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“Do not fucking wake her up.” He glares, glancing at Raven in the hospital bed.
“Fuck you!” I hiss. “She’s mine, I do what I want.”
The nurse scoffs and cuts me a glance, before walking out.
Fuck her, too.
Maybell walks in the second the lady is gone. “All’s taken care of. Signed what needed signing.”
“And her mom won’t find out?” I ask.
“Her mama won’t care.” She shakes her head.
“Will she find out?” I ask again.
Maybell darts her eyes to where Victoria is sitting, pretending not to listen.
“Call me when you leave,” she tells me. “Come on now, Tor.”
Captain stops pacing long enough to plant his feet in front of Victoria who is lying across the little couch, tucked under a hospital blanket she snagged off Raven’s bed.
“She stays.” He glares down at her and she doesn’t acknowledge anyone has even spoken.
Maybell scoffs, mumbles something under her breath and walks out, but Cap makes no move to step away.
As soon as Maybell’s gone, Captain’s stance widens, and Victoria’s eyes lift. “What?”
“Tell us what the hell happened in there,” he demands.
She rolls her eyes and drops them back to the stupid fucking magazine she’s acting like she’s reading.
He slaps his hand over it, bending to get in her face. “I asked you a question.”
She sighs and pushes up a bit, getting even closer. “I don’t know what you take me for, and I don’t care to hear it, but spare me your ‘holier than thou’ bullshit. Raven will wake up and she’ll tell you what she wants to tell you, be it the truth, or a lie. And you’ll be none the wiser because I’ll agree and go right along with it, just like I did the night she said she fought but was jumped.” She yanks the magazine from under his hand and he slips forward more, now even closer to her. “Because it’s her story to tell or lie to cover, and the answer she gives doesn’t affect me. But my answer? It could affect her now, couldn’t it?” She gives a bitchy grin. “And who am I to dictate the outcome of her mess?”
“She’s kinda growing on me...”
All eyes dart to Raven as she gives a weak grin toward Victoria.
Victoria snorts. “Yeah well, you’re all right, I guess, when I’m not having to save your ass.”
“Bitch please, you’re weak compared to me.”
“Says the busted-up chick in the raggedy gown.”
Raven grins, shifting her eyes around the room, pausing when they land on me. “Guess I’m in the hospital.”
We rush to her side.
She rolls her eyes, then winces. “Fuck, my head.”
“Yeah, your fucking head,” I snap, waiting for her to come back at me, but her brows smooth out when she looks my way again.
I have to use all my fucking concentration to force my body not to shake right now.
“I’m good, Big Man,” she rasps and sits up.
Good. Right. She got attacked on our grounds, again.
“Doc said soon as you woke up you could go. You wanna?” Royce asks gently.
She nods. “Why would they even put me in a room if they were letting me leave?”
“Because the caveman demanded it, threw their name out there real big and loud like,” Victoria offers and Raven laughs, looking to her.
Our eyes go with her, and now that Victoria is standing and the blankets fallen, we see her torn shirt and the dozens of scars across her stomach.
Her eyes hit Raven’s, who pointedly looks down and Victoria’s eyes snap wide as she spins away, clearing her throat.
“Well, you’re awake, so I’m gonna head back.” She rushes for the door, freezing when Captain’s bloody sweatshirt lands on her head.
She stands there facing the door a minute, before pulling it off and over her head. She slowly steps from the room without a backward glance.
Raven shrugs off our questioning glares while reaching out to touch Cap’s arm in thanks.
“Raven,” I regain her attention. “The fuck happened today?”
“What did you steal from the Graven cabin the night we broke in?” she asks, frowning when all three of us hesitate.
She pulls her hands away from us, looking off to the side.
“Why are you asking this now?” I eye her.
A humorless laugh leaves her, and she tenses from the pain it causes.
Her eyes slide back to mine, and she does nothing to hide her irritation.
She opens her mouth to speak right as the nurse walks in with a smile. “Oh good, you’re awake!”
“Get out,” she tells her.
When the woman makes no move and just fucking stands there like a damn statue, Raven slowly drags her glare from mine. “I said out.”
The nurse rushes from the room and Raven looks back to me, eyes cold as fucking ice.
“I’m only gonna do this once, so listen and understand what I’m really trying to say,” she forces past clenched teeth. “Stop whispering in my fucking ear how much I ‘belong’ if you’re gonna treat me like the outsider I already know I am when it’s convenient for you. I get it. You want answers and you expect them the second you demand and not a moment later.” Her eyes narrow and she leans forward. “But look at me, Maddoc. Look where I’m sitting, look at my face. Have I not earned them, like a good fucking girl” – she purposely makes a mockery of herself – “just as much, or should I drop to my knees and beg like the peasant would for her king?”
