We exited our vehicles at the same time. I itched to go to Lu, but couldn’t leave Ricky to face the weres alone.
“They want a fight?” I asked.
“Neutral territory,” Ricky reminded me, and I knew the werewolves were listening. “You took her.” Summer pressed through the crowd, crossing the dry grass fast to stand in front of us. “You took Abbi into danger.”
“Abbi wasn’t taken from anyone,” Ricky said. “She’s not owned by you. She’s not a child. And how I hear it, she came to you asking for help to find her Shadow, and you kept her from doing that.”
Ricky had always been warm with Lu, acting as a friend, a confidant. But in front of the gathered supernaturals, she was flint and steel, powder-dry and ready to catch.
“She was ours to protect,” Summer said.
“She was ours,” another voice chimed in, this one a man who was lean and muscled and golden brown in color. He faced off to her.
Summer tried to ignore him.
“She was all of ours,” the man pressed. “You Riggs took her away—”
“—she came to us willingly—”
“—you promised you could find her Shadow. But you knew the Hush hunted. We told you they hunted. You knew the Hush thirsted for the Rabbit. You knew they would take her from us!”
“We were keeping her safe—”
He scoffed.
“—safe,” she insisted. “And you were doing nothing for her, Cove.”
Ricky whistled between her fingers, the sharp noise silencing them. “Shut up. Go home. Take your war off my land.” She turned and opened her truck, reaching for Lu before I pushed Ricky to the side.
“I got her. You get the doors.”
“Those ribs aren’t gonna like that.”
From the look I gave her, she knew exactly how much I cared about my ribs.
She left me to it, opening the door, which I followed her through.
My ribs hurt like hell, but Lu shifted slightly in my arms, turning her face into my chest, which sent a tremor of relief through me.
Ricky flicked lights on as she moved through the house. “She likes this room the most,” she said. “I keep it for her.”
Lu always stayed in this bedroom. It wasn’t large, but was big enough for a queen-size bed with bright, mismatched pillows and quilts, and an iron headboard curled with flowers and leaves.
Unlike the other cluttered rooms, this was clean, smelling of fresh linen and the wild flowers in the vase on the dresser.
Ricky went around to the other side of the bed and turned the blankets down. I bent, easing Lu onto the mattress, holding my breath against the throbbing from my ribs, spine, and head.
“If I pushed you, you’d fall right in there beside her.”
“Then don’t push me.”
“I’ll get you some pain killers.”
“I don’t need them.”
“You do. Lu might do her fastest healing sleeping, seeing she’s not quite human, but you are turning several shades of green, blue, and black, my friend. I think your injuries might take longer to heal.”
“Good thing someone here is suddenly an expert,” I said.
