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“Get in,’” he said, his face flushed. “I just got off the phone with the hospital. She’s awake.”
The words were a punch to the gut, and my hand flew to my chest as tears sprang to my eyes.
She’s awake?
A sob grew in my chest, and it let free as someone’s arm came around my waist, breaking me out of my frozen state.
The driver’s side door shut and Damien revved the engine as we raced to the back of the truck, launching ourselves into the cargo bed.
“We’re right behind you!” one of the Saints, Mickey, shouted, tossing a set of keys to someone. The engines of all the cars in the driveway turned over as one as Damien chewed gravel, whipping the truck around to go back the way he’d come.
Someone squeezed my hand, and I glanced up to find Grey there, giving me a comforting nod as tears raced down my cheeks and the ball in my chest grew. I sniffed, squeezing his hand back, reaching for Corvus.
I squeezed his knee, and he gave me the same reassuring look. “Be ready,” he said over the rush of the wind. “They could be waiting for us.”
The hope and joy that’d been churning in my gut turned back to heavy lead, and I drew my blades again, ready for anything. I fucking dared him to try something now. There was nothing on this mortal coil strong enough to stop me from getting to that hospital.Nothing.
* * *
The guysand I led the charge into the hospital with Damien St. Vincent and the other Saints flanking us, ready for anything.
I’d been courteous enough to sheath my blades, and the guys had holstered their weapons, but it was clear to anyone with two eyes and a brain that we were all armed to the teeth. Whether long t-shirts or jackets concealed the majority of our weapons or not.
“Is she in the same room?” I asked Damien, gaze fixed on the hallway ahead, and the stairs that would lead up to the next floor where I would take an immediate left and find her room.
“As far as I know,” he replied gruffly, starting to flag behind.
This made Grey pause, his sneakers squeaking on the tile floor. “You’re not coming?”
“Why would I? She doesn’t know me. Just… just let me know she’s all right, would you, lad?”
“Yeah,” Grey replied before I heard the rush of his footfalls hurrying to catch up to the rest of us as we blew into the stairwell. I had no patience to stand in the hall and wait for an elevator.
“There’s no chance this is a trap, right?” Corvus asked, taking the stairs two at a time in stride with me.
His words sent a spike of ice stabbing into my chest. If this was some sort of trick… if Carson had used my best friend against meagain…
“It’s not,” Rook answered before I could, putting my apprehension to rest. “Damien would’ve sorted that out quick.”
His reassurance didn’t rid me of the disquieting thoughts altogether, though. Thorn Valley had seemed eerily quiet on the way over here. And with still nothing from Carson or the Kings, I couldn’t help feeling that something big was coming. There was no way they were just going to crawl into a hole and disappear for good.
Carson would come for me. I knew he would. It was only a matter of time.
I bulldozed through the door to the second floor with a hard lump in my throat, seeing a willowy silhouette sitting up in bed through the curtain to her hospital room.
Nurses whispered outside her door, shaking their heads. “Such a shame,” one was saying. “Mr. Hart only just left to sign that merger. If he’d stayed another half day he would’ve been here when she woke up.”
“He’s assured us he’s on the next flight back.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that she had to wake up alone. Poor thing doesn’t have any other family—”
“Yes she does,” I argued, shoving between the two nurses and into the room.
“Becks?”
My friend was shakily bringing a plastic cup to her lips, but stopped dead when we entered, her unfocused eyes squinting at me like she didn’t recognize me.
My heart stopped.
