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Mykie would support her, too, but it would be from a distance. At least until Jezebeth could look at her again without seeing her father's murderer instead of her best friend.
"Dexter's here," Mykie told her in a choked-up voice. She helped Jezebeth to her feet and she felt useless as Jezebeth pushed past her and ran for Dexter. Dexter wrapped his arms around her tightly and supported her just as her legs gave out again. Mykie could see that Jezebeth was shaking from her sobs. Mykie wanted to hold her too, but she knew she would be pushed away. They both needed to keep their distance from each other for a while Jezebeth came to terms with the death and Mykie stopped feeling so guilty.
"Now that Adam is no longer a part of us," Chance said, drawing everyone's attention to himself again, "I need to name a second again. Someone I can trust with my life and won't betray our family. If something were to happen to me, or if I was away from the Snake Pit, this should be the person you all trust to handle problems when I can't. If you are all agreeable, I'd like to nominate my daughter, Mykie Vesper. She lives and breathes the Cantil, and she would be a proper replacement if I was taken out."
"I second it!" Alexander said, coming forward from the crowd.
"I third it!" Another yelled. Soon enough, everyone in the room was raising their drinks to her and cheering for her as the new second to the Snake King.
"What..." Mykie whispered, looking up at Ryker in shock. This was unexpected and definitely never her plan.
"Don't tell me you haven't caught on these last few months," Ryker said with a snort. "Many of them were looking for a way to get Adam out of the way so you can take his place. It was only right for you to step up after how much you already work alongside your father." He leaned over and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Looks like your Princess nickname has just become a little more real."
It only increased her guilt as she glanced at Jezebeth in Dexter's arms.
Adam was right. Ever since she joined the Cantil, she was given everything on a silver platter. It wasn't fair to everyone else who had been a Cantil much longer than herself. It wasn't fair to everyone else who had worked much harder than she felt she did.
She wrapped her arms around Ryker tentatively. How she was going to do this? She hoped she'd never have the chance to be in Chance's position. She wasn't sure she would be able to do what he had just done to a man who he called his brother for so many years.
"I'll be with you. I promise," he murmured in her ear, brushing his fingers through her hair as he held her head close to his chest, beside his heart. She couldn't help but to think that his heart was beating for her right now. They were entwined in a much different way than earlier that day in the hallway, but she felt this meant more than any kiss. His promise would mean more to her than anything else in the world. In a way, it was more possessive and claiming than any kiss, too. It was something none of the other boys would ever be able to do. At least, not to that severity. Caspar and he would be the only ones that could hope to get this close.
He touched her shoulder and squeezed it, causing her to gasp.
"You're hurt." It wasn't a question but a simple observation. It was almost as if he assumed she was untouchable and the idea of her being hurt never crossed his mind.
"It's nothing. Really," she insisted when he didn't look like he believed her.
"Can I see your shoulder?"
She wasn’t expecting him to ask. It was then she realized that none of the other guys usually asked before they did things. They simply did it and she put up with it or dealt with their actions after.
It was strange that the most possessive one asked instead of assumed she wouldn’t be bothered by the help. She was even questioning why he would ask. Was he walking on eggshells because of what just happened?
She smiled and nodded. Since he asked, why shouldn’t she accept his help?
He took her hand and pulled her behind him towards Chance's office. He'd disappeared after most likely ordering someone to clean up the mess he created. If she knew Chance, he was probably interrogating Jered to see how much information he told.
"We can't go in there," Mykie protested.
"Don't worry, I have permission," he said, not missing a beat as he opened the door to the office and pulled her inside. He immediately let go of her and went behind Chance's desk and dug through his drawers.
Mykie was about to ask how he knew where her father kept things, but she shook her head. He watched every move she made, so it wasn't a stretch to think that he observed her father sometimes, as well.
He shook his head and stood back up. "He must have used it up. Come on, we'll just wash it with soap and water."
He walked out from behind Chance's desk and came over to her. He pulled the door open again and waited for her to pass through before closing it behind himself. They went around the small bar area and went into the unisex bathroom that had a few stalls and sinks.
"Sit up on the counter," Ryker said as he walked over to the paper towel machine and pulled out a dozen of them. He took a fourth of his pile due to them being so thin and ran them under some cold water before squirting some soap on it.
In the meantime, Mykie maneuvered herself onto the sink counter and pulled her blazer off. The shirt was stained already, so she didn't mind when the shirt ripped a little as she pulled the neckline aside so she and Ryker could see the wound. In all reality, the wound didn't look as bad as it felt. She was lucky that it only grazed her shoulder, or she would have had to deal with the pain of pulling the bullet out.
The fact that the spot where she was hit was more blood than an actual wound didn't seem to faze Ryker when he came over. He brushed his hand over her shoulder, lightly touching the irritated skin around the open wound.
"You should have helped yourself before you came," he murmured. "Driving must have hurt."
He was right. The seat belt sat just in the right place to put pressure on the wound. It also didn't help that every time she made a turn, it hurt her shoulder to move the steering wheel.
"No. I had to get here and warn everyone about Jered, just in case he revealed more things about the Cantil than Chance's location," Mykie argued.
