Chapter 147: After Midnight

Astrid Vale

Roshan’s party had been exactly as reckless as I’d expected, students crammed into an unused academy hall he’d somehow convinced Josh to help him decorate, music too loud for the number of people actually attending. Ivy had spent most of the night laughing at something Camilla said about the terrible punch, and I’d found myself relaxing into the chaos more easily than I would have thought possible a few weeks ago.

"We should get back," Reed said eventually, checking the time. "Classes are still happening tomorrow, apparently, regardless of Roshan’s decision-making."

"Aldric’s going to skin him alive when he finds out about this," Xander said, grinning despite the comment.

"He’ll deserve it," Ivy said, still laughing about something from earlier.

The four of us walked back together, and something about the ordinariness of it settled warm in my chest. Reed and Xander stayed close without crowding me, their presence steady rather than suffocating, and I noticed, walking between all of them, that this was simply what our lives looked like now. Together. Ordinary. Safe.

Back at the apartment, Ivy had barely started getting ready for bed when her phone buzzed. She answered, and her expression shifted quickly from tired amusement into irritation.

"He’s where?" she said. "Martha, I swear, if Roshan wandered off drunk after hosting an illegal party he’s going to owe me an apology speech." She glanced at me. "They can’t find him around the party grounds."

"Go handle it," I said.

She rolled her eyes, already heading toward the living area to make the call properly, muttering about Roshan’s poor decision-making the entire way.

I watched her disappear down the hall, and instead of following, I noticed Reed heading toward his room, Xander trailing behind him. Something about the quiet pulled at me, a desire to be near them that had nothing to do with fear or need for protection.

I followed.

Xander noticed first, an amused smile spreading across his face. "Well," he said. "Look who followed us."

Reed’s reaction was gentler. "You okay?" he asked, studying my expression carefully.

"I’m fine," I said. "I just wanted to be with you both. Not because I need something. I just wanted to."

Something in Reed’s expression softened at that distinction, and he pulled back the edge of his blanket in silent invitation. I settled between them on the bed, comfortable in a way that felt entirely different from the desperate clinging I might have needed weeks earlier.

Reed’s fingers found my wrist gently, his thumb brushing over the faint marks still visible there from the restraints, and Xander’s eyes caught the same detail from his side, something tightening briefly in his jaw before he let it go without comment.

I told them a small story from the party, something ridiculous Josh had done with the punch bowl, and they listened, laughing along in the right places, the conversation gradually softening into something quieter as the night stretched on.

"We couldn’t feel you," Reed said eventually, his voice careful, like he’d been holding the words for a while. "The bond just went silent. No warning, nothing gradual. It was just gone."

"What was that like?" I asked quietly.

"Terrifying," he admitted. "I didn’t know if it meant you were hurt, or worse. I just knew there was nothing there anymore."

"I kept trying anyway," Xander said. "Even when there was nothing coming back. I just kept reaching, hoping something would answer eventually."

Something in my chest ached at that, imagining them above ground, desperate and searching, while I’d been fighting to survive beneath the earth without any way to reach them.

"I tried too," I said. "At the altar. Right before everything happened, I tried reaching for you both, and something blocked it. I felt it slam shut, like a wall going up between us."

"We felt something," Reed said. "A flicker, before it disappeared completely."

"That was me," I said. "Trying."

Something settled between us at that admission, understanding finally passing between us about that terrible silence we’d both endured in different ways.

"I’m sorry you were scared," I said.

"Don’t," Reed said immediately, firm despite his usual gentleness. "You don’t owe us an apology for surviving."

"He’s right," Xander said, though his tone carried more warmth than seriousness now. "Though if you ever get kidnapped again, I’m going to be significantly less understanding about it."

I laughed, some of the heaviness lifting slightly. "Noted."

I found myself leaning closer to Reed first, and he met me halfway, his lips soft against mine, careful and unhurried. When I pulled back, I turned toward Xander, and the kiss there carried a different energy entirely, warmer, more playful even in its tenderness.

Reed pressed a kiss against my temple afterward, and Xander’s lips found my cheek, both of them settling around me until I was tucked comfortably between them, Reed’s arm wrapping around my shoulders while Xander’s hand found my waist.

"What did you think," I asked quietly, "when you couldn’t feel me at all?"

Reed was quiet for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "I thought about every possibility," he said. "That you were hurt. That you were scared and alone. That I might never find you at all. But somewhere underneath all of it, I refused to believe you were gone. I just didn’t know how to hold onto that hope with nothing feeding it."

"I hated the silence more than anything," Xander said. "It wasn’t just not knowing where you were. It was not being able to feel anything of you at all. Like a part of me had just been cut off."

"I knew you were looking for me," I said.

"How?" Xander asked.

"I just knew," I said, and it was the truth, something instinctive I couldn’t fully explain even now. "Some part of me understood you wouldn’t stop, no matter what it took."

The conversation softened further after that, drifting into quieter territory, comfortable silences stretching between smaller exchanges. I felt my eyes growing heavy, the exhaustion of the day finally catching up with me, and I let myself relax fully into the warmth surrounding me on both sides.

"I finally have her back," Reed murmured, more to Xander than to me, his voice quiet in the dimly lit room.

"We’re not letting her out of our sight anytime soon," Xander answered, his arm tightening slightly around my waist.

I smiled against Reed’s shoulder, the last of my energy slipping away as sleep pulled at me, safe and warm between the two people who’d refused to give up on finding me, exactly where I wanted to be.