I set the tea aside and twist my hands together in my lap. "I'm sorry, Calvin."
"Tell me why," he repeats and his voice remains as gentle as ever. "You owe me that much."
I look up at him. Several bruises shadow his face and flesh splits above his brow where a harsh punch cut him against his browbone. He took that beating for me. Those men took those bullets and punches all to protect me.
"I'm sorry," I gasp and the tension in my chest swells like air is getting trapped beneath my ribs. "I don't even know where to begin. Everything is so…. everything is so fucked. I'm trapped in this horrible position and I'm running out of time. I have no idea what to do!"
"Running out of time?" Confusion knits across Calvin's face in waves as he processes my words. "Rose, what do you mean? Have you set this time limit yourself?"
I shake my head.
"Has Kon?"
Again, I shake my head.
"Then who? And for what?"
My lower lip trembles so I draw it into my mouth and bite down, then the truth surges out of me in a wave. "I have to get pregnant, Calvin. I have to. It's the only way to save my family and I'm just…"
His eyes widen but anything he plans to say gets derailed when the door to the bedroom bursts open.
Kon fills the doorway.
He stands there with his shoulders curled forward and his shirt stained with dark, dried blood.
His hair sweeps in all directions and his brow pinches fiercely together, creating a dark light straight across his forehead.
"Boss!" Calvin's on his feet and rushing toward him before I can even register all the blood, but as Calvin reaches him, Kon holds up his hand.
"It is not my blood." Then he pushes past Calvin. "Rose, are you okay?"
"I-I'm okay. Oh my god, why are you bleeding? What happened to you?"
"It is not my blood," he repeats and he falls to his knees in front of me. "Promise me you are okay?"
I stare at him with wide eyes. "I'm fine, I promise."
"She has a head wound," Calvin corrects. "It's small and superficial. Doc's already had a look at her."
"You are not fine," Kon whispers as he clasps his hands around mine in my lap. He lifts one and places it on my chest over my heart and his eyes flicker slightly. "Who did this?"
Calvin steps forward. "General Zangier. The men, they carried this." Calvin digs deep into his pocket and pulls out a stained silver pin in the shape of a heron caught in a circle. He offers the pin to Kon but he only stares at it while a shadow passes across his tight face.
"Where?" Kon bites out.
"He's in the wind, but we have everyone looking, and we're tracing the bug we put in his phone. He won't hide from us. But ifI'm honest, there's a chance he'll claim these men acted without his knowledge."
Kon's jaw tenses, sharp as a blade, and he turns back to me with his eyes closed.
Anger rolls off him in waves, heating up the air between us, and his fingers flex ever so slightly against my chest.
"Kon?" All thought of Calvin and the pregnancy vanishes while I lean forward and very gently cup his face. I don't care about the general or anything else in this moment, not when Kon is kneeling before me covered in blood. "What happened to you? Why is there so much blood?"
"Ethan," Kon chokes out, and his eyes close. Then he turns to Calvin. "Ethan got shot. He's at Saint Mary's. I want you there. I want everyone there. You tell me as soon as you have any news, understand?"
"On it, boss!" With a last look at me, Calvin sprints from the room, leaving Kon and I alone.
"Rose, I am so sorry. I am so sorry." Kon's head sags forward into my lap and his fingers against my chest curl ever so slightly. "I was supposed to keep you safe."
