I wouldn’t give him time to come up with a plan.
My feet slipped a bit as I tried to dart around him, to bolt for the unguarded door, and he caught me easily. When I slammed to the ground, I didn’t have a chance to try any of the self defense Gabriel taught me before his fist slammed into my face and the world went dark.
Chapter 34 - Nathan
Andrew and I didn’t speak on the train ride home. Mostly because I could tell he was angry at Gabriel for putting himself in danger, but also because his knee was clearly painful. His limp was significantly worse when we exited the train at the stop near the apartment. The shrill reverberation of a man wailing on a saxophone in the echoing platform was the perfect soundtrack to what was happening in my mind.
Andrew made it halfway up the stairs before his leg buckled. I lunged and caught him before he fell, which made my arm throb under the bandage Gabriel had changed that morning. The stitches were healing well, but he’d already warned me he wouldn’t be removing them for at least another week.
“Goddamnit,” Andrew said savagely.
“It’s fine,” I said, still steadying him.
“No. It’s definitely notfine. Nothing isfineright now.”
I waited for a second before responding, to manage my own temper. “Sorry. You’re right. I meant… I’ve got you.”
He glared at me for a second then sighed. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” I helped him the rest of the way up the stairs.
We made it back to the apartment before I spoke again. Andrew collapsed on the coach with a groan.
The gel ice pack I pulled from the freezer stung my hands until I tossed it on his lap. I considered getting one for my aching forearm, but instead I just rolled out my wrist. “We should call Maggie and Soren. They need to know what happened.”
“Gabriel said no police,” he grunted as he stretched out his bad knee.
“Well… I think he’s wrong.” I prepared for another burst of temper, but Andrew just shook his head.
“Realistically, what could they do? Gabriel’s way is faster.”
I paced the room. “Are you really okay with just sitting here?”
“No! Of course I’m fucking not. But what do you suggest I do with this?” He gestured to his knee. “We would just slow them down. Unless you’ve got experience with vigilante justice you’ve been keeping under wraps?”
“No.” I threw myself into one of the armchairs. It creaked in protest.
“And we’re not gonna just sit here. We’re going to make a nest.”
Another Omega quirk I knew aboutin theory. It made sense for an Omega to want to feel safe during their heat, but I’d never thought about what constructing one would entail.
There was no point protesting. I didn’t have any better ideas of what to do while we waited, other than to call Maggie. It might even feel good to have a distraction.
Apparently, building a nest involved me following Andrew’s instructions while he iced his knee, and it was mostly hauling around mattresses. He had me pull the mattress off the bed in the guest room and drag it into his and Gabriel’sbedroom. Then I was instructed to pulltheirmattress off the frame so we could disassemble it and put it in the closet.
“And where are you going to sleep then?” I asked after I slammed the closet door shut on the last piece of the heavy wooden frame. I was sweating in the heat of the apartment.
Andrew looked at me like I was an idiot. “Here. Obviously.”
“Oh. Right.” I looked at the two mattresses pushed together on the shaggy soft rug. I’d wrestled fresh sheets onto them, and piled up all the pillows in the apartment. “Even before it… starts?”
“That’s the idea,” he said and levered himself up from the floor with a grunt. “She’ll probably want our scents in it, so you should sleep here too.”
“Funny,” I said drily. “Wait, are you serious?”
“Yes. Why would I joke about that?”
“I can’tsleepwith you!”
