Angel couldn’t believe Nadia was on the jet and going to Canada with them. According to Xavier, they would first visit one of Cole Miller’s properties in Ontario to arrange to get the Weres sent there for protection before Antonio Rufus attacked back to the island before heading there. He also discovered they don’t actually call it the frosty island. It was some made-up name. Xavier said they haven’t made up a name yet. And Angel was impressed he planned to get everyone’s input when he decided to.
Nadia stuck with Xavier’s woman and Isabelle. The other Weres: Hallec, Darrow, Wulfrun, Tiana, Ariston, Berion. and Opaline had gone to sleep.
He had caught her looking back and down the cabin at him more than once but he didn’t let her know he noticed. What she said to him about not wanting to be with him still makes him mad each time he remembers it. He wondered what Isabelle had told her to make her come with them. He had gone back to the room afterwards just to see if she would still insist on rejecting him but she was no longer there. She had tried to avoid being alone with him since then. When he directed his gaze her way and saw her smile at something Isabelle said, he remembered the sound of her laughter and the first time she called him ‘darling’. He found himself missing her even though she was right there. She still had the scarf Cole Miller made her tie to cover her hair and the side of her face. He had given her a sunshade as well to hide her bruises and Amelie had helped to apply makeup to cover the still visible parts. She wasn’t wearing the sunshades now and the dark circles around her eyes were visible. His jaw clenched as he recalled how she had gotten hurt and wished he could go back in time and kill that bastard all over again.
He shifted on the seat, trying to get comfortable so he could get some rest, and wished he could do so in a real bed for a change with no fear of anyone coming to stab him to death in his sleep. He still pinches himself just to be certain he was truly free and wasn’t having some cruel dream. He looked back and saw that most of the Weres were asleep already except for Blaze or Faelan who had headphones on and eyes fixed on a movie playing on a screen embedded at the back of a seat in front of him. Xavier and Cole Miller were nowhere in sight and he guessed they must be inside the sleeping cabins too. He reverted his gaze forward, wondering when the three musketeers having whispery conversation upfront would go to sleep too. He would very much love to have one of the cabins and share it with Nadia but he knew that was the last thing she wanted right then.
Tilting the military cap Cole Miller had made him and the others wear over his face, he edged down on the seat a bit and folded his arms over his chest.
Nadia watched Angel from the corner of her eyes and when she saw him cover his face she turned her head to watch him.
“You know there’s a cabin down there with beds. You can go ask him to go and sleep in one,” Isabelle told her, leaning close to the side of her face. Nadia reverted her eyes to meet hers and slowly shook her head. Isabelle sighed.
“You know back home the two of you would have to share a room, right?” Amelie added. Nadia felt her cheeks heat up and she lowered her gaze.
“Yeah, I suppose,” she said as the others chuckled.
“I should get some rest,” Amelie said. Isabelle immediately stood up to help her. The other woman gave her sister-in-law a warm smile. “I am the luckiest,” she muttered. Isabelle chuckled. Nadia got up too and the three walked Amelie to the back of the cabin, walking past Angel. Nadia saw how he folded his arms against his chest and her eyes automatically sought and found his blanket still folded in the empty space beside him. She followed the two other women to the door of the cabin and then waved at Amelie as she entered the second one to the right.
“Isabelle?” Nadia and Isabelle heard Cole Miller call from one of the cabins.
The other woman gave Nadia an apologetic grimace and whispered, “Busted. Don’t hate me, I need to go to him.”
“It’s okay,” Nadia said, giving her a smile. Isabelle drew her into a hug and for some reason, the gesture made her eyes smart with tears. She was grateful for the women and how readily they accepted her. It made her ordeal easier to bear.
“Go to him, Nadia, please,” Isabelle whispered. Nadia nodded. When Isabelle drew back she turned and walked back to the sitting cabin, stopping by Angel’s side to reach across his body for the blanket. She unfolded it and spread it over his body. When she made to walk away, he reached for her, wrapping his fingers around her left wrist and when she reverted her gaze back to him, he was looking at her.
“Stay,” he said. Nadia paused for about a second, she felt tired and drained and just didn’t have the strength nor the willpower to fight him.
“I am tired, Angel,” she replied in barely a whisper.
“I know,” he replied.
When she tried to walk away he held on to her hand not letting go. Nadia sighed and turned to hold his gaze.
“I am not asking you to fuck me. I am asking you to sit here,” he rasped and Nadia could detect a thick level of pride in the words, remembering how he got in the room when she told him she didn’t want to be with him, she nodded and tried to cross over his leg to get to the empty space on the other side. Angel pulled her, causing her to sit sideways on his lap. He then used the blanket to cover them both and wrapped his arms around her. Nadia held still in his arms for about a minute then gingerly rested her head on his chest and held an open palm against his pectoral. The familiar warm feel of him and his scent wrapped around her, making her burrow deeper into his arms and shut her eyes in resignation. The light in the cabin dimmed. And she felt him bury his nose in her hair. She pressed her lips together to keep from crying. She missed the loving way he used to hold her even though she knew now it was all an act.