Trust From Within - Book 3 Daughter of a Monster Series

Chapter 16- A Ball of Comfort

The devastated room looks back at me as I slowly walk through the rubble, shattered bricks littering the ground as part of the room I can't even get to. I kick at one of the smaller pieces of rubble, my hands buried in the pockets of my jeans, my eyelids feeling heavy from lack of sleep. I haven't been able to, no matter how much Nathan tried to convince me to fall asleep, I'll usually just stay in his arms, brain buzzing and magic on guard, no sleep reaching me.

I saunter over to the bed, sitting down on it and looking at the bedside table, noticing a little chain, charm bracelet on it, with one odd looking charm. It almost looks incomplete, like one third of a heart or something. I pick it up, knowing it's important, and slip it into my pocket. I look around the decimated room, noticing a little wooden rectangle under some rubble. I wedge it out from underneath with a grunt.

It's the plaque Steve gave him for his birthday.

"I'm the youngest child. The rules don't apply to me." A crack runs through the middle, some of the wood splintering off from it, and it leaves that deep pit of emptiness inside me. I sit on the bed, holding the plaque in my hands, my eyes flitting around the destruction around me. My magic whines lowly, pushing at me to cheer up, but iron weights are tied to it too, and instead, it just curls up to me.

Whoever did this really wanted Dad dead.

A knock at the door has me looking up to see Tara standing there, sadness around her as she walks over to me, sitting on the bed beside me and pulling me into her side silently, not saying a word, and I rest against her. We sit on the bed for a while, me just gazing at the plaque in my hand, at the proof of Dad healing, at the evidence that he was getting better. That he was better. My magic snuggles into her too, finding comfort in the woman beside me.

"I know it's hard, I do," she says quietly, kissing my head as she strokes my hair. I nod against her, tears silently brimming in my eyes, spilling over and winding down my cheeks, but I don't sob, I don't scream and shout, I just sit against Tara as the tears silently slip out.

Like I can't hold them back anymore.

The door slowly creaks open, and I look up to see a little black spider standing there, and they slowly crawl over to me, tentatively crawling up my leg and resting in my lap. I smile down at them as I stroke their fur, wiping away my tears as the mob looks up at me, their eyes glistening in the low light.

Eventually, I leave Dad's room, heading to Liam's instead. Nate and Karn are running some tests on Dad, they can't have us in the room with them.

I knock on the door, and after hearing no response I quietly open the door, peeking inside to see Gaby asleep in the chair, her hand holding Liam's, even though it looks damn uncomfortable. I walk over to her, scooping her out of the chair and cradling her to me. She mumbles something, but otherwise stays asleep. It is pretty late, and she hasn't been getting much sleep, like me.

I gently set her on her own bed, tucking her in and giving her a kiss on the forehead, leaving her room so she can sleep. I go back into Liam's room, replacing where Gaby was sitting, taking Liam's hand as my eyes scan over him. All of his injuries are healed now, but Karn isn't sure what to do about his head, so he's just going to leave it.

Someone walks up behind me, wrapping their arms around my waist, and I lean back, inhaling his scent that calms me down a bit, his ginger hair making me smile a little. "Hey," I breathe out.

"Hey," he whispers back, kissing my neck as he rests his head there. "How's he doing?"

"He's still asleep," I answer.

"Where'd Gaby go?"

"She fell asleep, I put her in her own bed, she'll get a better sleep there, and that's a rare thing at the moment."