𝐒𝐲𝐧 ┃𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

63. 𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒

???

Queen

My ears were flooded with chatter as I stared into the darkness. I could feel the comfortable bed underneath me and I moaned into the cool sheets. At that moment...everything became completely silent until a small snicker made my eyes snap open. With blurry vision, I made out legs standing at my bedside and when my boom became clear, I could see Cain holding a hand over his mouth trying to stifle a laugh.

"Is the bed that comfortable?" He chuckled.

I groaned, pushing myself up on the bed with heavy arms. I felt like a fucking log. "What are you doing here, Cain?"

"Well, we were worried about you," he said.

"We?" I asked.

Suddenly, my skin tingled with the feel of several pairs of eyes on me and I spun around on the bed, eyes widened. I could see Iris standing beside Cain with a bouquet, Xoe standing next to her in a baby blue knit sweater, and puffy red eyes. It looked like she hadn't slept in days. She gave me a small smile and my eyes moved to her shoulders where I saw Abel's arm and raised a single brow. At my noticing, she moved his arm away and crossed her arms.

Subtle.

I looked straight at the foot of my bed and saw my father looking down at me. His hands were tucked into the pants of his slacks and his sleeves were rolled up, his hair a mess from the obviously many times he ran his hands through it.

What could he have possibly been stressed about?

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because I'm angry," he said. "What were you thinking—" He stopped himself from continuing with a glance around the room and I raised a brow.

"You're angry?" I asked, crossing my arms. "I should be the one mad at you."

"What for?"

"Lilith," I said simply, careful not to say much in front of Xoe. As I became more aware of her presence, I scanned my surroundings. I was back in my bedroom...in New York. Not in Hell with Saint and...

Syn.

Visions of what happened in the bathroom flashed through my mind and I winced in pain. My hand reached to my side where I vividly remembered being stabbed and I stared into space as I felt nothing. It was like I could easily remember the pain I felt at his betrayal, but not anything else. The physical wound was long gone, but the emotional one would take a little while longer to heal.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"He's not here," Iris spoke up, giving me a sad smile.

"Then where is he?"

"Who is he?" Xoe spoke up, curiously glancing around the room. "Sorry, I'm a bit out of the loop. I just heard that you were hurt..." She sniffled.

I placed a smile on my face, not wanting to worry her already more than we have, and opened my arms. "I'm okay, I promise."

She walked toward me. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Give me a hug, girl."

She smiled and wrapped her arms over my shoulder for a hug, carefully not to touch the place where my supposed wound should've been. When she pulled away, she looked down at me with slight worry creasing her features. She tucked her curly dark hair behind her ear before crossing her arms and tilting her head.

"So what happened?" She asked. "Did you get robbed? Do I need to kick someone's ass?"

"Umm." I swallowed. "I don't- uh, I don't really remember."