CAMILLA’S P.O.V
I stared at my mate incredulously. “I healed two people before her despite you begging me not to.
Healing Riley alone couldn’t have caused whatever just happened. If I had listened to you earlier
when-”
He shook his head. “Don’t, Cami, don’t try to take the me for this. What happened is done and
now, all we can do is try to fix it before it gets worse. You cannot use your powers under any
circumstances. Am I clear?”
I didn’t like the order in his tone but I knew he was only doing it to protect me so I nodded. He leaned
forward and ced a lingering kiss against my forehead. He smelled just like himself, but he looked like
he had been through hell. When he pulled back, he exhaled deeply as if he had been waiting for a
chance to do that. He pushed the tray closer to me as if trying to spur me to eat. I took a bite and nearly
moaned. I noticed him watching me intently so I decided to bridge a different topic.
“Is L still here?” I asked and he nodded. “Did she say how long she was staying?”
“I didn’t asl. I just made sure she wasfortable and I came back to you. I haven’t done much of
talking to anyone if I’m being honest.”
“What about the girls? Are they okay?”
“Yeah, they don’t know what is happening. Audrey thinks you were just taking a long nap because you
weren’t feeling good. I told her that she coulde see you after dinner. She wasn’t happy about it but
she came to terms with it.”
I wanted to go and see her immediately but I still felt weak and out of sorts. It was almost like I was a
stranger in my body. Something inside of me felt hollow and empty, like it would never be filled again. I
thought back to the small hole in my chest that I saw in the mirror and instinctively, my hands went up
to my chest and I rubbed softly. It wasn’t until I noticed Ryker’s eyes on me that I realized I had been
doing it. I dragged my hand down and turned away to hide the flush building on my cheeks.
“Is something wrong?” he asked but I shook my head. I hadn’t told him about what I saw yet. I hadn’t
wanted to give him more of a reason to worry. “You know better than to lie to me, Cami. Does your
chest hurt? Do you want me to call the physician?”
“There is nothing that he can do for me,” I whispered softly and concern grew on
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his face.
“Please, Cami, you’re making me worry.”
“A part of myself is missing,” I said finally knowing how absurd it sounded. Ryker sat there staring at
me in concern and waiting for me to borate so I did. By the time I was done, he looked lost in
thought. “I’m not sure if that is what it is but that is what I understood by it. it doesn’t matter anyway, it is
a tiny piece, I barely
noticed it.”
He smiled sadly. “Are you lying for your benefit or mine?”
I hesitated before shrugging. “Probably both,” I chuckled dryly. “I don’t want to be iplete, Ryker. I
don’t want to walk around while permanently missing something. I can’t live my life like that. It will heal,
it has to. If I don’t use my powers for a while then it will.
I wasn’t sure if I was trying to convince him or myself but it wasn’t working. We both knew that it was
never going to heal. I was stuck this way because I chose to be careless with powers that I didn’t
understand. I was stuck this way because I wouldn’t listen and I allowed my stubbornness take control.
Ryker looked like he wanted to speak. He opened his mouth to say something when there was a soft
knock on the door. It opened slowly to reveal Audrey running in. Behind her was Aurora who slowly
wobbled on her feet. Despite the initial sadness and damper on the room, a smile broke out on my face
when Audrey leaped onto the bed and into myp.
Ryker and I were barely able to move the tray of food aside before shended. Her hands wrapped
around my waist as she buried her face into my robe. I stroked her soft curls marveling at the feel of
them under my fingertips and her mere presence in the room.
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“I thought your dad said you couldn’te until dinner?” I asked and her cheeks flushed pink. I raised
a brow in her direction and she promptly looked away. “Audrey Valentina Caine, what did you do?”
“Dad didn’t say when I had to have dinner so I had it now. I already had dinner, you see,” she
eximed trying to make me see the logic in her reasoning, “Are you mad at me? I just wanted to see
you. Daddy said you were tired and I got you flowers.”
She gestured behind her and I noticed that Christine held a bunch of multicolored flowers. The stems
weren’t cut evenly and I knew without a doubt that she had picked them herself. Regardless, it was the
most beautiful thing I had ever seen
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and I took it from her. I made a show of inhaling their scent before cing it on my bedside table.
“That is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.” I kissed her hair before turning to Aurora who was
squirming in Ryker’s hold and trying to get to me. I reached out for her and she wasted no time in
coming to me. “Did you help with the flowers too?”
“She’s a baby, mummy, she can’t understand you,” Audrey eximed as if she were talking to a child
and I bit down on my bottom lip to smother my child. “Besides, she can’t touch the flowers, they have
thorns and thorns are very sharp. She just sat down while I did all the work.”
I wasn’t sure if she was impressed with herself or pis sed off at Aurora for not helping. If I was being
honest, it seemed like a little bit of both. I wasn’t sure how to handle that so I just hummed and nodded
slowly. Aurora reached for my hair and I had to pull it out of her grip before she could put it in her
mouth.
Audreyughed and as I sat there with my children, I realized that it didn’t matter if some part of me
was missing, I had everything I needed right there in front of me. I had a loving mate, I had wonderful
children and I had the kind of life most people were dreaming about. I was fulfilled andplete where
it mattered and that was the most important thing.
The girls fell asleep in the room and Ryker and I took them back to theirs. Ryker didn’t want me to
come with but I wanted to walk around and exercise my legs because I hadn’t moved in over twenty
four hours. As we walked back to our room, we took a leisurely stroll. The pce was quiet and you
could hear the crickets chirping from outside, the moon was in the sky and the breeze blew through the
deserted halls.
“Why don’t we go out?” I asked and Ryker turned to me with confusion etched on his features. “Instead
of returning to a stuffy room, why don’t we take a walk? We can just sit on the bench and enjoy the
moonlight.”
He frowned. “Cami, I’m not sure if that is a good idea. You need to rest.”
“I have done nothing but rest all day. I just want a second where nobody is treating me like I am
damaged goods. If you want me to believe that everything is fine then act like it.”
He pursed his lips for a second before nodding. I let out a sigh of relief because I truly hadn’t expected
him to agree. We walked out together marveling at the brightness of the moon. It was peculiarly high
and brighter than usual. Ryker led
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us towards the bench by the fountain and on instinct I reached out to move the
water.
It was almost like second nature, I had done it for so long that I barely even realized I was moving the
water until Ryker’s hand mped around my wrist. The small wave I was making crashed and I turned
to him with a frown.
“That was a big one,” I argued but he didn’t even seem fazed.
“You need to be resting, Cami. Using your powers does not equal rest. It is your powers that got you
into this position.”
“Quite the contrary actually, using my healing abilities got me into this mess. My water powers were
given to me when I turned twenty one as they should have. There is no issue with me using them.”
He didn’t look amused by my exnation and I knew he wasn’t going to budge anytime soon. I let out a
sigh and turned to him. I ced my hands in his and for a second there, I just stared at the size
difference between our hands. Mine were soft and dainty with minimal scars and his were a pr
opposite.
“I am fine,” I told him and he opened his mouth to speak but I held up a finger to cut him off. “I am here,
I am alive and you don’t have to worry right now. You don’t have to coddle me, you don’t have to
monitor me.”
“You could have died,” he whispered finally and I knew he was getting it off his chest. “I didn’t know
what happened to you, I didn’t check. If L hadn’t arrived when she did, I wouldn’t have gone to check
for you. You could have been lying dead there and I wouldn’t have known.”
“You would have,” I was sure of it. “What matters is that you found me. It doesn’t matter where or when,
it just matters that
you
“No, I failed you, again. That is the only truth.”
did.”