CHAPTER FOURTEEN
"I already told you once. Leave Avery alone." Stellan's voice reached my sleepy mind and I cracked open an eye.
It was morning, I was alone and sprawled across the bed, Stellan's sweatshirt bunching around my middle. My palm and my foot were still throbbing with pain but I felt a little better. The last thing I remembered was Stellan lowly asking me questions as we watched the The OC before I must have drifted off to sleep.
From the other side of the door I heard Anya grumble something in Russian before Stellan replied back in English,
"I could find plenty to punish you with. There's a whole kitchen that needs cleaning."
The hallway got quiet and I sat up, trying to rearrange the mass of blankets when the handle on my door slowly started to turn. The door crept open inch by inch until a set of blue eyes landed on mine, Anya's face pulled into a moment of shock.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"It's okay," I replied. I wanted to smile, reassure her, but it just wasn't in me yet. I still couldn't find that kind of reaction - everything was murky.
"Please don't tell Stellan." She whispered, pleading. I shook my head,
"I won't."
Anya stood in the doorway for a moment, contemplating, before she took a big, brave, breath and slid into the room, closing the door. I rose an eyebrow at her and she pressed her mouth closed for a moment before quickly asking,
"Are you sick?"
"Sort of." I answered and started pushing up one of the baggy sleeves, careful to keep my injuries covered in front of her.
"Are you contagious?"
"Nope." I pushed up the other one and moved to put a hand through my hair when I remembered that it was still braided from before. That felt so far away right now, like it happened to another person, someone I'd never be able to find again.
"Everyone stops talking about the party you went to when I come into the room. What happened?" She took a step toward me. I contemplated this for a moment and then decided to err on the side of caution,
"You should ask Stellan."
She took another step toward the bed, "but he won't tell me."
I just shrugged as if to say too bad then, it made my shoulder throb with the motion. Her eyes poured over me before she took another step.
"Your hair looks pretty like that. You can see all the pink." She pointed to my braids and I touched them before attempting a smile again - it didn't come. I desperately didn't want to mess this up. But I also didn't know if I had it in me to be as responsive to her as I should be.
"Thank you." I tried to sound kind. She made it to the bed and ran her fingers across the comforter a couple times continuing to look down as she asked,
"Something bad happened though. The doctor came. Everyone keeps whispering about you."
I felt a warning go off inside me - this was a dangerous line of questioning. I knew Stellan wanted to keep her in the dark, but absolute darkness had not worked in my favor in the end. It hadn't exactly worked for Stellan either. I quietly asked her,
"You have a bunch of questions for me, don't you?"
Her head snapped up to look at me, her blonde hair swinging over the translucent scars on the right side of her face as her bright eyes widened with hope.
"Just a few."
I patted the bed next to me and she scrambled up, keeping some distance between us before settling.
"I don't think I can answer everything. You really should ask your…" I stopped. Brother didn't seem right. Stellan was her brother but he was so much more to her, especially now. Guardian? No, that seemed so sterile. I looked at Anya again as she waited for me to finish. "Stellan."
"That's fine." She quickly replied. "What's wrong with you?"
"I got hurt. But I'm better now." I leaned back against the headboard and pushed some pillows out of the way.
"How did you get hurt?" She specified and then held her breath.
"Do you remember what I told you on the plane?" I waited until she nodded. "Well, we are still in danger. But everyone protected me, just like they'll protect you." I carefully answered.
"Are you going to marry my brother?" She clasped her hands in front of her, waiting. "They keep whispering about that too."
"Yes." I simply answered. Her hands flew to her face, she was almost thrumming with excitement and since I couldn't match that kind of enthusiasm I tried to remain calm.
"Because you love each other?"
That was a loaded question. I took a breath, trying to stall so I could formulate my answer, when the door swung open.
Stellan filled the doorjamb, dark shirt, dark jeans, his hair gleaming in the sunlight and landed some seriously annoyed eyes on Anya.
"YA skazal vam ne priyti syuda." He scolded her and Anya deflated in front of me. An idea started to percolate up through all my mixed emotions and I looked at Anya for a moment before looking up at Stellan.
"She can stay."
Anya clenched her fists in excitement but didn't move at all anticipating his no.
