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“Are you okay?” I ran my hands all over her, brushing her hair back, checking her scalp, finding nothing more than scratches and a few burns. Thank god.
“I’m fine,” she rasped, coughing hard. “Nate?”
“Dominic’s got him.”
Or, he had. As we looked over, the others hauled Nate to the private ambulance that had shown up at some point, though I hadn’t heard it. The EMTs put him on a backboard, and Mari gasped at her first glance at him. Nate looked rough, and it dawned on me that I didn’t even know if he was breathing.
We both stared as they checked his vitals, jumping when Dominic came over and hauled us both to our feet. Well, he hauled Mari, and when I wasn’t willing to let go of her, he got me too.
“Christ, I’m glad you’re okay.” He pulled her into his arms, and we wrapped ourselves around her, insulating her from everything else. The second she was hidden, she started crying these soft, barely there sobs. Ones she could hide. I didn’t care if we stood there forever. I’d hide her for as long as she asked me to. As long as she was alive to ask.
Finally, Mari lifted her head, showing dirty, tear-streaked cheeks. “Is he dead?”
“No.” We all looked over at the EMT who had apparently been coming to brief us. “He’s alive, but we need to get him out of here.”
“We’re coming,” I said. No hesitation.
The three of us climbed into the private ambulance, despite the EMT’s annoyed sneer.
“Send an ambulance for the O’Bannons, then follow us to the hospital,” I told Tennessee.
“Already on the way.”
I looked back at the carnage that a single bomb had caused, and every part of me raged. “Find out where the hell Joaquin is too.”
Because while Warner was one of Cameron’s men, Joaquin was the one who should have been there and wasn’t.
Joaquin, who had disappeared over and over for months.
Who had failed Mari.
I refused to let him do it again.
It was time he answered for his actions.
The trip into Seattle General was short and discreet, thanks to the private entrance in the basement. It was the only way we could get inside without alerting anyone to Mari’s presence. We didn’t need people thinking she was dead again.
As soon as we stepped inside, nurses and doctors whisked Nate to the Marcosa wing, and I’d never been happier we’d bought the damn thing. Since Mari’s attack, I’d hired a full-time staff to run it. When they weren’t busy, they did checkups on our people and their families.
I’d even convinced Dr. Grant to work for us, though she demanded we pay a higher salary that included a hefty donation to a charity of her choice every month. Considering she’d saved Mari’s life, she could have whatever she wanted. Fuck the expenses.
Mari refused to leave Nate’s side, and Dominic and I refused to leave hers, which led to more arguments and teeth-gnashing from the medical team than my patience could handle.
Finally, Mari snapped. “Your opinions don’t matter here. Your knowledge does. Do your job, and make sure he’s okay. Everything else can wait.”
They all looked at her, and despite the dirt and blood shrouding her, they saw the queen that they expected. When I looked at her, I saw something different. Her hands shook, her voice wavered, and she kept dashing tears off her face before they fell.
My beloved, who had seen more death in her early years than most people saw in their entire lives, was breaking. The idea of losing Nate fractured her right in front of our eyes, and I didn’t know what to do about it.
Probably because there was nothing I could do.
He would live or he would die. Either way, we would face the consequences together.
For the two hours that it took to do tests on Nate, Mari didn’t speak or look at us. She just paced the length of his room on repeat.
Finally, the door opened, and his bed was wheeled in. Nate was clean and asleep. I thought he looked better, but I couldn’t be sure I wasn’t projecting my desires on to the situation. Either way, I let out a sigh of relief that he’d survived.
The little bartender who threw our world into chaos. The Good Samaritan who saved Mari’s life the first day he met her. In the midst of everything, I had grown to trust him with my whole world, and for the first time outside of the Marcosa family, I had somebody I considered a friend. Family. Someone I could see becoming my brother. When had that happened?
