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“What lie? A guy fell over the edge of the cliff. It’s a damn shame, but thank God it wasn’t anyone else, a kid or something,” he said and jerked his chin toward the unconscious Josh.
“What are we going to do with Samuels?”
Beckett frowned. “Leave him here. He made his bed, he can lie in it. We need to get your side looked at.”
“If I go to the hospital, I won’t be able to play in the game the scouts are going to be at,”
I said as we walked toward our bikes. Mine was surprisingly undamaged, considering how I’d used it like a weapon.
“Don’t worry, Marcus has it covered. Let’s get the fuck out of here, before someone sees us,” Asher said and snapped down his visor.
“You okay to ride?” Beckett asked, helping me pull my bike up.
My side hurt like hell, and I was bleeding pretty badly, but going to a hospital wasn’t an option, and I couldn’t leave my bike here and have questions come from it. My brain felt oddly hazy. I was pretty sure it was shock. Getting away from here before it wore off was probably a good idea.
“I’m good, I’ll be fine. Let’s go.”
* * *
We parked around the back of the animal clinic in Hade Harbor. I’d tied a tourniquet around the wound to slow the bleeding, but it was a relief when I dismounted my bike.
“Why are we here?” I wondered, looking up at the back door and the dark sign above it with a cute cat and dog. “There’s no one here.”
“Not true,” Asher muttered and rapped on the darkened door.
It opened to Marcus’ relieved face. “Thank fuck you guys are here. I was starting to get worried that the wrong guy fell off the cliff.” At my dark expression, he shrugged. “Hey, I’m an Ice God, too. Don’t withhold the good stuff from me. That fucker had it coming.”
We went into the small waiting room, and the harsh smell of cleaning products and something faintly medicinal filled my nose.
The fact was that a huge secret now bound me to these guys. I’d never been so scared and so relieved at the same time. Uncle Jack was dead. Gone forever. It hadn’t sunk in yet.
“Why are we here?” I had been picturing doctoring myself in the bathroom at the Williamses’. It wouldn’t be the first time that hot water, a straight alcohol dousing, and duct tape had gotten me through a stab wound.
“Because you need to be patched up, and apparently going to hospital isn’t an option,” a soft, female voice called to me.
It was her.
Lily.She was still here with us. With me. Despite it all.
Her sweet voice was like a balm to my tattered heart. I turned toward the sound, like she had tied a string to my heart and I couldn’t stay the fuck away. I’d never been as scared as when I’d seen the message from her, or her standing in Jack’s grip. I’d thought that in my life, I’d learned what fear was, but now I knew I’d never experienced it truly until I’d seen Lily in danger. That was fear. That was real.
She crossed the room toward me, and I braced myself. I felt like what she did next could break me. Clearly, I’d been wrong about everything, just like she’d warned me. I hadn’t listened. I’d reacted too quickly. I hadn’t trusted her. I’d embarrassed her in front of everyone. She hated me now and she deserved to.
Being Lily, she didn’t act at all like she should have. Her slender arms reached around me, and I disappeared into her embrace, lurching forward into her arms. The reality of everything that had happened threatened to wash over me, but holding on to Lily, like an enduring rock in the sea, I clung on and knew I could survive it. It was a power unique to her.
“Are you okay?” I asked her immediately. “Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head against my chest, and the smell of her hair rose around me. It smelled like what I thought home might, if I’d ever really known one.
“I should be asking you that.” Lily pulled back, her eyes searching my body for injuries, a deep crease lining her forehead. “Come on,” she muttered, picking up my injured arm.
It had stopped bleeding, but the letter I’d carved in was weeping dark blood.
“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt that bad,” I lied. Nothing hurt after seeing she was safe. Nothing hurt after the way she’d held me, like seeing me whole and relatively unharmed had been the most important thing to ever happen to her. If she found a smile for me, I was pretty sure nothing would ever hurt again.
She led the way into a small exam room.
“Here, get up here, and lose the shirt.” She pointed to the paper-lined table. “Sit here.”
