Betrayal - Book 3 of Guardians Saga - EDITED

CH 12.3 Time for Rile's Plan

For the next week, Alex drifted in and out of sleep while movies flickered on the TV. But whenever Gabe stood up to shoo his brothers off to bed before midnight, her eyes snapped open, and she shot him a look of raw fear. If only Gabe had known that deep down, Alex wanted nothing more than noise and company, that silence and solitude scared her more than anything. But as his walls built higher and higher around him, Alex feared for what might happen if she ever stepped over them. She curled up closer to him, desperate not to let go.

It was Cale's job to hustle Rile out of the bedroom once Alex was deeply asleep. Cale was always careful to time the movies so that the credits were rolling after midnight. Gabe assumed that Rile was his usual brash, unobservant self until the following day.

***

The brothers sprawled on the couch, eyes glued to the flickering images on the old TV while Alex took a shower in her steamy bathroom. Eventually, the steam dissipated.

"Cale: twenty minutes." Rile didn't look away from the TV.

Obediently, Cale stood up and walked to the kitchen sink. He turned on the water, felt it, and announced, "Cold."

Rile flicked his gaze at his middle brother, who then walked into Alex's bedroom at the unspoken command. They could hear him knock on the bathroom door, but not what he said or what she answered.

Cale stepped out of the bedroom and addressed his brothers. "She'll be out in a minute," he said.

Rile heaved himself off the couch and marched into Alex's bedroom. He slammed his fist against the bathroom door and bellowed, "Hurry up, Alex! I'm starving!" His voice reverberated around the small carriage house.

As he settled back onto the couch, Gabe shot him an astonished look. "What was that about?"

"Do you think hot water is endless?" Rile bit off the 'idiot' at the end of the sentence.

"No, but—"

"Alex is a bit obsessive with her showers after Morgan," Cale explained. "We have to remind her to come out before she freezes."

***

In the days that followed, Alex and her brothers slept in late and spent their mornings in a calm reprieve from their usual hectic lives. Some afternoons were occupied with Alex's trips to various doctor's offices, accompanied by Dr. Dewey or Mary accompanied her. The brothers often paced around the exterior of the buildings to make sure no one was attempting to abduct Alex.

The brothers exchanged worried glances when they noticed some doctor's visits Alex breezed out of, but other times she emerged pale and shaken. Mary's lips were pursed tight, her face grim, her gaze avoiding theirs as she quickly ushered the Alex away. Cale knew why Mary's demeanor had changed. He remembered his days apprenticing with the female healers from the clan before their slaughter, but he had no inclination to enlighten his brothers.

This particular appointment was an easy one and Alex could now walk without imparting pain to those who watched her. Upon returning to the carriage house, she looked, really looked, at her living room. An empty beer bottle on the armchair, a pile of discarded t-shirts that covered the carpet like snow, and a paper plate congealed with ketchup and fries scattered near the door. The brothers tensed at her sigh.

"This place looks like...looks like..." Alex's smile eased them all. "Like three bachelors have been living here." She said before sinking into the couch and propping her feet onto the cluttered coffee table. "I only ask that all the old food containers be thrown outside. They attract roaches."

Alex hated roaches. She killed spiders, wasps, and ants with aplomb but called the brothers when a roach made an appearance. Gabe and Cale had wisely hidden their amusement when she had shrieked over a flying roach, but Rile hadn't, and Alex still bore him a grudge.