Released (Caged 3)

“We need to leave now,” I said without looking at her.

“Not yet,” she replied.

“Tria, I’m not—”

“You don’t have to stay,” she said. She looked at my father and loosened her grip on my arm as she started to walk toward him.

“Tria,” I growled her name. I had no idea what else I wanted to say, but I didn’t want her to do what I thought she was considering. She looked back at me and shook her head slowly.

“I need to know, Liam.”

“Know what?”

“I need to hear everything else. I only know part of the story, Liam—your part. I need to hear the rest.”

“Bullshit.”

“I know,” she said as she took a few steps toward me again and reached up to cup my cheek. “I know what it is to you, and I understand, but there’s more than just you and me to consider, Liam.”

“I am thinking about the baby!” I said through gritted teeth. “That’s why I don’t want you anywhere near him!”

She rested her hand on my shoulder as she leaned against me.

“The baby needs love,” she told me, “yours and mine, of course, but the love of a whole family, too.”

She glanced over my shoulder, and I could see Chelsea moving up in my peripheral vision.

“You put her up to this?” I said, scowling at my aunt.

“It’s time to make amends, Liam,” Chelsea said. “We all need to move forward.”

I took a small step away from Tria and ended up with my back against the doorframe.

How fitting.

My lungs fought for air as my head began to swim.

“Not now,” I heard myself say.

Tria moved her fingers down my arms until they grasped my hands.

“Come with me,” she ordered.

A moment later she was pulling me back through the foyer and into the adjoining living room, away from the kitchen, where she shoved me down to the couch and knelt in front of me.

“Do you need one of those pills?” she asked.

I was shaking too much to give her a clear answer, but I made sure I held onto her hands. I didn’t want her going anywhere. Thankfully, the Balrog’s Backpack was nearby, and Tria had my anxiety medication in it.

I couldn’t even remember the name of the damn pills. I only knew they worked. The shaking stopped within a few minutes, and I was left with just the desire to sleep it all off. I felt like the morning after a bad night of drinking, only without the headache.

“Better?” Tria asked.

I tilted my head to the side and realized she was next to me on the couch.

“Yeah,” I said. I glanced around and saw Michael just outside the room, looking down at me. My father was several feet away from him as if he were trying to hide or something. Too fucking late for that. Chelsea held a glass of water and asked if I wanted any, but I declined.

“You’re calming down a lot faster now,” Tria observed, “even after such a short time.”