Fortune Favors the Bold

22

Kalani returned to her our bedroom even though Tamara and Assad fought against the thought. They claimed she should remain close enough in case she needed something, but Kalani knew they had bigger reasons for trying to keep her close. If she remained in near proximity, she couldn't be hurt badly enough by the time they arrived at her side. Neither of them had confessed it but it was evident in their ongoing attempts to persuade her to stay even after she'd healed fully.

Now, she treaded slowly down the abandoned hall that led toward the two rooms at its end that remained untouched for however long she'd been away. Her feet lingered with every step she took closer like she would be prepared to face the truth in her loneliness if she just waited a few moments more.

It didn't matter how much she pushed it off, Kalani never thought she'd be fully ready to step into Not-Castiel's empty room. Not after the news she'd received from Tamara the night before.

Rather than stopping in front of her bedroom door, Kalani continued further down. She didn't dare glance in the direction of her Pair's closed bedroom door as she moved past it. Her eyes were set on something at the end of the hall.

Slowly, her footsteps came to a stop in front of the screen she'd previously looked at with him. She'd muttered something she couldn't remember directed toward him when his gaze set past her and on the screen for the first time. Kalani had involuntarily taken notice of the wonder in his eyes that had almost sparkled as he took in each name. His lips had parted in thought.

The screen of names was shattered beyond any understanding now. While staring at it, Kalani tried to envision him picking up a chair from the cafeteria and swinging it with enough force to bring so much destruction. How many times did he have to hit it to cause such ruin to the previously perfected screen?

Why had he done it again? To make sure nobody knew she was alive until she was healthy enough to make her own appearance.

To protect her.

It was hard to imagine the man who'd shown enough emotions to be counted on one hand doing something so passionately. Then again, his anger the last time she saw him had revealed there was more to Not-Castiel than Kalani had ever imagined.

She lifted her hand to hook around her elbow, remembering what Tamara had told her last night. "The blood tests are done," she's whispered anxiously, carefully watching the way each word would affect Kalani. "The sample doesn't match anybody's –none of the victims and... none of ours. That means it can only be his. I'm sorry."

"It's my fault," Kalani whispered, her gaze sliding to the bottom of the screen's cracked frame. It was her fault he'd stomped out in anger. Her fault he hadn't been as clearheaded as he usually was.

Her fault he was vulnerable.

She remembered when she'd left Mason's bedroom to find him slouching against the wall, coughing from the shock the attack had on his body. He'd been so determined to force her away when the timeframe on his anklet had become too narrow, even grown flustered with her when she'd refused. In the end, he'd left her.

No, Kalani stopped herself just as he'd stopped her fall before her body splattered onto the ground beneath her. How his jaw had been clenched with the struggle and his arms trembled under the work of her weight and gravity's natural pull. Even with the blood trailing down his brow and into his eyes, he'd saved her.

He was right. He'd defended her, protected her, saved her, trusted her when she'd given him nothing in return.

Now, he was dead because of her.

"I'm sorry," Kalani breathed, shivering with the growing chilly air around her. In the hall's silence, she felt bare... alone. Not-Castiel had taken up such a large portion of her existence in this building and she hadn't even noticed it until he was gone.