"You need to rest, Avery." He scolded me next and I just waved him off. Anya knuckles went white as she continued to freeze in front of me.
"I'm fine. I want her to stay."
He looked between the two of us for a moment, contemplating. I rose a challenging eyebrow at him and he let out an exasperated huff and closed the door. Anya's face lit up like Christmas morning,
"Thank you!"
"Let's make a deal," I started and gingerly stretched out my battered body. "I'll answer all your questions. Well, almost all your questions, in exchange for something from you."
"Anything!" She quickly answered and jumped a bit on the bed. I felt the smile build in my chest. It never made it to my face but a wave of relief filled me, I was getting better. It may take longer than we had time for but I wouldn't alway feel like this. I turned my attention back to Anya,
"How do you say shut up in Russian?"
"Zatknis'." She quickly answered.
"Woah, woah, slow down, say it again." I tried to wrap my brain around what letters were even in that word.
"How did you meet my brother?" She countered. Ah, so she wanted answers on literally everything. I wondered for a moment if I should tell her the truth or something vague but satisfying.
"At a dance." I carefully answered.
"Zatknis'." She said much slower this time and I nodded for her to continue. "In France?"
"In America." I answered. "How do you say maybe?"
"Where in America? Why was he in America?" She quickly countered and I shook my finger at her. She narrowed her eyes for a moment and then quickly retorted, "mozhet byt'."
"Minnesota. He was looking for me." I answered her questions and thought of what would be the next best phrase to learn. "How do you say help me?"
"Pomogi mne." She distractedly answered and then cocked her head to the side looking at me strangely. "What's so special about you?"
"That," I paused and looked out at the horizon, "is a very good question, Anya."
"Ya tebya lyublyu." She quietly said, breaking my contemplation.
"What's that mean?" I looked over at her.
"I love you." She smiled at me, "has he said that to you?"
I met her eyes and wanted to smile back, I felt it just under the surface of my skin but all I could manage to do was press my lips together for a moment, "in so many words."
"But not those words." She pushed and I nodded. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away, seeming annoyed, when the door swung open again.
"Party's over," Stellan announced and strode into the room, the doctor and nurse from yesterday right behind him. Stellan pointed toward the open door and she quickly slid off the bed without another glance at either of us. I leaned forward on the bed to watch her round the corner,
"She's too smart for her own good." I commented to Stellan. He looked toward the door and then shrugged,
"She better be for the amount of money I paid for her schooling."
The doctor and nurse were already pulling off my bandaging but I couldn't take my eyes off of him, still shocked at what he'd said.
"You paid for all her schooling, not the Circle?"
He looked back at me, nodding, "if we're going to split hair's Luc paid for all her schooling."
"You know what I mean," I countered. He opened his mouth, most likely to say something snarky from the look on his face, but then just as suddenly smiled, crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. It all started to piece together for me in that moment. Why he was so protective of her, why he'd called her every day, spent his birthdays with her, paid for a private school. She might still call him her brother but that's not how he saw himself, those were things a parent did. And the fact that he'd probably been doing that since he'd joined the Circle made all sorts of feelings battle against the blackness in my chest.
Ya tebya lyublyu, I thought and felt the smile ascend to the surface causing the side of my mouth to rise just a little. His eyes widened with surprise as he smiled back, and I wondered if he was thinking the same thing. Then just as suddenly there was a jab of pain at my hand and I sucked in a breath and tried pull my arm away,
"Ouch!" I yelled and looked down expecting to see blood. The doctor said something in soft Castilian and Stellan dropped his arms and moved closer to the bed interpreting the instruction,
"Hold still."
I gave him a patronizing look. He laughed and quickly replied, "the fact that you are giving me the dirtiest look ever is a great sign."
I took a breath to snap back at him but the next poke to my hand made me bite my lip to stop from yelling out and I squeezed my eyes shut.
After the doctor's visit where I'd been medically cleared I'd changed into a flowy shirt, sheer asymmetrical jacket and maxi skirt that I was sure clashed horribly. I didn't really care, the fact that I wanted to wear anything other than pj's and Stellan's jacket was a good sign to me. I had moved out onto the covered patio right outside my room, the chairs only a few feet away from the edge of the pool, and collapsed onto a chair. It only took Anya a couple minutes to realize I'd left the bed and she'd dived into the pool, showing off, before swimming up to my side. I clapped, careful to keep everything covered and she'd started right back into her questions and Russian lessons with me.
