Plié (Lost Birds Book 2)

Part 30 No Belt.

Three thousand and twenty eight. It wasn't nearly high enough for me to hear the sound of the door latch being lifted. My shoulders tensed and my good hand clinched at the fabric of my shirt as I waited.

Even the dim light from the moon was to bright for my eyes when the door opened. I flinched back and blinked several times in an attempt to see what was going on.

"Fucking shit! Juro por Dios que voy a matar a esa perra." Tao whispered growled. Even with him switching between English and Spanish I could tell that he was cursing about my mother.

"If she's hurt I'll help you do it." I recognized Cam's voice as well. My eyes still hadn't adjusted but I could make out two figures as they crouched down to my level.

"Get out here right now dulzura." Tao hissed. He pointed at the space in front of him as if the gesture would add power to his words.

"No!" I whisper yelled back. "Get out of here."

I reached for the door thinking I could try to pull it shut from the inside. It wouldn't really matter if they didn't put the lock back on but at least it would be better than my mother finding me not in here at all.

My hand didn't make it to the door. Tao's hand shot out grabbing mine. He tugged and then suddenly I was falling. I braced for the pain of crashing into the ground. I didn't try to use my other arm. I'd learned the hard way not to do that. My face would take the fall a lot better than my injured shoulder would.

I didn't hit the ground though. One minute I was falling and then the next I was surrounded by warm cinnamon and leather. I pushed at Tao's chest but his arms didn't budge. It was only once before I pulled in a deep clean breath. My lungs filled with fresh air tinged with cinnamon and the reality of not being locked in the cellar hit me.

Theo was right. No matter what I did or what happened they just kept coming back.

Cameron's hand smoothed down over my hair. Tao's cinnamon scent picked up a few notes of citrus and the combination made something inside me snap. My shoulder shook. I tried to hold the last of myself together but I failed miserably and suddenly I was crying.

"Te tengo a ti." Tao whispered pulling me tighter against him. "Estás a salvo con nosotros."

Tao paused and cleared his throat. He seemed to realize that I had no idea what he was saying and switched over for me.

"You're safe now dulzura. We've got you." Tao said. He tucked his head into the crook of my neck and held me while I cried. Cam's hand continued to smooth down over my hair even as he spoke to someone I couldn't see.

"We found her..." Cam said quietly. "Yeah, physically she seems... well... no worse than before."

"Ok..." Cam said. "Yup... Ok."

Cameron continued to stroke my hair and Tao would occasionally whisper reassurance until the tears finally stopped. Now that I wasn't shattered I decided it was time to face the music. I shifted and Tao's arms loosened. He allowed me to turn around in his lap but he didn't let me climb away entirely.

"I'm sorry." I said wiping away any lingering tears.

Tao snorted and Cam shook his head.

"Crazy girl you can't ignore Aydan's phone calls like that unless you want a swat team swarming in here to get you." Cam said.

"And he is not being sarcastic dulzura..." Tao said.

"You should have seen the shit storm that we caused when you disappeared." Cam said.