Chapter 30

AURORA

Rin couldn’t find a counterargument. I watched as he dropped his gaze and let out a weary sigh.

“I get it, and I agree. I’m not too arrogant to admit when I’m wrong, even if I hate it and wouldn’t do it for most people. But please, take it easy, okay? I’m already worried sick about what’s happening to you,” he pleaded.

I nodded, put my water down, and hugged him. “I will. I promise.”

Being in his arms felt comforting, especially with all the uncertainty swirling in my mind. I closed my eyes, resting my head on his shoulder, my cheek against his neck. Everything about this felt so wonderfully familiar, so wonderfully ~safe~. Even if only my mind grew stronger and I could match him as his beta, that would be enough for me. I could feel worthy of staying with him.

Another hour slipped by before I finally felt strong enough to get up and move again. Rin, however, decided he wasn’t leaving my side. Strangely, I didn’t see any sign of Rayne after we’d left the room. It was as if he’d vanished, but Rin didn’t comment on it. He might have even been relieved that his brother wasn’t around, at least for a little while.

Eventually, we joined Lana and Selenia outside at one of the gazebos. As it was now evening, we waited there with them for dinner. They were also quite worried about me, as was Vishu, who had decided to leave her webs and join us just outside the gazebo.

“Are you sure you’re okay now? You still look a bit pale,” Lana observed.

“I’m fine. My voice is still weak, but I feel okay,” I reassured her.

“Do you think that will wear off? Emelio didn’t think the stone was damaged,” Selena asked Rin.

“No, it doesn’t seem like it, but I’m not sure if her voice will fully come back or not. That’s something he’ll have to look into, or maybe even check with Kaleem about,” Rin confessed.

“It might come back, and at least I can still talk. It’s better than nothing,” I reasoned.

“I suppose,” Rin agreed, albeit reluctantly.

“So,” Selenia continued, “do you know what happened earlier? We didn’t get to talk to Daddy about it before he had to leave with Emelio.”

“I didn’t think Father was here. Do you know where they were going?” Rin asked Lana.

“I’m not sure, but I think it might have been for Emelio to investigate something with Aurora’s stone. Even if they couldn’t feel anything different from it, Jekia did say that he was a bit concerned that it could have been part of the cause,” Lana explained.

I didn’t doubt that either, but I couldn’t put all the pieces together. If the one I was seeing was who I thought it was, then how had she managed to influence this stone, and how was she hiding it?

Rin’s voice pulled me back to the present. “I really don’t think it’s that, Mother. There’s no way something could hide their influence on that stone from Emelio. He’s always been the best at recognizing anything like that. It’s why he exists and is here with us,” he reasoned.

“That is true. It is quite odd. What in the world could have happened?” Lana wondered.

I looked down, not wanting to accidentally let them catch onto my thoughts or see my expression falter. I kept thinking about what had happened with Rayne. What was that? Did something try to get to him and he’d managed to fight it off, and that was why he left me so abruptly?

“By the way, Mother,” Rin suddenly said, “have you seen Rayne? He was supposed to stay in the room with Aurora after she woke up and I went to get her something to drink, but he was gone when I came back. He told her that he had something to take care of, but we haven’t seen a sign of him since.”

Selenia and Lana exchanged confused glances.

“No, I don’t think I’ve seen him since before Aurora woke up. I thought maybe he had left with your father,” Lana told him.

Vishu suddenly spoke up. “I apologize for interrupting my lady, but I saw Lord Rayne about half an hour ago. He was in the conservatory, though he seemed deep in thought about something, and I didn’t want to disturb him.”

~Oh, no~, I thought. ~Something did happen in there. It wasn’t all in my head.~

“Do you think we should check on him?” Selena asked, still looking concerned.

Rin shrugged it off. “He’ll be fine. You and I both know how Rayne gets sometimes, especially if something’s happened that he can’t figure out. He’s even worse than me about dwelling on it and trying to solve it himself,” he reminded her.

“That is true, and Rayne is quite protective, just like you are. He may feel that he needs to help Aurora in whatever way he can and wanted some private time to think about how,” Lana acknowledged.

“He can do what he wants. He just needs to remember that she belongs to me,” Rin stated.

“You should phrase that better. It sounds terribly condescending,” Selenia pointed out.

“I can’t help how the truth sounds, and you know that I treat her well, so don’t start with me,” Rin retorted.

“I’m not starting anything. I’m just telling you to think about your words more. For someone as smart as you are, you certainly lack communication skills sometimes,” Selenia chided him.

“I speak as I speak, so don’t scold me for what you already know,” Rin argued.

Lana listened to the exchange with a tired smile. “This is pretty typical,” she said to me. “My kids love each other, but they also love to tease each other when they get the chance.”

“I guess all siblings are like that,” I replied, trying my best to keep my smile in place and act like everything was normal.

I stared out at the beautiful garden, my fingers brushing against my throat. I needed to talk to Rayne soon and clear the air, but I had a feeling that wouldn’t be easy with Rin being so protective—possessive, even.

Lana seemed to pick up on my discomfort, leaning in closer. “Aurora, I was hoping we could have a private chat later. Would that be okay?” she asked.

“Sure, that’s fine,” I said, doing my best to hide my unease.

Rin picked up on it too, his ears twitching slightly as he turned to his mother.

“Why are you asking her that now?”

“I think it’s only fair. She’s been here for two days and I haven’t had a chance to talk to her one-on-one. I don’t think you’d have a problem with your mother talking to your beta, would you?” Lana shot back, not missing a beat.

That seemed to shut Rin up, although I had a feeling he usually backed down when it came to his mother. I wasn’t sure if it was because she was his mom, or because she was an omega, or maybe a bit of both.

“You’re right, and it’s not like we have any plans later.”

I wasn’t sure what Lana was up to, but I was grateful for the chance to talk to her alone. Maybe she could help me sort out this mess with Rayne, and give me her take on what was happening with the stone in my throat. She’d been around long enough to know about things like that, and maybe Jekia had told her more. If she could give me some insight, it might help me make sense of these weird, ominous visions.

But for now, all I could do was wait and see what she had to say. Then, hopefully, I could get Rin to help me get stronger and become the person I was meant to be.