I'd watched as every other person in the group had come out onto the deck to see who Anya was talking to and then immediately turn back around. I still hadn't figured out if it was because they'd been ordered to or because they didn't want the hassle of dealing with me. At least Anya didn't seem to mind my long moments of silence.
"Now you tell me something," I put a hand over my eyes to shield them as I looked into the sun at Anya. She jumped into the pool, sinking to the bottom and then quickly resurfacing right to the edge where my padded lounge chair was.
"What do you mean?" She pushed up to sit on the edge of the pool.
"How are you feeling about all this?" I asked and leaned onto the edge of the lounge chair to get closer to her. She frowned and then looked up at me with serious eyes,
"It has been very fun to see all these new places. I like being around Stellan so much. And I got to meet Luc." She pulled at the strap on her swimsuit, looking away. "But it's pretty scary."
"What part?" I pushed and gingerly stretched out my stiff shoulder. She slipped down the edge and slithered into the pool. I shrugged, appreciating her technique at avoidance. She resurfaced, her eyes and nose hanging just above the water and darted a glance toward the other section of deck. I leaned onto my knees to get a good look at the couches and armchairs to see Jack pacing a slow circle around the furniture, talking on his phone. "Jack?"
Anya nodded and slipped back under the water. I watched him for another moment and he turned and looked over at me. He hung up and with a small nod moved back into the house. I looked over to see Anya watch his every move and then blow some bubbles of relief into the water before swimming out toward the shallow end.
"He always looks mad." She called out to me from the other end of the pool and I waved her over as I started to pull out my braids.
"Maybe it's because he's British." I joked and she gave me a strange look and then shook her head.
"I think his beard itches him too much."
I laughed as I finished pulling out the last of my braids. Anya's eyes flew open and my hands covered my mouth, both of us surprised by my reaction. She hung on the edge of the pool again waiting for me to say something.
"I think Elodie is the really scary one." I countered and she pushed out onto her back, floating in the water as she let out a giggle of her own.
"That's why Stellan likes you so much, you're funny." She called out to me and I looked out toward the edge of the property seeing a low, white, travertine wall that ran the length of the property line. Someone called out to Anya from inside the house and she exited the pool without another glance back at me.
I pushed to stand and sucked in a breath of pain as I put my weight onto my feet and then reached toward a padded deck chair and pulled it with me across the deck toward the wall. I sat down with a sigh and propped my feet up on the wall, looking out at the view. Despite the discomfort of walking this far, having the sun beat down onto me felt amazing. We were on the side of a cliff, the only thing below us was craggy rocks and roaring ocean waves. The houses to the left and the right of us were so far away that I couldn't tell if there were actually people on the patios. I was instantly transported back to Los Angeles and the endless summer that had given me the best tan of my life.
Los Angeles had been my first co-ed party. My first kiss. My first boyfriend. It had been hand holding, pecks on the cheek in between classes, texts all through the night and all weekend long. Then, just as suddenly, it was distancing, awkwardness, avoidance and heartbreak. Followed immediately by the move to Florida. For the longest time I had loathed the internal compass inside me that had always stopped his hands, pulled away from the deepening of his kisses, had ultimately turned his head in another direction. It had only taken a few weeks in Florida to realize I was the one that had been wronged - feeling pressured to do more than I was ready for. But by the time I realized that I was already on the other side of the country.
I had vowed I'd never let anyone make me feel pressured to do anything ever again. But that incessant, pulsing, desperate need to feel included continued to compromise that promise. It had been the quick fondling in a coat closet at Rebecca Bass' 13th birthday party, the three week relationship that had quickly escalated to hand jobs at 14, walking for two miles back home when I'd given my boyfriend head but not sex at 15. By the time I'd made it to Minnesota and made my "no attachment" rule it had been more to do with ensuring I didn't compromise again than losing another group of friends. Even Jack, with all his patience and restraint, had pushed the line of pressure with me. With the possessive and demanding need in his kisses, his fingers attempting to slip under my underwear until I told him to stop.
