Chapter 26

Aria’s POV

I was worried about Piper, but I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to Julia and Harold. After all, my curiosity over what Lucian might say was only part of the reason I came tonight. My main priority had been to say farewell to his parents, knowing this would likely be the last time that I saw them.

“Oh, Aria,” Julia said, as I gave her a tight hug. “Are you sure you have to leave? You can’t stay and work things out with Lucian?”

“I’m sorry,” I told her and meant it. In another life, maybe we could have all been happy together. As it was, Lucian and I felt doomed, and I was growing exhausted allowing myself to have glimmers of hope otherwise.

Julia squeezed my shoulders. “It’s not your fault.”

Gods, I loved this woman as much as if she’d been my own mother. As an orphan, she was the closest thing I’d ever had to one. I hated to lose her, but I didn’t see how I could keep her while distancing myself from the pack. It wouldn’t be right. I had to cut everyone off.

After my hug with Julia ended, Harold came in to hug me next. “No matter what happens,” he said, “don’t become a stranger.”

I wished I could promise that, and it broke my heart a little to be unable to.

“Thank you both,” I said to them. Pulling away from Harold, I took one last look at each of them. It was a bittersweet kind of moment as we all looked at each other. They didn’t say it, but I think they knew, as much as I did, that this was likely the last time we would see each other.

“You take care of yourself,” Harold said.

“If you need anything, you can call us,” Julia said. She didn’t add Lucian doesn’t have to know, but I still heard it clearly in her voice.

“Goodbye,” I told them and, with one last look, turned and walked away.

Jasper was waiting for me near the front door. He pointed to the suit coat hanging over my shoulders. Lucian’s. I’d totally forgotten about it.

“No,” I said and shucked it off. Folding it, I placed it on top of a chair near the door. Then, I straightened, rallying all of my strength. I wanted to fall apart, but I couldn’t. Piper needed me. I had to be at my best to be able to assist her as Dr. A.

“I’m ready,” I told Jasper. He was holding the handle to the front door but not quite opening it yet. Instead, he was looking at me rather strangely, as if seeing me for the first time. “Jasper?”

“Right. Sorry.” Shaking his head, he opened the door.

Jasper’s POV

I didn’t understand what was happening to me. I’d only brought Aria here tonight because I thought it would be funny as hell watching Lucian squirm. That Aria looked fantastic only added to the fun.

Yet, when I found her talking to Lucian in the garden, I hadn’t felt amused at all. And now, as I watched her pull herself together near the door, I almost felt… fond? Was that possible? Was I capable of feeling that?

She’d been crying in the garden. Her eye makeup was messed up, with the dampness pulling much of her eyeliner down to the bottom of her eye rather than the top.

Yet, even so, after shucking Lucian’s coat, she’d pulled herself together like some kind of goddess, tall and proud – unshakable. Admirable.

Her inner strength was quiet and proud. She didn’t feel the need to spread it around; she simply was. If someone wasn’t looking, they could miss how brilliant she was.

Lucian didn’t see. I hadn’t either for a while – not until this very moment.

Aria gestured toward the door. “We have to go now, Jasper. There’s no time for games. Piper works at the hospital. If she needs me, that’s where we have to go.”

“The hospital…?” I felt like my brain was offline, all of my thoughts still enamored with her.

“Yes,” she said, giving me a flat look. “Can you take me, or should I call a cab?”

“No, I can take you,” I said quickly. Focus, Jasper, damn it. Pulling open the door, I motioned for her to go first. As soon as she did, I followed her out, closing the door behind me.

In my car, as we near the hospital, Aria waved toward the curb in the front. “You can just leave me here.”

“Who will take you home?” I asked.

“I’ll call a cab.”

I scoffed. I was curious about what she was doing here, but I also wasn’t ready for my night with her to end just yet. Whatever she was doing here in this hospital, I wanted to see it.

“It’s really okay,” she said, with a tiny edge to her voice now. Was I making her nervous by insisting? Why would that be? Wouldn’t she be happy to have a reliable way home?

“I don’t mind waiting. Here. I’ll park and we can go in together.”

Her features scrunched for a moment, like she was trying to figure out a way to turn me down. After a moment, she sighed. “Fine. I can’t waste time.”

Fortunately, the hospital at this time of day wasn’t busy. After parking, Aria hopped out of the car and rushed toward the doors. I quickly fell in step beside her.

“Is Piper a patient?” I asked. Maybe Aria needed to visit her for some reason.

“No,” Aria replied. “She works here.”

“Oh…” That didn’t answer any of my questions. In fact, it generated a few more.

We rushed to the elevator and inside, Aria pushed the button for the third floor. Up and up we went, then exited. I followed Aria left down the hallway and around a corner. Eventually we stopped outside of a Healer’s office.

But not just any healer. This was the office for Dr. A.

Inside the office, the illustrious Dr. A was standing near the back of the room. Behind the reception desk was Aria’s roommate and friend, Cathy. We’d met before, earlier that night. When she spotted Aria, she breathed a sigh of obvious relief. That look hardened the moment she took in me at her side.

Before Aria could explain my presence to Cathy, or Aria’s need to be in Dr. A’s office to me, the others in the room turned to gawk at us. There were a half dozen middle-aged men and women, all dressed to the nines in expensive clothing and jewelry.

I’d seen this family around before, as we’d sometimes traversed the same social circles. They were always too stuffy for my tastes. They just loved flaunting their wealth and rubbing in how their patriarch Caleb was a great military genius, a hero of the pack!

The man had to be in his 80’s by now, and rarely left the house. Yet these leeches seemed to love milking his reputation for all it was worth.

For them to be here in Dr. A’s office on an evening like tonight meant something had to be wrong with dear old dad. Maybe he was finally seeing the end to the tunnel.

“Luna, you are friends with Dr. A?” one of the men said. He was Caleb’s oldest son, the snottiest of the bunch, in my opinion.

“Yes,” Aria said. “What’s going on?”

“My father is dying,” the man said. “Dr. A is being slow to act. You must convince her to step in.”