Chapter 208: 209 | Choose This
I watched Aurora process this information. Watched her face cycle through confusion and disbelief and something that might have been understanding.
"The match against Nolan." Her voice dropped. "When you touched him and he collapsed. That wasn’t just a combat technique."
"No."
"You drained him."
"Yes."
"And last night? The attack on Building F?"
"My father built a weapon using my stolen blood. Put thirteen abilities into a single body. Sent it to hunt me down." I kept my voice flat. Factual. "I drained myself to almost nothing trying to save the kid trapped inside it."
Aurora was quiet for a long moment.
Then she started laughing again.
"This is insane." She pressed her hands to her face. "This is absolutely insane. I thought I was dealing with a complicated guy with a complicated past. Turns out I’m dealing with an unregistered weapon of mass destruction whose father is apparently a supervillain."
"My father’s not a supervillain. He’s a businessman. The distinction is that businessmen do worse things and face fewer consequences."
"That’s not reassuring."
"I wasn’t trying to be reassuring."
Aurora dropped her hands. Looked at me with those green eyes that had been haunting my thoughts since the moment I arrived in this body.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you deserve to know what you’re walking into. Because I’m tired of pretending to be something I’m not. Because..." I paused. Tried to find the right words. "Because you asked what I wanted from you and I said I wanted you to be happy. That was true. But it wasn’t the whole truth."
"What’s the whole truth?"
Mera’s tail tightened around my leg. Cheon’s fingers stopped moving on her tablet. Both of them watched me with expressions that said they knew what was coming next.
"I want you to choose this." I gestured at the couch. At the penthouse. At the three women surrounding me. "Not because you feel obligated. Not because you’re competing for attention. But because you understand what it actually is and you decide it’s worth being part of."
"What is it actually?"
"Weird. Complicated. Occasionally dangerous. Definitely not what anyone pictures when they imagine a normal relationship."
"And what should I picture?"
I thought about it. About Mera singing in the shower at three AM. About Cheon color-coding the pantry. About Noel kissing me and calling me an idiot in the same breath. About Laurana’s fingers glowing red in the darkness of her office. About Vivian offering to burn down an empire for her freedom.
"Picture a bunch of people who know exactly what I am and choose to stand next to me anyway. Picture something that doesn’t fit in any box but works because everyone involved actually wants it to work. Picture..."
"Family." Aurora finished the sentence. Her voice was strange. "You’re describing a family."
"I guess I am."
She was quiet again. Processing. Calculating. Working through implications and consequences and possibilities in whatever way her mind worked.
Mera watched her with something approaching respect. Cheon observed with analytical detachment. I just waited.
"I need to break up with Nolan." Aurora finally said. "Officially. Properly. In a way that doesn’t hurt him more than necessary."
"I know."
"And I need time to figure out how I fit into... this." She waved at the couch arrangement. "Whatever this is."
"I know."
"But I’m not walking away." She met my eyes. Held them. "I spent three years with someone who was perfect on paper and never made me feel half of what you make me feel just by existing in a room. I’m not throwing that away because the situation is complicated."
Something in my chest loosened. Something I hadn’t realized was tight.
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Okay. Take the time you need. Break up with Nolan. Figure out your boundaries. Come back when you’re ready."
Aurora looked at Mera. Then at Cheon. "And you two are... fine with this?"
"Fine with what?" Mera’s grin was sharp and warm at the same time. "Another pretty girl joining the roster? Another person who actually understands what Rome is and chooses to stand next to him anyway?" Her tail swayed lazily. "Sweetie, we’ve been hoping someone like you would show up for weeks."
"Someone like me?"
"Someone who makes him smile when he doesn’t think anyone’s watching. Someone who asks hard questions instead of just accepting easy answers. Someone who..." Mera paused. Considered. "Someone who challenges him. He needs that. Needs people who won’t let him get away with being an idiot just because he’s pretty."
Aurora laughed. Genuine this time. Surprised but genuine.
"I’m starting to understand why he likes you."
"Everyone likes me. I’m delightful."
Cheon cleared her throat. "While this conversation has been productive, I should note that we have multiple urgent matters requiring attention. Professor Reeves has requested Rome’s presence. The NEA is likely to escalate their investigation. Rome’s father is almost certainly aware that last night’s incident involved his experimental weapon."
"Always with the priorities." Mera rolled her eyes affectionately. "Can’t we have one nice moment before reality comes crashing back in?"
"Reality does not respect scheduling preferences."
My phone buzzed. Another message.
LAURANA: I know you’re awake. Stop avoiding me. My office. One hour. Bring the girl with the portals. We need to discuss what happened last night and what happens next.
I showed the message to the others.
"She wants both of us?" Mera raised an eyebrow. "That’s either very good or very bad."
"With Laurana it’s usually both."
Aurora stood. Brushed off her jeans. Looked at me with an expression I couldn’t quite read.
"I should go. Let you deal with... everything." She hesitated. "But I’ll be back. Soon. Once I’ve handled what I need to handle."
"I know."
She walked to the door. Stopped. Turned back.
"Rome?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you. For being honest. For trusting me with the truth even when it would have been easier to lie."
"Lying is exhausting. I’d rather just be complicated out loud."
She smiled. It transformed her whole face.
"I think I’m going to like being part of your weird family."
Then she was gone.
Mera stretched against me like a cat in a sunbeam. "Well. That went better than expected."
"You think?"
"She didn’t run screaming. She didn’t call the NEA. She said she wanted to be part of the family." Mera’s tail tapped my leg. "By our standards that’s practically a fairy tale ending."
"Our standards are concerning."
"Our standards are realistic." Cheon closed her tablet. "We should prepare for the meeting with Professor Reeves. She’s unlikely to be patient."
"She’s never patient."
"Then we shouldn’t keep her waiting."
I looked around the penthouse. At the morning sunlight streaming through the windows. At the evidence of multiple lives intersecting in this space. At the two women who had chosen to stand next to me despite knowing exactly what I was.
Six heroines claimed. One pending.
A father running illegal experiments. A sister plotting corporate sabotage. An NEA investigation building momentum. An exhibition match in three weeks that would determine my entire future.
And somewhere out there, a kid named Liam was alive because I’d been stupid enough to drain myself to five percent trying to save him.
Worth it.
"Let’s go see what Laurana wants."
