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“Someone tried to abduct him?” My knees wanted to give out.
“I’m so sorry. You didn’t know?”
I shook my head. My unflappable husband had been almost incoherent on the phone.
We got to a large doorway in a newer section of the hospital. When I spotted Valor, I almost fainted. His face was a mess—one of his eyes so swollen shut his eyelashes had disappeared, his nose bloody, his lip split. He was standing in the doorway speaking to a woman with the air of a police officer, but she was wearing a suit rather than a uniform.
“Tarryn!” He broke away from her and grabbed me into a tight hug.
“Oh my god,are you okay? How is Loïc?”
“Mr. Davenport, I’ll be in contact if we need any more information.” The officer gave me a grim nod and left.
Valor drew me into the hospital room.
Loïc lay in a bed that had been adjusted to keep the upper half of his body somewhat elevated. His pale eyes were slitted open and unfocussed. He looked mussed, but not mangled like Valor.
“The doctor just left. The nurse said she’d be back in a few minutes.” Valor sounded calm, but I could tell he was faking it for my sake. He’d been running his hands through his hair, which was sticking up.
I approached the bed and took Loïc’s hand. It was lax in mine. He murmured in French, and I doubted he knew I was there.
“Loïc, it’s Tarryn. Are you awake?”
His eyes rolled, and he blinked several times, as though he was trying to focus.
“You’re safe. We’re at the hospital.”
I could feel Valor hovering behind me, and I sat carefully on the edge of the bed so I could see them both.
“This is my fault.” Valor was morose. “I didn’t even think of someone doing this to a man. The drinks were on the table when I came back.” He cleared his throat.
“From where?”
“The dancefloor. I didn’t think anything of it. I drank all of mine, but I guess they only drugged the one they put down at his spot.”
“Had you ordered drinks?”
“Not that time, no, but the bachelorette party I told you about—they kept sending them over. I didn’t think anything of it.” His eyes were tired and full of grief. “Such a stupid thing for me to fallfor. Loïc probably doesn’t even know about roofies, and here I’ve been warning you about them since we were kids. I know better. I should have protected him.”
“This isn’t your fault. You didn’t drug him.”
“I should have ordered fresh drinks instead of trusting...”
“If anything, it’s my fault for sending you two out to the club in the first place.”
“No, it’s not your fault—not even a little bit.” He leaned close and pressed his lips gently to my forehead. “What if this messes with his head? Or what if he never shakes this off at all? It can trigger all sorts of things.”
“We’ll deal with that if it happens. There’s no sense in borrowing trouble.”
He took a long, shaking breath.
Loïc slurred something, and we both whirled to give him our undivided attention.
“Hey, hi!” I said with false brightness. My voice sounded brittle and shrill, and I winced. “Loïc, can you hear me? It’s Tarryn. You’re safe. Valor is here with us, and Severin, Rodrigo, and Minnow are waiting to see you.”
Valor grabbed the chair near the bed and pulled it closer. “Everyone wants to make sure you’re okay.”
“I had to arm wrestle Severin to come in first,” I joked weakly.
