Alpha Erased (Alpha Girl 9)

I tried to say no, but Cosette pushed me toward a seat on the couch, and they started debating over the movie before finally turning one on. It seemed awkward to leave now, so I stayed.

I didn’t really care what we watched. I was just glad to be included, and they didn’t make a big thing about me being new. It was almost like hanging out with old friends. It was like I knew them from somewhere. Some other life.

My headache started to come back, and I thought about leaving. But Dastien came over with a warm brownie and some ice cream on top, and I couldn’t leave. Not yet.

I took a bite and moaned. “Oh my God. This is the best ice cream in the world. How did I live before now?” I kicked off my flip-flops, tucked my feet under me, and settled back against the cushions.

Dastien sat next to me. “I’ll just have to make sure I keep it stocked so you keep coming over.” He tapped his spoon to mine. “Cheers.”

A surprised laugh bubbled up, out, and free before I could stop it.

I knew I needed to get back to my apartment. I had to take my meds on a schedule, or I’d start to go a little insane with this need to run away again, but I couldn’t make myself move. Cosette was sitting across Chris’s lap in a love seat, laughing at the movie.

The couch was so comfortable that it was almost like lying on a cloud. I stretched out, resting my feet on the pouf, and I realized that this might be a dream. Everything was exactly how I always wanted it, and I had friends and this guy who seemed interested in me.

Dastien was sitting close, not close enough to touch, but close enough for me to feel the warmth from his body. We were already a third of the way through the movie, and I didn’t want tonight to end. Cosette said something to Dastien, but I wasn’t paying attention. My stomach was full for the first time in a long time, and I felt safe, comfortable, happy.

When my eyes got heavy, I tried to fight it, but then a soft blanket covered me and I couldn’t anymore.

I drifted off to Dastien’s soft voice talking to Chris in French. I couldn’t understand the words. Sleep was just too close for that. But the sound, the cadence, the texture of his voice had this soft growl-like timbre to it that soothed me in just the right way.

And just as I was about to tip over into sleep, I felt lips brush against my forehead. I smelled pine and earth and home.

“Je t’aime, chérie.”

“I missed you so much, Dastien.” The words were out, and I couldn’t think too hard about what they meant. But this was such a nice dream. I didn’t want to wake up in the morning and be in a hospital again.

I hoped this wasn’t another one of my delusions.

“Don’t let them take me again. I’m too tired to fight anymore.” My voice was heavy with sleep, and I couldn’t make my eyes open even if I wanted to. “I’m just so, so tired. I don’t have anything left.”

“Sleep now. I’m here, and no one will take you from me again.” The way he said it, without a hint of question or doubt, had me relaxing the last little bit.

And with that, I fell into the first deep, dreamless sleep that I’d had in months.

Chapter Twenty-Four

DASTIEN

“She’s asleep.” I’d been fighting my wolf for the last two hours, and finally, I could relax a little. Tessa wouldn’t see my amber eyes or how tenuous my control was anymore. I didn’t want to scare her before, but now she was asleep in my lap.

I brushed my hand through her hair. The words she’d said just before she fell asleep both scared me and gave me hope. Those had been Tessa’s words. Not Cassie’s. That was the real Tessa I’d talked to. The one that had been kidnapped and hidden for so long.

I was getting her back, bit by bit.

Since she was asleep, I could hold her and see through the magic. She was painfully thin, but her color was better than it’d been in the elevator. The scent of death and decay wasn’t as strong. Which meant we had time if the fey stayed away.

Cosette lowered the volume of the TV and came to sit on the pouf in front of me. “We can’t let her take any more of the meds she talked about.”

“I know.” I wasn’t even planning on letting her go back to that apartment. I needed to find a way to get her out of here without the magic reacting and attacking her.

“Whatever they are, we have to assume it’s made her more susceptible to my mother’s magic.” She looked at Chris for a second, and then back to me. “Chris texted Claudia, and she said that she wasn’t given anything but fluids in the hospital. Which means she’s been cleansed from whatever that potion is for days. Unless she took some when she got home, which we can’t find out now. I would go into her apartment and take them, but the doors are warded. My mother would know and—”

“She was here.” I looked up at Cosette. “Tessa spoke to me.” My voice shook, and I tried to hang on. I didn’t want to wake up Tessa with my crying, but that’s all I wanted to do. I wanted to pick her up, cradle her against my body, and let all of my emotions out.

But that wouldn’t solve anything.

Tessa needed me to be strong.