Stellan had been the only one that had respected my permission. That continued to ask for it - despite everything growing between us. Everything that had happened in France, everything that had happened here in Spain had all hinged on my permission. He never made me feel like I had to compromise what I wanted to make him happy. I never felt pressure with him - so what was my problem now?
A breeze picked up from below us and blew my hair all over the place. Right as I had it all gathered again another gust of wind hit me and this time the pressure of it against the side of my head made my ear start to ring. I let my hair go to stick my finger in my ear, that only made the ringing worse - it was this high pitched frequency that ebbed and flowed and I closed my eyes trying to figure out what to do.
Warm fingers wrapped around my wrist pulling my finger out of my ear and I looked up to see Stellan sitting on the wall next to my feet. He leaned forward and cupped his hand over my ear, the wind picked up and blew through his hand like the sound of the ocean and the buzz in my ear slowly faded away.
"Tinnitus. White noise helps," he said and I reached up to pull his hand away as the ringing stopped. I dropped his hand and he looked down at the loss of contact and then back up at me trying to hide his disappointment. If it had only been a few weeks ago I wouldn't have been able to catch it, but I saw it flutter across his mouth as he forced himself not to frown. He recovered quickly enough and put both his hands on the wall for balance and leaned back to look at me.
"Did you tell everyone to leave me alone?" I crossed my arms over my chest and tried not to make direct eye contact with him. Being this close and face to face was making me remember and the flush of embarrassment started to rise in my chest.
"Maybe it was that hideous outfit." He drawled.
"I'm just doing my part to keep Anya in the dark," I rose my arms up and shook them until the sleeves on my sheer jacket slid down to reveal my cuts and stitches and zip tie burns.
"Such a team player," Stellan flatly replied, his eyes pouring over the injuries. "I did tell them to leave you alone. But apparently I've lost all authority over Anya."
"She told me Jack scares her." I offered, crossing my arms over my chest again. Stellan shrugged,
"Good. She should be scared of him, then she'll listen to him when it matters."
"That's where you're wrong." I shot in. He rose an eyebrow at me. "She shouldn't be scared of him, she should respect him. He has to earn her trust."
"You're not entirely wrong." He smirked. "Did you earn her trust?"
"Are you afraid of clowns?" I immediately replied and he laughed and started nodding.
"So you have earned her trust." He looked toward the house for a beat and then over at my feet bandaged and propped up on the wall. "I guess the next question is if I've lost yours."
The wave of nervousness raced up my chest making my neck hot. I looked at my feet as well unable to look at him at all. "Do we have to?"
"I think we do, Avery." He replied, my name rolling out of his mouth in a thick Russian accent. It shot me back to the shower, the sound of his groans bouncing off the walls, and I shivered and blushed all in the same moment.
I'd rather step on more broken glass than do this but I remembered what Colette had told me - closure. I couldn't conveniently move this time, I had to fix this mess. I wanted to fix this mess. I took a breath and forced myself to look at him.
"Okay. Go."
"It's not a firing squad." He gave me a weak smile, the wind blowing his hair around. He shook it off his forehead and took a breath of his own. "Do you still trust me?"
"Now that's a stupid question." I anxiously snapped. He put his hands up trying to placate me. "Why don't you just ask me what you really want to know and let's get right to it?"
"Do you still think I'm going to murder you in the tomb?" He crossed his arms over his chest. I looked off into the distance trying to remember that whole conversation, it was a little fuzzy. I started shaking my head. Even if I couldn't remember it I still trusted him, implicitly.
"Of course not, Stellan." I grumbled and focused on the way the clouds were leaving patches of blinding water on the horizon. There was a long moment of silence before I saw him shift in my peripheral vision.
"Can you even look at me?" He asked softly. I chanced a quick glance at him but felt the embarrassment flood me too quickly. Right now I could keep it in my stomach, but if I looked at him again I was afraid all the squirming humiliation would make me turn instantly red. I shrugged in answer,
"I warned you about the stupid questions."
I watched him nod a few times, calculating that response in silence. Before taking in a quick breath.
"Now that you're sober is that something you want to do again? Did you like it?" He promptly asked and I looked up at the sky, the gut punch of hearing it making me react physically. I was not ready for him to be so blunt even though I'd asked him to.
