Page 28 of Fallen Court

“Thanks,” I said, not quite sure that I meant it.

“I’m glad to see you. Your family, however, wants to kill you.” He clapped a hand on my shoulder, and I winced at the smarting pain. He shoved me down with a smile and looked pointedly at the apple. “I would take whatever help I can get.”

I groaned, collapsing into the seat and dutifully taking another bite. “What the hell happened?”

“You really don’t remember?” He leaned against the wall, crossing his tattooed forearms, and glared across the room at me. “You walked into the Infernal Court and picked a fight with Bain.”

Oh yeah. That.

“Without anyone to back you up,” he added.

“You mentioned that.”

“Because you’re a moron.”

“Sounds like me,” I said flatly.

“Bain beat the shit out of you. You’ve been out for days.”

“Days?” I repeated. I’d lost days.

“Ciara said to let you heal on your own.”

“Why would she say that?”

“Because we have enough to deal with. We didn’t need to worry about you, too.” Roark chewed on his lip ring—a sure sign that he was frustrated enough to agree with her.

“Why am I alive?” That’s what didn’t make sense. Bain was within his rights to kill me or turn me over to the Wild Hunt. I’d picked the fight. I had breached his court. I had killed his penumbra.

I shouldn’t be breathing.

“Good question.” He tilted his head, waiting for me to supply a reason. But I only shrugged. “I showed up, and he told me to get you out of his sight. I practically had to scrape you off the floor.”

“Hopefully you got all the important bits.” I deposited the core next to a full bowl of apples before taking another.

Roark waved his hand, and the core disappeared. “You mean hopefully I got all the brain cells. You can’t stand to lose any more.”

He had good reason to be pissed at me, and since I couldn’t do shit until the blood apple sped up my natural healing abilities, I took it.

But when I failed to challenge him, Roark’s voice softened with disappointment. “You attacked another court. What were you thinking?”

That’s the problem: I wasn’t thinking. I couldn’t think. Even now, I was biding time until I was healed enough to continue my search for Cate. My eyes lifted to his. I wasn’t used to sharing my thoughts out loud with him, but he seemed to understand the implied question.

“Bain doesn’t have Cate,” he said softly.

I tensed hearing her name, a new pain flooding through me. “So he claims.”

“Do you believe him?” Roark asked.

He wasn’t angry that I’d attacked another court. He was pissed that I’d left him out of it. If I said no, if I asked him to go back to London, he would. It was a small comfort that after everything, the bond between us was still unbreakable.

But that didn’t change facts. “Things are a bit fuzzy,” I admitted, “but he seemed genuinely surprised when I showed up. I don’t think he has her.”

“So, who does?” Roark asked.

That was the question. I stared past him like I might find the answers if I only looked harder.

“We’ll find her.”