“Do not. Touch her,” Devil growled, his voice like I’d never heard it before.
“Jesus,” Cobra breathed, lifting his hands and backing away from Jessia. He held himself carefully, like he thought Devil was dangerous. I didn’t care if every one of the Knights had suddenly become mass murderers overnight; they were here, and it was over.
I pressed my hands flat to the mattress, my nose wrinkling when I touched a wet patch. Blood. There was blood on the mattress. I staggered to my feet, my hands shaking but unbroken, my body shaking but unbroken. I bit my bottom lip to stop its wobbling, tears burning my eyes again.It’s over.
“Lynn,” Cobra rasped as he finally reached me. His eyes were as haunted as mine must have been, his expression like nothing I’d seen on his face. He was caught halfway between murder and crying, his brow pinched, eyes big and lined with silver.
I exhaled a hard breath,justmanaging to stop it twisting into a sob, and like he’d been waiting for a sound, for any sign, he pulled me into him. His hand moulded to the back of my neck, his arm settling delicately against my bare back. He’d pushed back the sleeve of his jacket, so his skin touched mine, the comfort of it so profound that my legs buckled.
“I’ve got you,” he croaked. “I’ve got you, and I’m not letting go fucking ever.”
It was part threat, part reassurance, and there was no way to contain my sob this time.
“Not fucking ever,” he reiterated.
“I know,” I rasped, my head resting over his heart. The pain, the slick fluids coating me, the screams and pleas echoing in my ears, the feeling of them all over me—I could endure it, survive it, because I wasn’t alone. I never would be. He wouldn’t let me out of his sight for a single moment, and I clung to that fact.
“Asshole,” he rasped, kissing my head and not seeming to care about the dirty state of my hair. “Is that a severed dick I see?”
I burrowed closer to his chest, trying to laugh, trying to smile at least. I managed a nod. I wanted to go home. I wanted to curl up in his room and never leave again.
“You’re incredible,” he breathed, hoarse and ragged. “I am so goddamn proud of your strength. But youneverhave to be this strong again. I swear, vow, promise, threat—whatever word is the strongest. Never again.”
My bottom lip shook, tears flowing freely.Never again.
26
Cobra
Iscrubbed the tears off my cheeks when Giant said my name, calling me into the examination room in his clinic. I hated this place. Reminded me of a hospital, no matter how homely he’d tried to make it with fake plants and artwork. Just one whiff of disinfectant and it sent me right back to the hospital room I’d spent far too long in after Dad got me away from my pimp.
Cherry and bitter chocolate shoved up my nostrils, but I shook my head hard. It was just my brain fucking with me because I’d been stressed for two days straight and hadn’t slept. No, for a whole week straight, after I snapped at Lynn to leave me alone and she had. We needed to talk about that. I needed to explain what happened, why I reacted that way, but… later.
“Yeah?” I asked gruffly, clearing my throat before I forced myself to walk into the exam room.
Giant angled his head when he caught sight of me, and I joined him in the corner of the room beside tea and coffee canisters and a kettle that had seen better days. The scent was oppressive, but I breathed through clenched teeth and fixed my eyes on Lynn across the room, sitting stiffly on a sterile bed while Ndidi spoke to her in low tones. I felt better with her in my line of sight. This last hour had been fucking hell.
Of all the things I braced for Giant to say, it wasn’t, “Has she spoken to you at all?”
“Yeah, she—” I paused. Recalled everything she’d said since we found her. She’d nodded, shaken her head, and kept close to me, but I hadn’t heard her voice. Same when she hovered around Prodigy, making sure the cunts of the gang were properly dealt with; I hadn’t seen her mouth open once. “Shit. No.”
“It’s a completely natural way to process trauma,” Giant reassured me quickly. “Chances are, she’ll be fine in a few hours or days. Ndidi’s seen this before, so she’s not too worried.”
“What do I do?”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” Giant rubbed his jaw, looking tired, haunted. After everyone he’d treated tonight, I wasn’t surprised. “The worst thing you can do is push her to talk. She needs to feel safe again, and able to speak in her own time.”
“So… silence?” I curled my hands into fists so I didn’t gouge my fingernails into my skull again. It hadn’t helped the first time; ripping the skin off my head wouldn’t solve this, either.
“No, actually.” Giant turned and rummaged through a drawer. “The pressure to talk might make her freeze, but try holding a one-sided conversation and leaving little pauses to fill if she feels up to it.”
“Right.” I rubbed a headache brewing over my eye. “I can do that. What else?”
“You know best about what comforts her. Just do that.”
I nodded. “Gaming, food, knives. Got it.”
He picked up a white box, considered it, and put it back in the drawer. “Go easy on yourself. I know it’s easy to blame yourself, but you being stressed and reactive won’t help her heal.”