"Did you?" I stalled.
"I begged you not to leave me," he let out a little chuckle. "So yes. I did. But I don't want you to feel like you have to do that again if you don't want to."
"How could I not after you said you liked it." I groaned and covered my face with my hands, collapsing onto my legs in front of me.
"Contrary to popular belief it's not always about what I want." He joked and I pressed my face harder into my hands and legs, the bubble of truth battling against all my mortification. The real problem was that I had liked it, I just didn't know if I was brave enough to admit it. Yet, in the same way he'd teased the confession of wanting to rule the Circle out of me I could feel him teasing this out as well. I forced myself to sit back up, but I still couldn't look at him. I examined my blood red nails instead,
"Even if I did like it," I started and saw him freeze out of the corner of my eye, "that part of me is buried under so much embarrassment right now I don't even know how to dig it out."
"Then keep it buried," he said and I finally met his eyes. He smirked, "for now."
"Had you ever done that before?" I hoarsely asked. He shook his head.
"First time for me too. Quite a role reversal." He looked off at the house, contemplating. "Didn't think I was all that into pain either, but there you go."
"Oh god stop," I blurted and put my hands over my face again.
"It kind of makes sense when you think about it, right? I'm always in pain so someone inflicting pain made the pleasure all that more intense." He kept going, and I felt like my skin was on fire I was so mortified. "And you're so tiny, I wasn't expecting you to own me quite like that."
"Stop talking," I groaned shaking my head and keeping my blazing face covered.
"You could have started slapping me around and I wouldn't have said a damn word. Actually, I bet I would have begged you for more." He ignored me lost in his own thoughts. "Total control - it was breathtaking."
I couldn't take it anymore.
"Zatknis', Stellan!" I grumbled through my hands and he abruptly cut off. He started pulling at my fingers until I let my hands drop, his face in shock,
"Was that Russian?"
"Mozhet byt'," I replied back and rose an eyebrow at him the smirk spreading across my lips. The satisfaction of seeing the shock on his face started to stamp out all my embarrassment. "Anya doesn't speak any French so it seemed like the logical choice."
He didn't say anything, he didn't need to, it was all over his face - pure unabashed adoration. It flowed so openly from him it made a flash of goosebumps race across my skin in a heartbeat as he stood up and closed the space between us.
His fingers weaved through my hair as he pulled my forehead to his lips and left kiss after gentle kiss there. When he pulled back he smiled down at me and a rush of protective love and resolution fill me. I seared this moment into my memory needing to hold onto it - the first real emotional reaction I'd had. I would do anything to have him smile at me like that again. Just as suddenly it was too much for my heart to carry. How could he possibly love me like that? How could I ever match that kind of love when everything in me felt still felt broken? How could we both feel this way and still not be able to say the words to each other?
"Don't get your hopes up," I gently started. "There is a reason I barely passed Spanish."
Stellan laughed and I could hear it - the lightness and hope in his rolling laughter. He laughed like we were some kind of normal couple, like our childhoods had never been traumatized by the Circle. Like we were on some kind of vacation together in this giant villa on the cliffs of Ibiza.
I so desperately wanted to believe that alternate reality it physically hurt. I could imagine the two of us, lounging around on the beaches, swimming in the dark blue pools of water, ignoring the rest of the world as we fell deeper and deeper into each other. But I abruptly cut off that daydream. In that alternate reality we wouldn't have known the other existed. But I did have this, right here, right now. I had someone who continued to risk his life for me, that pushed me and protected me all in the same moments, that found me horrible American TV shows and trusted me with the most important things in his life. It had taken me so long to trust anyone but my Mom, but here he was - the only person I now trusted with my true self and my heart.
"I just need to hear you say one thing and I can die a happy man." He leaned forward and kissed my forehead again. "Potseluy menya."
"Potseluy menya." I repeated back. He immediately pressed a searing kiss to my lips, tipping the chair back so he could get full access. I clutched onto the front of his shirt to balance myself and then kissed him back. The lingering embarrassment I had started to smolder out the deeper the kiss became. I sucked in a quick breath and wrapped my arms around his neck, keeping him close to me, he fell to his knees in front of my chair, both him and the chair hitting the ground at the same time and broke the kiss. He rested his forehead against my own, both of us trying to catch our breath.
