He winced, and I didn’t realize why until I saw his hand open in my direction. I blinked at it before he wiggled his fingers as much as he could, and I finally understood what he wanted. I slid my hand into his, and he closed his eyes, sighing in relief. It may not be the declaration of love I’d always hoped for from my viramore, but it sure as hell felt like it. Only a few months ago, if I would’ve tried holding his hand, I would’ve received a punch to the face for the effort.
Hiro’s lips quirked up as if he’d read my mind, and hell, maybe he had.
I moved around until I could rest his head in my lap, then I stayed there, rubbing his cheek with one hand and holding his fingers with the other. His eyes kept drifting closed, but when they opened, he stared up at me, and while I kept trying to heal him, he still couldn’t speak.
My family cleaned up everything, and some BCA agents came to check it out since warlocks were bad news, but I didn’t pay them even an ounce of attention. My sole focus was on Hiro. My Hiro.
When I finally pulled back my magic, knowing it would do no more good until we got him home on a healing bed, Hiro’s raspy voice caught my attention, saying, “You came for me.”
“Of course I did. I’ll always come for you.”
“You took care of Rasha.”
“I’ll always come for her, too.”
“I’ll come for you, too, love.” A smile reached his eyes, and I was pleased to know my healing magic along with the tonics were helping him so much.
My chest warmed with content, and I leaned down to him with a smile. “I’m bringing you home. Alec is letting us borrow one of the SUVs. Do you think you’ll be okay?”
“Yeah, baby, I’ll be okay.”
On a shaky breath, I gave him a nod and kissed his forehead before gently moving him and standing, motioning Jorah over. My little brother took one look at me, and his eyes widened as he asked, “If I help you with him, you’re gonna bite my head off.”
I shook my head. “No, I won’t, but if anyone else touches him, I can’t make the same promise.”
He nodded, and the two of us hauled Hiro off the ground with his arms around our shoulders. He tried to help walk a little, but we mostly dragged him to the SUV. And he was heavy as fuck. He was a big man, but I didn’t truly appreciate just how big he was until we had to carry all of that muscle.
Since I was pretty spent from healing Hiro, Jorah called on a little wind magic to help us get him in the back seat. I went to shut the door, but Jor stopped me, saying, “I’ll drive you two home.”
“Don’t you have to stay here and help?”
He waved that away. “I don’t care about the BCA shit right now, you need me. Get in the back seat with your viramore. I’ll drive.”
A shuddered breath left my lips as I nodded. “Thanks, Jor.”
“Anytime.”
I climbed in and moved Hiro until his head was on my lap again, and Jor shut the door and got into the driver’s seat. Now that I was touching Hiro again, the tremble in my hands slowed. Driving home and not being able to touch him would’ve killed me. Obviously, my brother had seen that.
Hiro’s eyes were closed as I ran my fingers through his hair, but he surprised me when he threaded his fingers through my other hand that was resting on his chest. He didn’t open his eyes, but once our fingers were laced, he sighed and some of his tension left his body.
After a few minutes, Jorah said, “I can set up a healing bed for you.”
“You know how?”
I saw Jorah’s scowl in the rearview mirror. “You know how to do it, too, idiot.”
“I know, but Ailin’s always been the best at them.”
He sighed. “You’re right, but Alec’s making him help with the cleanup. So I thought I would make one for now, and when Dad gets home, he can fix it or make it better or whatever. At least mine would help some.”
“That would be great, Jor, thank you.”
He waved me away. “Stop thanking me, Bas. You’re my brother, and that’s your viramore back there. That makes him family.”
At this, Hiro’s eyes shot open and flickered over to Jorah before staring up at me. I offered a smile, and without looking away from Hiro, said to Jorah, “You’re right. That does make him and Rasha family.”
“Yeah, she seems really sweet. I’m sure she’ll be happy to have her dad back.”
Hiro’s eyes flickered over to Jorah again, watching the side of his head as he drove, then they moved back to me, and I saw the question and confusion there. I leaned down to press another kiss to his forehead. “She’s safe, dimples. She’s an Ellwood now, and so are you. We protect our own.”
Jor huffed. “We try to protect everyone, but sometimes that doesn’t work out too well.”
I grinned over at my brother even though he couldn’t see it. “You’re right, we try to protect everyone, but no one messes with our family. Ever.”
“True.” Jor gave a nod.
Hiro’s eyebrows rose up on his forehead, but after a few seconds of staring into my eyes, he closed his and breathed deeply as he squeezed my fingers. I continued carding my fingers through his hair as I quietly watched him for the rest of the drive.
Jor drove right up to the big house, and I gently said, “We’re here, Hiro. You awake?”
He grunted.
Jorah opened my door and said, “Let me get the healing bed situated before we get him out of the car. I don’t want to have to move him twice.”
“Sounds good, tha—”
He slammed the door before I could say thank you, and he shot me the finger, making me chuckle.
“I like your brother,” Hiro murmured.
My eyes widened. “Yeah?”
“All of them seem cool.” His words were so mumbled they were hard to understand. “Everywhere we go we see one of ‘em.”
I snorted. “That’s true. I have a ton of siblings. You haven’t even met half of them yet.”
“I know. I don’t have any siblings.”
I kissed his forehead, suddenly hit with a sadness in my heart. It had been only Hiro and Rasha for such a long time. They’d been all alone in this world with no family to back them up. I had no idea what that felt like because no matter what shit was going on in my life, I’d always had my siblings right there with me. Even when I’d been taken to Faela for three years, I had Jorah and Thayer there, plus Nikolai and Talon. And I’d known that the rest of my family was here in Brinnswick. I’d known they’d have my back no matter what. I’d always had Ailin in my corner. Even when I was a spoiled little brat of a teenager, he’d stood by my side. Sure, we used to argue over just about everything, but he was always there for me, no matter how angry I made him.
So thinking about Hiro not having anyone like that in his life made me so incredibly sad.
But then I remembered what Jorah had said. Hiro was my viramore, which made him and Rasha a part of our family already. The two of them aren’t going to know what hit them.
Hiro snorted. “Your family is goin’ to overwhelm the fuck outta us.” His voice sounded tired and weak, but at least he was able to speak.
I smiled and kissed his forehead yet again. “You read my thoughts, dimples. And don’t worry, I live in my own house, so we can escape my crazy-ass family anytime we want.”