Chapter 2 TWO

༺ VAELIA ༻

I don’t know how long I sat on the floor of my bedroom after the matte black SUV disappeared into the night. I do not remember sliding down the wall, my knees pulling to my chest or the way my breath caught in my throat with rough gasps until my lungs felt like they were on fire. The thing that I do remember is the picture of that gold signet ring. It is still burning in my mind.

I must have passed out from the sheer, exhausting weight of the terror, because the next thing I knew, a sliver of pale morning sunlight was cutting through the gap in my curtains, and a deep, resonant voice was drifting up the stairs.

“…told the captain I’d be late. The precinct is a madhouse this morning, Ma. Just dropping these off and I’m heading back.”

My eyes popped open all of a sudden. My heart did a hard thud, against my ribs and it hurt a lot.

Elias. Lily’s twin brother.

I sat up, my muscles still aching as if I’d been run over by a truck. I checked the clock on my nightstand. 10:15 AM. I had overslept by two hours. Panic flared in my chest. Not because I was late, but because I needed to pack. I needed to get out of this house before the sun went down.

I quickly washed my face in the small en-suite bathroom, scrubbing the pale, haunted look from my cheeks, and splashed cold water over my neck. I pulled on a soft, oversized cream sweater and jeans, running a brush through my mousy blonde hair.

Act normal, I told myself, staring at my reflection. You are Catrina. You are a graphic designer. You are safe. It was all a lie!

I took a breath and put on a small smile even though I was tired. Then opened the door. The smell of frying bacon, roasted coffee and rosemary filled the air as I walked down the stairs. It smelled like a home. A real home that felt warm and loving.

When I turned the corner into the kitchen, the scene before me was so painfully beautiful it made my chest ache. Fina was at the stove, singing hymns softly as she flipped pancakes. Maya was slumped at the island, scrolling on her phone with one hand and shoving a piece of bacon into her mouth with the other. Lily was pouring orange juice, her hair wrapped in a silk towel. And leaning against the counter, holding a brown paper bag, was Elias.

He was out of his police uniform today, wearing a fitted navy-blue henley that stretched across his broad shoulders and dark jeans. His dark hair was slightly messy, like he’d been running his hands through it, and his jaw was dusted with a day’s worth of stubble. He was laughing at something Maya said, the sound of a rich, warm baritone that vibrated right through the floorboards and settled somewhere in my chest I didn't have a name for.

I stopped in the doorway, my fingers tightening on the doorframe.

I had a crush on Elias Halloway. A massive, stupid, entirely inappropriate crush.

He was the golden boy, you know. The hardworking detective who spent his weekends pulling double shifts to help his mother pay the mortgage. He also smelled like black coffee.. There was something else, a little bit of a metallic smell, from the gun he wore on his duty belt but the smell of gun oil was faint. He was everything my world wasn’t.

In the world I have known all my life, men like my father and my brother were allowed to sleep with hundreds of women. It was considered a rite of passage, a way to prove their dominance and manhood. But women? Women were vessels. We were currency. If a woman lost her virginity before marriage, she was disgusting and worthless. I had been hiding my purity, guarding it like a shield, because giving it to a man like Elias would mean I could never go back to my family. It would make me a traitor.

But looking at him now, the thought of my family’s archaic, brutal rules made me want to scream so badly.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Elias said, his dark eyes locking onto mine. A slow, easy smile spread across his face, crinkling the corners of his eyes. “We thought you were going to sleep through the entire morning. Mom was about to send a search party.”

“Sorry,” I said, sounding a bit out of breath and suddenly very aware of how my sweater fit, on my body. “I didn’t sleep well. Tossed and turned.”

“Nightmares?” he asked, His smile went away a little bit. His police instincts started working. He is really good at figuring out what people are thinking and feeling. This is something I really like, about him. It also scares me. I love that he can read people well but sometimes Nightmares and my own thoughts are things I do not want him to know about.

“Just… stress,” I said with a smooth lie and a small shrug. “Wedding panic is contagious, apparently.”

Elias chuckled, pushed off the counter then walked over to me. My brain just stopped working for a second. He was really close to me now and I could see the bits of gold, in his dark brown eyes. “Well, it looks like you fought very well,” he said softly. His big warm hand squeezed my shoulder for a moment.  “You okay, Catrina?”

The touch sent a jolt of pure electricity straight down my spine. My stomach did a violent flip, a swarm of butterflies erupting in my chest. I swallowed hard, forcing myself to meet his gaze. “I’m fine. Just… tired.”