"Moye serdtse prinadlezhit tebe." He murmured and I kissed him again before I pulled back to look into his face.
"What's that one mean?" I whispered.
"You'll have to figure it out yourself." He smiled. I smiled back and he brought my injured palm up to his mouth to kiss it. "I knew you'd turn the corner."
"I'm glad one of us is a pessimist. Because you're a little too eager to jump on the 'Avery is back to normal' bandwagon." I countered. He sat back on the wall in front of me, spreading his legs out under my chair as he pulled my feet to rest in his lap.
"I hope you can at least fake enthusiasm for what Anya has planned for you, pessimist." He examined my feet a little longer before looking up at me.
"Oh no," my stomach fluttered with nervousness. "What did she do?"
"She found out it was your birthday and baked you a birthday cake. She's been working on it all afternoon. Sent Luc and Elodie to the store about four times already today." He pushed up my skirt to my knees and examined the cuts on my legs as well.
"Can she bake? Will I have to pretend it's good?" I pushed my skirt back down and he broke his concentration and pursed his lips for a moment, contemplating how to word his response.
"I wasn't paying for culinary school." He answered and I chuckled. "Come wifey."
I rolled my eyes, he pushed my chair back and stood, holding out his hand. I grabbed it and gingerly moved onto my feet. The pain only lasted for a second because he immediately grabbed me and threw me onto his back, positioning his arms behind himself and under my backside since I couldn't wrap my legs around him due to the maxi skirt.
"Very unnecessary." I said into his ear.
"And yet you haven't jumped down." He countered and rounded the pool on his way toward the living room.
The giant sliding window walls were wide open letting in the ocean breeze. He walked right over to an empty couch and lowered the two of us down, staying in front of me like a shield. I tucked into the corner of the couch and then hid a little behind his back, hoping that no one would notice me. I didn't know if I was ready to take even friendly teasing at my expense, or Stellan's. This was all still mortifying to me. But, no one had even bothered to look up as we entered, they were all glued to their screens. I watched as Elodie kicked Jack's foot away from her own, both of them flicking through things on their phones, Luc kept typing away on his laptop deep in concentration.
Satisfied I wasn't about to be the butt of the joke I leaned into Stellan, wrapping my arms around his waist. It made my jacket sleeves rise and expose some of my injuries. I saw everyone's eyes shoot up from their screens to look at them and then quickly look away. So they weren't as engrossed as I thought. I tensed on him, ready to leave when Stellan wrapped his hands around my own, covering the marks and I leaned my head against his shoulder. I felt the muscles on his shoulder start to tense, but he didn't move at all, instead he slowed his breath and I realized in that moment what I'd done. I'd been pressing my head into all his scars. I pulled back and left a kiss of apology, he squeezed my wrists in thanks. Jack pocketed his phone, spreading his arms across the back of the couch as Luc closed the laptop and looked at the two of us, contemplating something. Elodie dropped her phone into her lap,
"I have been looking further into Rocco's phone and I think I've found…"
"No, no. We are not going to talk shop." Stellan interrupted Elodie. She shot him a dirty look but closed her mouth and leaned back gesturing for him to proceed with a better topic.
We all just stared at each other in silence for a minute no one able to come up with anything. I started to wonder if there really was anything the five of us could talk about with each other. I pressed my lips together to stop the outburst of nervous laughter that wanted to escape. Jack cleared his throat and casually threw out,
"Manchester won."
Elodie rolled her eyes and pulled her phone back out as Luc and Stellan both let out noncommittal noises. I slid away from Stellan's back to hide from the sports talk, and he squeezed my wrists gently releasing me.
"Okay everyone, time for the surprise!" Colette announced as she moved into the room. "Avery sit next to Stellan."
I crawled out from behind him and sat down, making sure to pull my sleeves down again before Anya came into the room. Colette glanced to her left and then smiled as Anya rounded the corner. She had a sundress over her bathing suit and was using all her concentration on balancing my cake on a tray. Her blonde hair fell into her face and she tried to blow it off, tipping a bit and we all leaned forward in anticipation of the disaster but she quickly righted herself and stopped in front of me.
