Chapter 71


    Gannon POV


    The look on her face would forever haunt me. She looked at me as if I was a monster. I only went to


    take her hand. Yet the way she reacted was if I punched her. Her entire body copsed in on itself as if


    to shield herself. The fear in her eyes when I spoke her name, the way her eyes darted frantically


    around, made my stomach sink.


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    I did this to her, and she reacted to me like this. It angered me. I wasn’t angry at her but at myself. I had


    forgotten where she came from and who she recently returned to me from. She raced from the room,


    nearly knocking me over as she snatched Tyson from my arms. She smashes her hip on the counter as


    she darts past rice, but I don’t think she even felt it.


    Rising to my feet, rice steps aside, staring worriedly after her as she escapes. Walking out, the


    guards pointed me in the right direction, and I knew she was headed toward our quarters.


    It was the only ce she had to go, and I knew Abbie wouldn’t be running to Azalea because Azalea


    had her own issues at the moment with the pregnancy and Kyson keeping her locked away, worried


    she would be poisoned again.


    We still hadn’t caught the culprit even after he used hismand on all the staff. So there was no way


    she would give the Queen more to worry over.


    Climbing the stairs, I see our bedroom door closed but spot the light beneath Tyson’s and hear his


    wailing screams. I run toward the door, wondering what is going on for him to be screaming like that.


    Shoving the door open, she hits the ground.


    I reached to catch her, but it was toote. “Tyson, shh, shh,” I murmur, rolling her onto her back. She


    stared up at the ceiling, her eyes unfocused as Tyson climbed off the bed, his little hands clutching her


    shirt and shaking her.


    “Shh, buddy. Mumma is okay. She just fainted,” I tell him, scooping my arms beneath her. I lift her up


    and stand.


    “Grab your nket and Binky,” I tell him, and he blinks, trying to register what I am saying: Abbie


    sometimes signed to him, and I tried to remember, but after a few seconds, he seemed to catch on and


    snatched the corner of his nket and his Binky.


    He follows after me and runs ahead, pushing the door, his little feet getting tangled in the nket


    dragging behind him, and he slips, his chin hitting the floor, making him scream. Cursing, I use my hip


    to shove the door open and set her on the bed before rushing back to Tyson. I grab him under the


    arms.


    His chin was bleeding where he banged it, and I quickly moved him to the bathroom, sitting him on the


    bathtub’s edge before grabbing a face washer and dabbing it. It wasn’t deep, but he would have one


    hell of a bruise in the morning.


    He took only a few moments before it was forgotten, and he was transfixed on the scars thatced my


    chest, poking out from beneath my shirt. I sigh, taking it off and grabbing him. If it means keeping him


    quiet, he could poke and prod them like he usually does.


    Sitting on the bed, I ce him between us and lean over to check Abbie. Her face is scrunched up as if


    she is dreaming. But her heart rate is even, and so is her breathing. I was used to her panic attacks.


    They were frequent when she first returned.


    The slightest noise would set them off, but this was the first one she had had since Tyson got here.


    Tyson smacks my chest, his fingers fisting my chest hair, and I growl when he tugs the hair on my


    chest.


    He continues smacking me and making the noise I recognize he makes when wanting to draw. Sighing,


    I get up and grab the bucket of textas off the bedside table Abbie didn’t remove from the room and


    hand them to him. There were only three colors but in every shade of those three colors. Blue, green,


    and red.


    He hated the other colors for some reason, and we had to hide them away. He rummages in the bucket


    finding the shade he wants, and I sigh,ying on my back and letting him have at it. His tongue pokes


    out as he traces my scars and kneels next to me while his elbows dig ufortably into my sides.


    He had some fascination with coloring them in: Abbie’s too, though I usually distracted him with mine


    when he would spot hers. Abbie was self-conscious and always drew her back to dark ces when


    she would get sudden memories.


    She wasn’t out for long, but Tyson had passed out by the time she woke. His feet pressed against her


    side as heid half across my chest.


    “You’re okay.” I whisper, reaching over and brushing her hair with my fingertips. She exhales,


    squeezing her eyes shut, and her face reddens as it always did when she had these panic attacks. She


    found them embarrassing, and I knew it would take her a while again before building up the courage to


    face rice and the servants after what happened.


    Guilt gnawed at me, knowing it was my fault this time. I rearrange Tyson, moving him between us and


    tucking the surrounding nket over him. Abbie rolls to her side, inhaling his scent while I watch her.


    “I didn’t mean for you to leave the room, Abbie. You didn’t need to run from me,” I tell her.


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    “I need him in here with me,” she whispers.


    “Abbie, he can’t sleep in our bed forever. I get hardly any sleep, as it is with him kicking the crap out of


    me in his sleep.”


    “Then I’ll sleep on the couch with him,” she says like it is no big deal and as if I would allow that.


    “That is. I groan, pinching my nose.


    “That is not the only reason. I miss you. I miss being able to touch you and hold you. I can’t do that with


    him between us.”


    “I can’t sleep in here without him, Gannon,” she murmurs, brushing his hair with her fingers.


    “Why!” I snap, bing annoyed.


    “Because you will expect things. You don’t expect things with him here!” She snaps at me, and I blink at


    her in shock.


    “You think this is about sex? Abbie that is not what I meant. I have never asked you for anything more


    than you arefortable with!”


    “And I am notfortable sleeping in here without him,”


    “You were before he came along!” I tell her.


    “Because you always sleep on the couch!” she yells, and Tyson jumps, stirring awake. I sit up, horrified


    at her words.


    “Why are you here if you can’t stand to be near me?” I ask her.


    “Can you even answer that?” I ask her when she says nothing. Standing, I peer over my shoulder at


    her as I grab my shirt to find her sitting up.


    “I feel safe with you,” she whispers.


    “Not safe enough to stay in a room by yourself with me,” I retort, tugging my shirt over my head. Abbie


    says nothing, just looks down at her hands, picking the skin around her nails.


    “I’m sorry,” she murmurs so softly I almost miss it.


    “I have never hurt you or done anything to make you fear me. I am not Kade, Abbie. And if you can’t


    see that by now-‘ she looks up at me, and I pause. I don’t finish what I was going to say as she looks at


    the door. Instead, I leave before I say something I will regret. Leaving her there by herself. Walking


    across to Liam’s door, I knock once before opening the door. Liam sat on the floor, sharpening his


    knives.


    “Go, I will keep an eye on them,” he says without looking up from his sharpening stone as he runs the


    de’s edge across it.


    “When I don’t move, he looks up.”


    “Go, Gannon. Leave the door open. They’ll be fine,” he says, and I nod before walking off to find a


    guard to beat the crap out of.


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