It doesn’t feel like either of us got much sleep.
Gingerly, I push myself upright. The mattress behind me is empty, blankets tossed aside haphazardly and no sign of my best friend.
After taking a few minutes to make myself presentable, I take a deep breath and make my way along the hall from my room. We’re at the end of the long hallway, and I pass several doors until I reach a narrow set of dark wooden stairs. Voices float up to me from downstairs, and my feet pad down the steps as I follow the low buzz.
Jessalyn is leaning on a long, dark bar that runs the length of the low-ceilinged room. I glance around, taking in the worn but well cared for wooden tables, the dartboard, the bare cream walls.
“Sienna!” Jess says brightly. She uncrosses her arms, leaning back from where she and Emmett had been having what looked like a fairly intense discussion. “How are you feeling?”
I shift on my feet. “I feel okay.”
To her credit, Jess doesn’t call me out on my absolute horseshit, even as her eye twitches.
“Good. Well, I was talking to Emmett about what I could do to… I don’t know, earn our keep?”
She directs her words to him, and he nods. “I could always use another hand around here.”
“Ah… do you get busy?” I glance askance at the small space, thinking of the remote forests around us. What made him decide to set up a bar in the middle of nowhere?
His lips twitch. “Not really. A handful of regulars and that’s it. You’ll get to meet them.”
“But in the meantime,” Jess adds, “Emmett is going to take me down to the store to grab a few things.”
I blink, looking between them. They both avoid the other’s eye. “Ah. Okay?”
“Good.” Jess pats Emmett’s arm. “Come on, hot stuff. Show me your truck. I need to see if you’re compensating for anything.”
I hear him choke as he leaves, and a grin pulls up the corners of my lips. Jess hangs back, her expression turning serious. “Stay upstairs,” she says quietly. “The gun is under the bed. I’ll call out when we get back.”
Swallowing, I nod. “You sure you need to go to the store?” I ask weakly. Jess nods. “It’s important, but we’ll be quick.”
When she leaves, I do as she said and head back upstairs. My feet drag a little as I lift them, and it’s a relief to curl back up into my covers and close my eyes.
The small amount of rest I’ve been able to get is interrupted as I wake with a choke. Air catches in my throat as I struggle to take a breath, eventually breaking into a cough that sends something spattering against the hand pressed over my mouth.
Rolling over, I push myself up and open my fist.
Dark, red, viscous liquid sits like a pool in my palm. My fingers close over it quickly, and I stumble to the bathroom, frantically running the water and scrubbing until there’s no trace of blood. My skin turns red under the scalding rush of water, but I keep going until the pain is worse than the panic clawing up my insides.
I hit the water off abruptly, my hands landing on the side of the sink as I take deep breaths. I catch a glimpse of my face in the mirror, red staining my lips, and rub at it until it disappears.
“Si?” Jess hollers from down the hall, and I push myself upright. Quickly, I wash my hands again and snatch one of the neatly stacked, worn towels from the rail as her footsteps sound from outside the door.
“We okay?” she asks, popping her head around. Her hair bounces as she cocks it in question.
“Fine,” I say hastily, putting the towel back and following her into the bedroom. “How was the shopping?”
Jess wrinkles her nose. “I don’t think I’d call it shopping. Not when the clothes look like they went out of fashion a century ago. But…” she drops a full bag onto the bed, “I did get what I wanted.”
I watch over her shoulder as she unpacks what looks like dozens of small boxes and tubes. “What’s that?”
Jess tosses the empty bag aside and starts laying them out. “Vitamins. I spoke to the chemist – nothing about Soul Bonded, obviously, but about general health – and he gave me a list. They had most of it in stock, and we can pick the rest up in a few days.”
She turns to me, hands on her hips. “You’re not eating properly,” she says softly. “And if we’re going to fight this, Si, we need to make sure you’re in the best possible condition.”
I swallow back the metallic taste in my mouth. “These are all for me?”
“Yep.” Jess pulls another tub out, holding it out to me and turning back to her haul. I turn the plastic over in my hands.
