“You should talk,” Finn grumbles. “Oh, Grayson, you are so magical. Oh, Grayson, you have four Affinities, we have never! Ohhhh, so talented and so handsome…”
“Hey, fuck off, no one said I was handsome,” Grayson groans without heat and holds his hand out for Leo. “Come pet my head.”
Leo lightly punches Gideon in the belly one more time before taking Grayson’s head in his lap.
Gideon begins to pace. He needs a distraction, or he’s going to hunt Jay down for himself, which he’s sure the hospital staff would not appreciate. “The visit with the Guild went well, then?” he asks.
He knows he sounds disinterested, which he assuredly isn’t. Any other time, he’d be giving Grayson all of his attention. He pulls out the phone and checks on his Kittens and…where is baby-alpha? Rowan is still about twenty minutes out. Is he walking? Does he not know how to hail a fucking cab? He presses call, but it just rings and rings.
“Dammit, Ro,” he mutters.
“It was good,” Grayson sighs as Leo rubs his temples and Finn rests a hand on his wrist to keep track of his pulse.
When no more is forthcoming, Gideon can’t keep himself focused long enough to ask more questions. He hears the squeak of footsteps in the hall, and then there’s a doctor, fresh from surgery, standing in the waiting room. It’s the worst case of déjà vu, but this time, it’s not Riordan—it’s a stranger.
“Rhodes pack? I’m Dr. Haus.”
“That’s us. I’m Dr. Finn Merritt. How is Jay?”
Apparently, the nurse hadn’t warned her colleague about the famous andrologist in their midst, but at least the doctor retains his dignity despite the initial look of surprise.
“Once we got him some blood, he rallied like gangbusters. That’s what gave us trouble from the get-go. The bullet didn’t hit any major organs, even though there was significant soft-tissue damage. He’s stable now, and we’ve put in a drain to help prevent any fluid build-up while he heals. With some rest, he should recover well in a few days. We’ll keep a close eye on him, but everything looks positive at this point.”
“He’s okay?” Gideon whispers. He’s having trouble reconciling the damage and the death from earlier with the positive outcome.
“He is. We’ll move him out of recovery in the next hour, and then you can go up to see him. Enigmas never stay under long.”
Finn shakes his hand and walks him to the door. They make professional small talk, and Gideon knows he should thank the doctor for his hard work on their behalf—it’s his role, after all, as Jay’s second—but he can only hear the buzzing of relief in his ears.
Jay isn’t dead. Jay isn’t dead. Not. Dead.
In the next instant, he’s sitting on his ass in the middle of the floor, and he’s laughing with relief. He knows he looks like a crazy person for the second time today, but it’s when he startsto cry—in great, racking sobs—that Gideon’s mates cuddle close around him. They mutter soothing words of their own relief and, somehow, absorb some of his anguish.
He’s reminded that maybe it’s not just him that is supposed to do the saving.
Maybe the Goddess sent them to save him, too.
Thank you for them.
9
Destiny and Hope Intwine (Nix)
There’s a sweet voice singing one of Nix’s favorite songs about saying goodbye to someone you love. It’s a favorite for Nix because it encapsulates perfectly the years before he found Jamie again.
Luca thought it weird that the reminder of that time of loss would bring him comfort, but Nix explained that since he knows now that Jamie and the others will never leave him, it reminds him only of the joy he feels—of the comfort of being loved forever. Sometimes, when Nix asks—and sometimes even when he doesn’t—Luca will murmur the lyrics or hum the tune.
It’s pure comfort.
And Nix needs that comfort now, because he’s shut his bonds down entirely.
“Baby? Wake up now. Come on, show me your pretty eyes. I’m running out of songs to sing, and I don’t know when that zombie-ass-motherfucker is coming back.”
He doesn’t want to wake up. If he wakes up, he’s going to feel that excruciating pain again, and he’s going to have to think about what it means.
“Please? I don’t want to be alone here. I know I seem really tough and butch and everything. But I am secretly 100% twinkle-gay. Maybe 110%.”
Luca’s voice catches, and Nix swore he would never, ever let his baby sound that scared again.