The chocolate frosting was a little uneven, the entire cake was covered in rainbow sprinkles and what looked like jellybeans, the wax from the candles was melting onto the crumbled cookies on the top of the two tiered cake, but it was perfect. I loved it. And I loved her look of determined concentration to not drop it even more. She carefully set it down on my lap and I held onto the edges of the tray, to keep it steady. She let out a satisfied breath and wiped her hair out of her face before finally looking up at me.
"Happy birthday!" She smiled.
"Thank you, Anya." I smiled back, my breath blew the candles out and her face fell.
"Oh no!" She pouted at the cake, looking absolutely crestfallen.
"It's okay!" I hastily replied and looked over at the group, knowing at least two of them still smoked. Luc had already jumped up and was digging through a jacket that had been on the back of his chair.
"Lighter and…" he stopped. "What is this?"
He held out the lighter to Stellan who relit the candles. Anya was pleased, but we were all looking at the matchbox in his hands. She turned, curious what had distracted all the attention away from her cake,
"What does it say?" She asked.
Luc held up the box for everyone to see. Blank on the backside, coordinates on both of the long sides, and big, black, block letters filling the front: Alexander the Great Hotel. Luc shook the box of matches and slowly slid it open.
"There's three." He looked immediately at Stellan and walked toward us. Luc handed it to him and my fingers clenched around the tray holding the cake. Stellan slipped the lid all the way off and handed it back to Luc,
"Look up the coordinates." He ordered and then gently moved the matches around until all three were visible in the box. I leaned over to look at his hand seeing the rest of the group close in around us from the corner of my eye. The matches themselves were unlike anything I'd ever seen. Thick and square each match was big enough to have delicate writing carved into the wood, but it wasn't English.
"Can you read them?" I quietly asked him. He nodded,
"They're in Greek. Stellan. Anya. Avery."
Anya let out a little gasp of surprise and we both looked at her first and then each other.
"Alexandra, Egypt." Elodie supplied and I watched everyone but Anya tense around me. "That's the coordinates."
Instead of the excited reaction I thought everyone would have at this development they all went quiet around me: Elodie staring at the coordinates on her phone, Stellan and Luc at the matches, Jack frowned at the ground and Colette was looking out the open window lost in thought. Only Anya didn't seem troubled by this development and sucked in a surprised breath,
"Bystro! Before they melt!" She pointed to my cake and I saw the candle wax, blood red, melting all over the cookies on top. I took a small breath and thought,
Please God let this be it.
I blew them out in one breath, the wax spraying small droplets all over the cake and Anya started clapping. Everyone else shook awake and half-heartedly joined in, murmurs of happy birthday interspersed with the clapping. Colette walked over and grabbed the tray from me.
"Elodie and Luc helped me buy everything and Colette helped me make the cake." Anya explained to me, proudly.
"Thanks everyone." I smiled up at them, they all nodded, still tense. Anya grabbed Luc and Elodie's shirts and started tugging them toward the kitchen after Colette.
"Help me get all the wax off the top. I knew we should have bought the white candles instead!" Anya ordered them as she pulled them along. Stellan watched them all go, one side of his mouth rising in a smile before he turned back to Jack and I, the smile gone.
"Time to teach her how to use the gun." Stellan ordered Jack and stared at him until Jack nodded. "I'll have Luc call Samarah."
"Stellan!" Anya called to him from the kitchen and he rose leaving Jack there, rubbing his compass tattoo and looking anywhere but at me. I shifted a little on the couch and he nodded to himself and then locked eyes with me,
"Tonight. After Anya falls asleep. Unless you're not up for it."
"I am." I carefully answered still not quite understanding everyone's abrupt attitude change. He gave me a fake smile, nodded and went after the rest of the group into the kitchen. I watched him go, eyeing the five of them suspiciously from my position on the couch. It must be Egypt. I wanted to start looking up anything I could on my phone but right as I went to pull it out Anya was carefully moving toward me with a giant piece of cake, everyone else behind her chatting and laughing about the cake like they hadn't all just been shocked into silence.
A/N: This one took a few versions to get out so I thank the tireless work of my editors for replying back to my needy and worried texts about it. LOL
Chapter Soundtrack
Kids - One Republic
I Feel It Coming - The Weeknd
Shape of You - Ed Sheeran