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“Lead the way,” I say, ready and more than willing to build a few bridges, starting with the family of the woman we love. “It’s been a long time coming.”
Truthfully, it’s been torture the last four weeks without her. Waking up after the poison had left our system wasn’t a painful experience because of the very thorough way we were beaten, it was having to recover without Christy. It was knowing she’d been hurt and not being able to go to her the second we had the strength to do so. Just thinking about the moment I woke up after the poison had finally worn off gives me fucking anxiety…
“Is it over?”I ask, blinking back the lingering heavy fog as I stare up at Five.
“Yes, it’s over,” she replies, patting my hand.
“Where are Leon and Konrad?”
“They’re resting now. Six is with Leon and Nala is with Konrad. We’ve fixed them up as best we can. They’ll be okay. As will you.”
“And Christy?” I ask, knowing she’s left with her family just like we’d planned, but asking anyway. Five’s gaze flickers with apprehension, and despite the fact my whole body hurts, I force myself upright, breathing heavily from the effort. “Five, tell me!”
“One slipped away from The Wolf—”
“What?!” I snap.
“By the time I’d realised, she’d already stolen a knife from the kitchen and had set out to find you. When she found you in the courtyard tied to The Weeping Tree, she came to her own conclusions and attacked Christy.”
“No! No!” I shout, my whole body trembling as I grip at Five, my fingers squeezing her shoulders. “Please don’t fucking tell me she’s gone. Please, please, please!”
“She’s okay. I promise!” Five says quickly. “She’s okay, Jakub.”
A sob breaks free from my lips as I collapse back onto the bed, the agony of my battered body is nothing compared to the thought Christy has been hurt. “What happened?”
“One stabbed Christy just beneath the collarbone. It could’ve been fatal but it wasn’t, all major arteries were missed. Thirteen patched her up enough for them to leave.”
“Thirteen? But I thought…”
“She’d left with the Deana-dhe?” Five shakes her head. “Arden wanted to be certain that you were dead before they left, so they came back to the courtyard to check. He killed One before I could intervene, slit her throat for attacking Christy. He used the knife with the human skin handle to do it.”
“Then it’s me who owes him a debt,” I mutter, grateful to my arch nemesis for doing what I should’ve done myself. “Do we know how Christy is now?”
“Charles called here an hour ago,” Five replies. “He picked up a message between Grim and a man named Hudson Freed. She was flown from Edinburgh Castle to a private hospital in London. She’s okay, Jakub.”
“I never thought I’d be thanking God for anything, but thank God.”
“Quite,” she replies, smiling a little.
“And what about Thirteen and the Deana-dhe?” I ask.
“She left with them voluntarily…” Her voice trails off as she sighs heavily.
“What is it?”
“On the night when Christy died, Thirteen gave me a letter to look after. She asked me to give it to you once she’d left the castle but instructed me to tell you that you shouldn’t open it until you were reunited with Christy and have resolved your issues with her family. She said that part was really important,” Five says, reaching into the leather pouch attached to the holster strapped across her chest and pulling out an envelope, handing it to me.
I glance down at the handwriting, Thirteen’s this time. “Then I shall honour that wish.”
Five smiles. “Good. She also said you need to give Christy time to make things right with her sister.”
“That’s not going to be easy, for any of us.”
“She said you might say that,” Five replies with another smile. “And she told me to tell you that patience is a virtue, and given you’ve all shown the ability to regain some other key virtues over the past few months, you should be able to handle this one easily.”
“Then she really doesn’t know us all that well,” I reply with a grumble, groaning as I shift to get more comfortable.
“I think you’re wrong. I think she knows you all very well indeed,” Five replies, pulling the blanket up over my chest. “Can I get you anything?”
