Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 103231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Magnus stood up and leaned across me to pull the blanket back. Once he was done, he sat back down and I gave Aleks’s hand a little tug. “Aleks, come lie down next to me,” I murmured. His eyes shifted open for a moment and then he was curling his body beneath the blanket. He was careful not to touch me, but he also didn’t release my hand. I knew it would take months, years even, before his life resembled any kind of normal, but what mattered was that he was here with me.
“Here, sit up a little,” Magnus said as he used his arm to support my upper back. I took the pills he handed me and swallowed them down with some water and then he was gently lowering me back down. Instead of trying to work me under the blanket I was lying on top of, Magnus grabbed the blanket from the other bed and placed it over me. He took my hand in his and pressed his forehead against mine.
“Sleep, Dante.”
I sighed as I let the exhaustion take over. “Love you,” I managed to murmur before blackness claimed me and I didn’t need to be cognizant to know the words were said back to me.
* * *
I’d hoped in the days that followed that Aleks would relax and begin the process of adapting to his newfound freedom, but from the moment we’d gotten on Ronan’s private jet to fly back to Seattle, my brother had retreated further and further into himself. He didn’t speak much, mostly just when someone spoke to him, and he shied away from any kind of physical contact, including mine. I’d tried several times to reassure him he was safe and that Parks was dead, but the end result would always be the same – he’d nod silently and then reach up to run his fingers over the heavy chain collar around his neck.
I hated that collar with a passion because it was a reminder that my little brother had been nothing but a possession and that very little of the boy I’d once known remained. I’d only broached Aleks about removing it one more time, but he’d adamantly refused and had nearly had a panic attack when I’d pressed the issue. It had been Magnus who’d stepped in and reminded me that Aleks was desperately clinging to the only things in his world that made sense, no matter how fucked up they were.
Magnus had been my anchor and then some. He’d played more roles than I could count as I’d tried to adjust to having back the brother who wasn’t quite that. Friend, lover, moral support, sounding board…it didn’t matter what I needed, Magnus was there. Long before we’d even landed in Seattle, he’d insisted that Aleks and I go home with him to the small ranch style house he owned in Queen Anne. Under normal circumstances, I would have been reluctant to play house with Magnus for fear that I’d ruin what was still a very new relationship, despite our commitment to one another. But we’d found ourselves in circumstances that couldn’t be any further from normal and I’d been grateful that Magnus had taken that decision out of my hands.
I’d waited until a few days after returning to Seattle to call my mother and stepfather to give them the news about Aleks. If I’d expected thanks, I would have been waiting a long time. And I knew forgiveness would be a long time coming, at least on their side. On mine, well, that was a different story.
My mother had sobbed when I’d given her the news and then had asked to talk to Aleks. I’d watched him standing emotionless as I’d heard my mother’s cries of joy coming through the phone, but he’d only said a few words here and there in response to her questions about his health. His conversation with our stepfather had been more stilted, proof that his adjustment to his new life would take a long time.
My parents were set to arrive in Seattle in a few days after they got their travel arrangements squared away. My own anxiety was sky-high at the prospect of seeing them after so many years, and at the realization that as every day of their impending arrival ticked by, I was counting down the same number of days that I had left with Aleks. I hadn’t told him about my strained relationship with our parents and I had no plans to since the focus needed to be on Aleks’s recovery. I’d broached Aleks about talking to a therapist as well as seeing a medical doctor, but he’d resisted and Magnus had told me to give him time.
The dynamic between Magnus and Aleks was an interesting one that was equally encouraging and disturbing. It wasn’t something either me nor Magnus had noticed at first, but had become clear as day the first night we’d sat down to have dinner together at Magnus’s house. Aleks had been given the guest bedroom in which he’d spent most of his first few days tucked away. He’d taken his meals in the room when he wasn’t sleeping, which had ended up being what he’d done for the first 48 hours. By the fourth night, I’d been feeling physically well enough to get out of bed myself, so Magnus and I had made dinner and we’d asked Aleks to join us at the kitchen table.