Unleashing Chaos

Chapter Seventeen

After our last meal in Infernis, my entire family accompanies Jace and me to the portal. My brothers and their partners spend more time saying goodbye to him than they do me. They've created little inside jokes with Jace, and him and Grub even made up a handshake that ends with them licking what I believe symbolizes an ice cream cone for Jace and a certain part of my brother's anatomy for Grub. And all of them say they can't wait until he is here for good.

I've just helped my family fall in love with the man that will never be my partner.

Father moves in beside me and wraps an arm around my shoulder and lowers his voice, saying, "I'm surprised that you found such a perfect fit so quickly, Desideria. I must admit that I had my doubts when you left about you finding a human to take as a partner. I'm proud of you."

My heart sinks to the pit of my stomach and I have never felt so guilty in my life. "Thank you," I murmur, leaning into my dad's embrace and hugging him around the waist. "But Dad, he hasn't agreed yet, so don't—"

He waves me off. "Yeah, yeah, it's only a matter of time, though. I can see it in his eyes. He loves this place almost as much as he loves you."

My heart leaps back from my stomach all the way into my throat.

Jace could never love me. Jace doesn't believe in love. We're friends—maybe even best friends—but Jace will never let himself love anyone again.

That thought makes me sad. I push it away to finish up the show for my family.

"Desi, come on, the medium is ready for us," Jace calls, holding out his hand to me.

"All right, I'm coming," I say, turning back toward my parents and wrapping my mom in a hug before addressing everyone. "I love you guys, and I'll see you soon, okay? Thank you for being so kind to him."

Avaros and Lux exchange wicked grins. "That fine specimen of human better return with you."

I roll my eyes and wave over my shoulder. "Okay, on that note...bye!"

I take Jace's hand and intertwine our fingers, and after going through the motions with the medium, we step into the portal.

"You ready to go back to reality?" I ask, giving his hand a squeeze.

"Yeah, it's time. My stomach isn't feeling well and I'm starting to feel lightheaded. I guess my two days in hell are officially up."

"Oh, shit," I say, placing my palm on his forehead and checking for a fever. I let out a relieved sigh when I find his forehead a normal temperature. "Okay, no fever, you're fine. You'll be good as soon as we get back to the human realm. Close your eyes, I think we are about to—"

And with that, we are off, and within a few moments, we are back in the broom closet in the bus station, being greeted by the gum-chewing blonde.

Jace still looks a little woozy when we reach the BMW, so I pull a bottle out of my purse and shake a pill out of it.

"Here, take this," I say, handing him the pill and a bottle of water.

"What is it?"

"Devil's claw root. It's only found in the human realm, but it's the only thing we've ever found that helps the humans when they've stayed a little too long in Infernis. It'll help the nausea. I grabbed some before we left just in case this happened."

He nods and swallows the pill before helping me load our suitcases into the back. He hands me the keys and I drive us home. My stomach performs anxious somersaults the entire way and my brain buzzes with thousands of thoughts. I think about my family's reaction to Jace, the responsibility of my Circle, but mostly, I think about the man next to me. Jace's hands rest on his stomach, his eyes closed, and soft snores drift through his lips. I wonder how things will change between us now that he knows everything about me, where I come from...and what happened between us in the lust exhibit.