“I’m sorry, baby,” he utters so sweetly.
“I’m fine now. I wasn’t expecting it to be that rough,” I force out convincingly.
“We can go. Clay can fill us in later or something. I… I think it would be good if you spoke with Angelica,” he mutters hesitantly.
“I want to go, but there’s nothing to say to Angelica. I didn’t know him, and I can’t tell her he was a good man because he’s the man who put me here. Accident or not, I lived in this hell that is making everyone’s skin crawl.”
Tears start dripping again, and his soft, gentle lips brush over my forehead to soothe me.
“But she’s your sister, and she just lost the man who took care of her, raised her, and gave her love. You can’t hold his sins against her.”
Damn philosophical, wise Hale.
I just wrinkle my nose at his wise remark as he carries me to a car. His lips stroke my head as he pulls out his cell, and then he lowers me to the seat as Clay answers the ringing I can hear from out here.
“We’re going back to Seminole. Will you have enough vehicles to get you back?”
“More than enough. Take care of her,” he says softly.
“I plan on it,” he murmurs while kissing the back of my left hand that bears the black diamond still perfectly intact.
He hangs up while pulling me closer to his body, and I lean against him as the engine hums. I’m so tired, drained, and emotionally exhausted.
I pray they didn’t get my phase three blood.
That horrible thought is now plaguing my mind as I try to pull memories from the blacked out portions of my week, but nothing comes into the light. It all stays locked away in the vault of my savage’s secrets. Nothing makes sense right now, and nothing ever seems to work the way I need it to when I need it to.
Angelica sniffles against me as I hold her in a comforting embrace I’m not fully sure I’m doing correctly. She’s destroyed right now, and I don’t know what to say to ease her burdens.
“I’m sorry,” I mumble when nothing else comes to mind.
“You tried to save him. You tried,” she whimpers. “Thank you so much for trying.”
Grayson looks miserably exhausted as he leans over on the couch arm. His eyes threaten to close as if he hasn’t had sleep in far too long. Hale kisses the top of my head as he moves into the kitchen, and he returns with a bottle of whiskey.
“Hybrids suck with loss, so you’ll have to excuse me if I’m doing this wrong, but this is all I know to do,” he says as he pours her a glass of the amber liquid.
She almost smiles as she takes it from him, and her nose turns up when she smells the strength hidden in the toxins.
“Consider it a magical elixir,” I lightly retort. “It won’t make it go away, but it’ll drown it out for a little while.”
Grayson gladly accepts the glass proffered to him as his eyes sleepily steady, and he moans as he pours it down his throat.
“Did Commander Jude find anything at Cheyenne?” he asks Hale.
“They’re taking samples of various soils tracked through the area to see if they left any key pieces of the puzzle behind. We’re hoping it’ll lead us to their new location.”
“Do you have anything to eat?” he yawns out.
“I don’t have much on hand, but I can order in.”
Hale walks away with his phone in his hand to make the call, and Angelica walks over to curl into the arms of her loving hybrid. I smile as he strokes her hair and his lips gingerly caresses her forehead.
“I love you,” he murmurs so sweetly to her, and my grin grows.
“I love you,” she utters in reply, and my eyes fall on the man who always brings me out of the darkness.
He lowers the phone as I walk up to him, and he tilts his head curiously when he sees the look of sheer love, adoration, and sublime happiness exuding from me.
