"I don't understand why he wouldn't tell us…okay, well, I understand why he maybe wouldn't tell you, because you guys have been at each other's throats before now, but I'm his mate!" Lexi sulked as she made her way over to the changing station that was stocked with everything she needed to make him a bottle and change his diaper.
"Wow…thanks for the solidarity," Allen responded dryly, "It might surprise you to know that after he had argued with his brothers in the foyer, and before we rushed in here last night, we were actually sharing a drink together."
"Ah yes, drunken bonding time." Lexi snorted as she prepared the bottle of milk, "That certainly does seem to be the method of choice for men in general."
"It's not like you and Ann are any different Lexi." Allen chided, "When you were getting to know Aoife, you organized a girls night with copious amounts of alcohol too if I remember rightly.."
"That's different..." Lexi mumbled sulkily.
"It's really not."
"Whatever," She answered dismissively with a wave of her hand, "Are you going to fill me in on what happened downstairs?"
"Not unless you fill me in on what your nightmare was about."
"This isn't a fucking trade Allen," Lexi snapped as she scowled over her shoulder at him.
"Don't swear in front of the baby Lexi,"
"It doesn't even understand words yet!"
"Maybe not but they understand the tone perfectly well."
"Oh really. Since when did you become an expert on babies?" Lexi scoffed.
"I had a younger sister at one point, remember?" Allen shot back with a slight edge to his tone, "Growing up with a baby sister taught me a lot and I vividly remember my parents saying the same thing to me when I would raise my voice when I was frustrated."
Instantly, Lexi's face fell and her stomach seemed to fall to her feet as she cursed at herself silently.
"Lexi, I'm not trying to be difficult." Allen sighed as she mumbled an apology, "But, you two really are as bad as each other. Don't you remember how pissed you were at me in the beginning when I wasn't honest about things?"
Lexi glowered back at him with a sullen pout.
She knew he was right, but she was struggling to deal with the emotions that all of it was provoking within her. How could she have forgotten so easily that this young boy, who had obviously once been so important to her, had lost his life for the innocent first kiss that she had instigated in the first place.
He didn't take anything from her…she gave it…and for that he had been punished.
A tremendous guilt settled heavily on her shoulders and a sadness that seemed to pierce her heart throbbed relentlessly.
Instinctively she wrapped her arms around herself and sagged onto the edge of the bed, allowing her head to droop forwards as Allen moved across to sit next to her.
"Whatever it was Lexi, we knew this would happen. Your father said there would be nightmares." Allen offered softly.
"I know, I just…I didn't expect them to be so painful…" she whispered as she rubbed angrily at her eyes, "I fucking hate crying. I should be able to deal with this bullshit…"
"Lexi, that's enough." Allen said firmly, but gently as he pulled her into his chest, "Crying is not a weakness, okay? As strong as you are, you are not invulnerable…none of us are. Things still hurt and that's okay, but…we want to be there for you too Lexi, and we can't do that properly if we don't know what's going on."
Lexi half sobbed and half sighed into his chest as he rubbed her back and with a sinking feeling in her stomach, began to explain her nightmare in detail.
Greyson returned to the room shortly after Lexi had begun her explanation and when he realized what was being said, he sat down on the opposite side of her and listened quietly with no judgment and no interruptions, their earlier disagreement forgotten in the moment.
By the time she had finished detailing the memory that she had been forced to relive in painful detail she had let go of her composure and allowed her emotions to bubble over.
Allen and Greyson sat with her in silence, comforting her as they struggled to process what she had told them.
In every sense of the word, Lord Brarthroroz, her father, had been completely right to block these memories of her twisted uncle.
It was bad enough that her uncle had an incestuous obsession with her, but it was downright evil that he had wanted her and marked her as his from an early age. The trauma that he must have caused her young mind would have been irreversible had her father not intervened. At least now she had the ability to rationalize what had happened as an adult with a support network that cared about her.
It wouldn't change what had happened, and she would still feel the scars deeply, but both Allen and Greyson knew that without a shadow of a doubt they would be there for her through everything.
"He doesn't deserve to breathe the same air as you." Greyson snarled, "A fucking waste of oxygen…punishing children for being children?! I swear to the Goddess that I'll rip him apart myself…"
"I appreciate how hard that must have been for you to tell us Lexi, but I need you to know that we are grateful that you trusted us enough to tell us."
"I didn't really have much of a choice though, did I?" Lexi sniffed with a half hearted smile, "You would never have shut up about it."
"Well, if you want us to be honest with you, it's only fair that you are honest with us." Allen replied with a pointed look over her head at Greyson, who clenched his jaw tightly but said nothing, the meaning understood.
"We'll find him Lexi, and for everything that he has done to you, and others in the past, in the twisted, depraved pursuit of a sick fantasy, we will make sure that he pays a thousand fold for what he has done. I promise you." Greyson announced calmly as he ran his fingers through LExi's hair.
Although his words were reassuring, the deadly undercurrent in his tone sent a shiver down her back. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that both of them meant every word that they said, and would probably stop at nothing to see Eromaug brought to justice but…she also knew just how strong Eromaug was.
Quite honestly, as much as she had faith that they would try their best, a traitorous part of her souls worried that alone, her two males wouldn't be strong enough to bring him down.
The thought of losing them terrified her.