"No," Kiara cried as she tried to move away from the two.
"Kiara, please, listen," Killian begged as Kiara began to push at them with all her might.
"Killian, let go," Gemma pulled the boy back as Kiara began to scream in protest.
Killian let go of Kiara's face but his hands hovered, ready to catch her if she fell off the armchair. But Kiara wasn't having it. She looked at his arms and felt as if all the air was being sucked out of the room. She pushed with her hands to try and get them as far away from her as she possibly could.
Killian pulled away as his eyes watered and his jaw clenched. The way Kiara's tears ran down her face would haunt him forever. He was tempted to pull her into his arms despite her protest and made her believe how sorry he was. But he didn't want to hurt her or their baby.
"Kiara," Gemma tried again. "We're not going to hurt you. Honey, we all made a huge mistake."
As if she couldn't bear to listen to another word, Kiara put her hands over her ears and began to shake her head. She pulled her legs up and curled up on the armchair and tried to bury her face in her hair. Watching it all made Killian want to jump off mount Olympus.
"Kiara, please. Honey, we ma-" Gemma tried to speak but stopped when Kiara's body suddenly grew rigid.
Killian noticed the change immediately and his heart began to pound. Was she okay? She had stopped sobbing.
"Kiara doesn't want to speak to you," Kiara suddenly sat up straight and adjusted the dress she wore.
Her eyes were the most vibrant gold they had ever been. She reached up and wiped the tears on her face before reaching over and taking a napkin and blowing her nose.
"Please," Gemma begged. "We need to speak to her. She needs to understand what happened and why she's here."
"She understands," Kiara said, flicking Gemma's hand off of her knee. "She doesn't want to hear any of it."
"You don't speak for her," Killian said through his clenched teeth. "I don't believe you."
"Believe whatever you want," Kiara turned her eyes to the boy. "That shouldn't be too hard, right Killian?"
Killian recoiled from the harsh truth in those words.
"And I do speak for her," Kiara said, leaning forward and narrowing her eyes. "Because I will take care of her. I will keep her safe and I will protect her from you all. You've broken her enough. She needs someone she can rely on to fight for her."
"You are not that person," Killian growled.
"And you are?" Kiara raised a brow before bursting into laughter. "Look where you have her! You locked her up in a dollhouse!"
"We locked you in a dollhouse," Gemma spit. "Not Kiara."
"Kiara and I are one now," Kiara said. "And there's no force in this world that can separate that. You want her? You will have to go through me....and believe me I will fight to my last breath to protect her from you."
_______________________
"I can do that on my own," Nora frowned at her aunt as Lidia tied her shoelaces.
"Dr. Banks said not to exhaust yourself too much," Lidia smiled as she finished the bunny ears and pulled them tightly.
"Oh yes, because tying my own shoelaces will kill me," Nora rolled her eyes. "And what's with you and Dr. Banks?"
"What do you mean?" Lidia laughed.
"I mean the flirty eyes and the blushing," Nora raised a brow. "You couldn't spare my doctor?"
Ch.22 Autura
Start from the beginning
