Shattered (The Protectors 11)

And probably would.

He came awake slowly, but the second his eyes landed on mine, he closed them and let out this huge sigh of relief. “Thank you,” he whispered, though I wasn’t sure who he was thanking. He opened his eyes again and then tugged me closer to him.

“I’m sorr—”

That was all I got out before he kissed me. It was a sweet, searching kiss that I felt in the very marrow of my bones and it chased away the little bit of the remaining chill that my father’s words had left behind.

“Missed you,” Jace said softly.

“Missed you too,” I responded. “I heard you, Jace. Every word. I felt every touch. It made it easier to come back to you.”

He nodded and caressed my face. “Not going anywhere, Caleb,” he reminded me.

I knew we’d have to talk about what I’d done at the courthouse to deal with my stress, but I instinctively knew Jace would let me talk to him about when I was ready.

“Eli’s going to take me to see Willa.”

“I’ll come with you,” Jace said, but when he started to move, I grabbed his wrist.

“Stay here and sleep, Jace. I know you haven’t,” I said as I ran my thumb along one of the dark circles beneath his eyes. “Mav and Eli will be with me, and I’m sure we’ll take at least one other of Ronan’s guys with us. Knowing Mav, it’ll probably be ten.”

Jace didn’t smile. I could tell he didn’t want to heed my request.

“I need this, Jace.”

I was glad when he didn’t ask me to explain. It wasn’t something I really understood myself. While I loved being able to lean on Jace, I wanted there to be a day where I didn’t have to. But I needed to start with baby steps.

“Okay, call me when you get there,” he said with resignation.

“I’ll text you so I don’t wake you,” I amended.

He nodded and I kissed him. I could tell it was hard for him to let me go, but he did.

I took a few minutes to get cleaned up in the bathroom and changed my clothes. Eli and Mav were waiting for me downstairs. Eli had a bottle of water for me and what had to be the biggest sandwich I’d ever seen. He thrust it at me and said, “Eat every bite or no kid.”

I smiled and wrapped my arms around him. He looked like death warmed over, but he was still taking care of me. I released him and said to Mav, “When we get home, he doesn’t leave your bed for at least a week, do you hear me? I don’t care what you have to do to keep him there.”

“I’m sure I can think of something to keep him occupied,” Mav said with a wink. Color flushed my brother’s cheeks.

To me he said, “Eat your sandwich.” To Mav it was, “Get in the car before I take you up on that offer right now.”

I followed them out to the car, forcing myself to eat the sandwich. I wasn’t particularly hungry, but I knew I needed to get something in my system.

The drive to Magnus and Dante’s house took a couple of hours, since we had to take the ferry to the mainland. It gave my addled mind time to clear and by the time we reached the house, a thought had started to take form in my mind. I set it aside as Magnus ushered us inside. I knew the party was taking place across the street at Leo’s house, because I’d seen several balloons in the shape of Avenger characters attached to the mailbox, and I could hear kids shouting from the back yard.

“How are you feeling?” Magnus asked.

“Better,” I said.

“Well, she’s back here,” Magnus said as he led me down a hallway. Mav and Eli stayed in the living room, presumably to give me privacy with Willa.

Magnus opened a door for me. I’d assumed it would be either his and Dante’s room, or the room I knew they kept for Magnus’s grandson, Matty, for when he spent the night with them, but I was wrong on both counts.

It was Aleks’s room.

I could tell from the simple furnishings and lack of superhero paraphernalia. Not to mention that Aleks himself was in the room. He was lying on the floor next to Willa, who was lying on her back on a blanket. Aleks was holding the small stuffed panda that Silver had given us in Germany – the one he’d said was Willa’s favorite.

He’d been right.

The toy never failed to soothe the baby when she was particularly fussy.

“Aleks,” Magnus called. Despite how quietly he’d said Aleks’s name, the young man still jumped. His wide eyes went from Magnus to me and it took him a second to relax.

“Oh, sorry,” he said as he sat up. He carefully picked Willa up and cradled her against his chest.