Page 64 of Even Robots Die (Even Ever After #3)

Florentine

I ’m still exhausted after my shower but at least I feel clean. I’m not used to being so active on the days of my periods and it made me feel like I was reeking.

I know it’s probably all in my mind, but I don’t care. I needed that shower like my next breath.

I don’t linger under the water, though. I’ve told Brice ten minutes was enough, so I can’t take my time like I would love to do, but it’s for a good cause.

When I’ve finished putting a new shirt and pair of pants—that magically appeared in my wardrobe again—on, the door opens without a knock.

And my sisters all file into the room one after another.

I’m barefoot, and my sneakers are somewhere in a corner where I tossed them.

I sit on the ground against the bed and the girls sit in front of me as if I'm about to tell them a story.

“So?” Elodie asks before I start talking.

I sigh. They’re not going to like what I have to say, especially Elodie. She is the one with the worst abandonment issues.

“He’s alright. He met a new woman and believes he’s in love. He’ll be here tonight,” I tell them.

I want to tell them more, but I’m not sure they're ready to hear about all the debts he’s collected again, or that he was ready to forget about us for however long it would take him to gather the money he owed the foxes.

“That’s good,” Amélie says.

“When can we go back home?” Elodie asks.

I’m saved from answering by a knock on the door.

“Enter,” I tell whoever is here. To be honest, there are very few people that would think to come knocking at my door.

Brice enters with a plate of lasagna that smells delicious and another covered in chocolate chip cookies.

“I know you didn’t eat, and I thought cookies to share might be a good idea,” he says as he drops the plate with the cookies between me and the girls and sets the lasagna next to me.

“Do you need me to stay?” he asks in a murmur so I’m the only one who can hear.

“I’ll be alright,” I answer with a shake of my head.

“Yell if you need me,” he adds and I know that knowing him, I wouldn’t even need to yell, he would be here right away if I needed him.

I don’t know how I came to think about him like this, but it’s true. He might annoy me, piss me off and toy with my mood eighty percent of the time we’re together, but he grounded me earlier when I needed him the most, and I know that’s not nothing.

Especially for someone like me who values my independence above all.

Brice walks away and closes the door after him.

And I’m greeted by four pairs of eyes staring at me.

“Are you two together?” Juliette asks in a soft voice.

I’m lucky I didn’t start eating before her question because I think I would have choked on my lasagna.

As it is, I choke on nothing and cough because the question was so surprising—especially asked by Juliette—that my saliva went the wrong way.

“No. We’ve come to respect each other,” I answer when I'm finally able to breathe normally again.

It’s not the truth, or at least only half of it. I’ve come to respect him, I have no idea if he does, and I don’t want to tell them that.

I can’t tell them that I’ve been dreaming of him taking me for weeks, either.

“Isn’t he old? Like centuries old?” Elodie asks, and for once I’m relieved that the question isn’t about me. That I can answer.

“He’s older than Dad,” I say and I leave it at that.

Elodie looks at me like she swallowed sour lemons, but from the other side of the line in front of me Juliette is doubtful.

I can’t really blame her for it, Brice has been doting on me since I got wounded, and even if I know it was because of the bloodlust, the kiss we shared in my workshop still plays on repeat in my mind.

“So, when are we going home?” Elodie asks again. “And how long do we have to wait for Dad?”

She doesn’t sound concerned at all now that she knows he’s still alive. But that’s the thing with this family, isn’t it? As long as the family members are still alive, we’re supposed to be alright I guess. Or at least it’s how it feels.

“You’re all staying here in Notre Dame for a little while,” I say to the room.

I know they won’t like it. Knowing you’re spending a night in Notre Dame is one thing, not knowing when you’re going back home is a whole other thing, and I haven't even started on the fact they can’t go to school either.

Except for Juliette, I’m sure they won’t mind—they’re not huge fans of school—but it’ll be another thing that will uproot their habits and I still don’t know how they’re going to react.

From the way they look at me, they’re not happy but they probably discussed the matter already because none of them complain out loud.

“How long is a little while?” Amélie asks softly.

I stuff one of the cookies in my mouth so I don’t have to answer immediately.

Coward, cough, cough.

When I’m done, all eyes are on me, waiting for my answer.

“I know it’s not what you want to hear, but it would be safer if you could stay here until I’m back home and things have died down a bit.”

What I don’t tell them is that I don’t see things calming down for a long time, not if we do nothing for the birds to stop. I’m not sure how they would take it, and maybe it’s wrong of me, but I don’t want them to worry too much.

I’m hoping after a few days or weeks in Notre Dame they won’t mind staying, not permanently, but maybe for a few months.

It’s wishful thinking I know, but at this point I don't know how to protect them any other way.

It’s my fault they’re not back home with a normal life. If I didn’t come home earlier today, their life wouldn’t have been uprooted and they would still live a blissfully boring life. Or as much of a life under constant watch by the bird-shifters can be.

“At least we don’t have to cook and the food is good here,” Coralie says before adding lower, “I could live without tasting Amélie’s cooking ever again.”

“I heard that,” Amélie answers her with a slap on her shoulder and an amused chuckle.

“And Juliette can daydream while watching the warriors,” Elodie says with a loud laugh.

Juliette turns as red as a tomato but doesn’t fight Elodie on this, so it must be at least a bit true.

I take note that I should talk with her later about it but let the girls joke about all the things they’ve discovered in Notre Dame since they arrived.

Before I know it, it’s one in the morning and I’m getting antsy from the lack of any news from Dad, so I force the girls back to their rooms—not having to share a room was something they found amazing—and go in search of Brice.