16. Seventeen Maeve

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN: MAEVE

" S hit!" Arthur yelled.

My eyes sprang open. The light burning my retinas faded just enough to see Corbin hit the ground hard, his body bouncing as his neck jolted violently. I dropped hands and raced across the circle, battling the light that seared the interior of my skull.

"Corbin?" I knelt at his side, my heart hammering. Did this stupid ritual hurt him? Is he okay?

"I'm fine…" He sat up, blinking hard. He rubbed his head. "I think…"

"You're okay, buddy." Arthur slid his thick arms under Corbin and lifted him to his feet. Corbin stood for a moment, then his leg buckled and he slumped against Arthur.

Arthur wasted no time sweeping Corbin's legs out from under him and lifting him off the ground.

"Hey!" Corbin yelled, but he was in no state to protest.

Arthur moved toward the end of the hall. "His bedroom?"

"Mine, if you can manage it. All of you can go there if you want. We're done with magic for tonight."

Behind Arthur, Aline's eyebrows raised. Screw her. I was too tired and upset to care what she thought of me and the guys, especially not after her stupid ritual had made Corbin collapse.

That's two of my guys Aline's hurt with her presence already. I thought back to what she'd said about how that ritual had made her less selfish. If this is her being less selfish, I'd hate to know what she was like before.

"Maeve, wait…I should explain—" Aline's voice rose an octave.

"We'll talk in the morning," I snapped, my words harsher than I'd intended. Aline winced and stepped back. I followed Arthur up the stairs, the rest of the guys trailing after me.

In my bedroom, Arthur flopped Corbin down on the bed. "You alright, mate?"

Corbin rubbed his head. "Yeah, I don't know what happened. I got this rush of memories and then there was this light?—"

"I got the light too. That was brutal," Flynn said.

I nodded. "I felt weird, all sick and gross. I don't want to sleep alone tonight. And we should take turns watching Rowan, if he does have a concussion."

"Come here, you fine thing. We're happy to oblige." Flynn flung his arm around me and pulled me in for a deep kiss.

I threw his arm off me. "As much as I love all of you, it is two in the AM. My mother has been alive for 24 hours, I found out my sister likes girls, and I've seen two of you unconscious. Right now, I just need to sleep."

"As you wish, Princess." Blake wrapped me in his arms and tugged me down on the bed. Beside me, Corbin looped an arm over Rowan's back. Arthur lay across the bottom of the bed. No one even bothered to remove their clothes.

The last thing I saw before I closed my eyes and slipped into sleep was the waxing moon peering in from the high gothic windows as it illuminated the pile of bodies that cocooned me. At that moment, I truly understood what it meant to be surrounded by light.