Page 128 of We Three Kings

“Angel.”

“Little one.”

“Baby girl.”

She blinks a few times, taking us in with a dazed expression. “What…what happened?”

Dad gets to her first, his hands cupping both cheeks, and he presses his forehead to hers.

“Thank fuck. You scared the hell out of us.”

Her head slowly twists from his harsh tone. “I…I didn’t m-mean too.”

The words stick in her mouth. I jump to grab the cup from the side table, but Balthazar beats me to the punch.

My brother gently taps the straw on her lips. “Shhh. It’s okay. Take a sip.”

She complies, eagerly sucking in the cool water. After being out for so long, I’m sure she’s parched.

I can’t hold back, inching closer with my hand on her thigh. “Does anything hurt?”

She finishes drinking and falls back, exhausted despite doing so little. “Just my head.”

Gaspar snarls and points to the door. “Get that nurse back in here now. She’s suffering and no one’s doing a damn thing about it.”

His worry kindles the tension already boiling in the room. Balthazar aims his anger from me to our father. “Stop freaking out. You’re scaring her.”

Now I’m pissed from Seraphina wincing from his roar. I keep my voice low but hard. “Both of you shut the fuck up.”

Tears roll down her cheeks which is what really quiets us all. Dad grabs her hand and brings her fingers to his lips. “Don’t cry. No more yelling. All we care about is you.”

Balthazar nods and caresses over her forehead and down her cheek. “You have to be okay angel. We can’t live without you. We love you.”

“You love me?”

That head injury must really have fucked her up if she has any doubt. I grab her other hand. “We all do. All three of us. You’re Mrs. Wiseman now, remember?”

The joke fails, and she cries harder. I don’t claim to be a smart guy, but this shit confuses the hell out of me. All I want to know is how to fix this.

My father and brother must feel the same way. Both of them have the same shocked expression.

They each lean in, reminding her how much she means to them, how loved she is, how she’s become the center of our world.

Nothing they swear seems to convince her. She sobs softly until she drifts off again. Leaving us more fucked up than she is.

Balthazar

Bree guns us down with her murderous stare as she and Alex bust into Seraphina’s room.

Or maybe it’s just the terror from seeing her best friend’s tiny body lying motionless in the huge bed.

Either way I deserve her scorn.

This is my fault.

I should never have let Seraphina leave without me.

I should never have let Seraphina get hurt.