up in a messy bun.
I return to the kitchen to see a freshly dressed James wearing black sneakers with navy blue jeans and a white jersey and his hair is cut low so no styling is needed.
"Time to go." He says before leading me through the kitchen and into the living room where a wooden staircase waits.
"You'll investigate more later." He says walking up the stairs with Ollie following behind him and I shrug following him up the stairs getting a whiff of salty air and outside to see we're directly under an abandoned bridge with warehouses lined along under it as far as the eye can see.
"No windows suddenly make sense." I mumble to myself before I approach his blue Kia and hesitate for a moment getting into the front seat with Ollie in the back and James in the driver hoping that he doesn't notice how tense I am.