Page 69 of Hybrid Heroics

“Uhm, yeah,” I responded. “I’ve been unconscious for a week.”

Palmer squinted, shaking his head. “No, you haven’t.”

I pursed my lips. “What day is it?”

“Wednesday,” Briggs answered.

“Oh.” I frowned. “I thought it was Tuesday.”

“That would be yesterday,” Vaughn sarcastically informed me.

“No, next Tuesday,” I clarified.

They all gave me varied expressions of confusion, not really understanding what I was saying.

“Time doesn’t exist in your mind,” I explained. “There’s no way to know how long you’ve been trapped there. It felt like a couple hours, and it felt like weeks with no in between. But that’s not the point.”

Novak chuckled. “What’s the point, Trouble?”

“I didn’t know how long I was gone. Two days isn’t bad, though…” I nodded thoughtfully. “It took me a minute to figure out how to wake up, so I assumed I had been out for a while.”

“What do you mean?” Palmer asked.

“I left the circus and went back through Nate’s yard, the same way I always go…” I shrugged. “But waking up from a stasis is different than just leaving my mind.”

“Circus?” Briggs repeated.

“I told you,” York muttered.

I massaged my temples. “It’s a long story.”

“Is that why you hum the tune in your head?” Stone inquired, a disbelieving smirk tilting his lips upward.

“I guess. I’ve not really thought about it.” I dropped my hands to my sides, wobbling my head. “It’s chaotic, and it makes me happy.”

Vaughn stepped closer, his eyes narrowed. “What woke you?”

“Pain.”

“Whose pain?” Novak countered. “Yours?”

“Yours,” I corrected. “All of you.”

“You could feel that?” my vampire asked, disbelief seeping into his tone.

I wasn’t sure what was so hard to understand about that answer, but I confirmed it again. “Yep.”

“How?” Palmer whispered. “You closed the bonds.”

“No,” York told him, staring through my eyes into my soul. “She only closed our sides.”

Novak sighed, still sitting by my demon in the grass. “Dude. You are not allowed to leave anymore. Do you understand that I—” he dropped his hand on his chest “—had to talk and do that calming them down bullshit? I had to fucking lead them.”

I rolled my lips in to cover my grin. “You?”

“This whole time you knew that I had to be the voice of reason. Don’t put me in that position again,” my vampire ranted, kicking his legs like he was throwing a fit. “These assholes don’t know how to behave. And he wanted to kill Talia. And all these things were happening. You felt all that?”

I quirked a brow, letting him finish.