From where she was, Lily let out a loud, dramatic gasp.

“Oh my God!” Lily shouted, pointing a spatula at me. “I knew it! I told you guys!”

I blinked, the spell breaking. “Told us what?”

“Yesterday!” Lily said, her eyes wide and triumphant. “We were talking about you guarding the Crown Jewels, and Maya said you look at guys like they’re going to bite you. But I saw the way you were looking at Elias when he walked in! You do have someone you like! You’re giving someone attention!”

Maya snorted, nearly choking on her bacon. “Lily, you’re delusional. She’s just staring because he’s the only man in this house who doesn’t wear pastel polo shirts.”

“Shut up, Maya,” Lily shot back, grinning at me. “Admit it, Catrina. You’ve got a crush on a special someone and I think that person is here, right beside you!”

My face turned red, an embarrassing feeling that made my neck feel hot. I looked away. I found myself staring at the wood floor noticing all the little lines, in the wood. “I don’t have a crush on anyone,” I mumbled, though my voice lacked any real conviction. 

Elias was quiet. I risked a glance up at him. He wasn’t laughing. He was just looking at me with a soft, knowing smile, his head tilted slightly to the side. He was a detective; he knew when someone was hiding something. But there was no judgment in his eyes. Just a quiet, warm amusement.

“I’m flattered " Elias said. His voice was low and gentle. It made me feel funny. My toes curled up inside my socks. “But I think Catrina’s standards are a little higher than a guy who eats cold pizza for breakfast and forgets to take out the trash.”

“See?” Maya said triumphantly. “She’s out of your league, Eli.”

“I brought you guys fresh potatoes,” Elias said, ignoring his sister and gesturing to the brown paper bag on the counter. “From the farmer’s market down on 4th. Ma said you were making the gratin for the rehearsal dinner.”

“Oh, bless you, sweetheart,” Fina said, turning from the stove and wiping her hands on her apron. She walked over and kissed his cheek. “You’re a lifesaver. Are you heading back to the precinct now?”

“Yeah,” Elias said, sighing. He checked his watch. “Captain’s breathing down my neck about the Miller case. I just wanted to drop these off.”

“Wait!” Maya said, sliding off her stool. “Hold up! Let me go grab my coat. You can give me a ride to the mall. Ubers are surging right now and I’m not paying twelve bucks for a three-mile trip.”

Elias rolled his eyes “Come on slowpoke, if you make me wait one more minute, I'm leaving you.”

Maya sprinted out of the kitchen, her footsteps thudding up the stairs.

I stood there totally frozen. Fina was singing again. Lily was playfully arguing with Elias about who got to eat the last pancake. At some point Lily won, sliding it onto her plate with a triumphant grin, and Elias muttered something under his breath that made Fina swat his arm with her dish towel. Maya's voice floated down from upstairs, yelling that she couldn't find her other shoe. Normal, stupid, everyday chaos.

It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

And then, the image of the matte black SUV flashed in my mind again.

The gold signet ring. 

My breath caught in my throat. The air, in the kitchen was really thick and hot all of a sudden. My vision started to go fuzzy around the edges. Everything got darker on the sides.

If I stayed here, they would all die because of me. Arthur Halloway had died fighting men like devils in human form. But the death this lovely family will face will hurt more than anything, all because of me. Because I decided to have a life different from where I come from. I looked at Fina’s smiling face. I looked at Lily, glowing with wedding joy. I looked at Elias, who was currently ruffling Lily’s hair, his eyes full of affection.

I have to leave, I thought, the realization hitting me again with the force of a physical blow coming from all directions. I have to leave right now. Before they finish breakfast. Before Maya comes back downstairs.

I took a step backward, my hand reaching for the doorframe to steady myself.

“Catrina?” Elias’s voice stopped the ringing sound in my ears.  He had stopped laughing and was looking at me, his brow furrowed in concern. “Hey. You look pale. Are you okay?”

“I…” I tried to speak, but my tongue felt like lead. My chest was heaving, but no air was reaching my lungs. The kitchen was spinning, the warm yellow light fracturing into blinding, jagged shards.

The terror of the SUV, the crushing weight of the truth unfolding, the desperate, aching love I felt for this family, and the sharp, painful longing for the man standing in front of me, it all collided in my chest at once. My knees buckled.

“Catrina!”

The last thing I felt before the world went completely black was the sudden, desperate rush of movement, and then strong, solid arms catching me, pulling me flush against a chest that smelled of crisp cotton and black coffee.