“It would have taken too long to get to you if I had. You were all I thought about, Juniper. Nothing else mattered.”
I press a kiss to the corner of his mouth, avoiding his split lower lip, and then I clean him. I start with his hands, scrubbing the dried blood from every inch of his skin, revealing the tattoos I know so well and love so much. He lets me tend to him, and when I’ve gotten most of the blood off, I grab my scribe and heal his burns. I cover his bruises in sigils to speed his recovery and layer pain-relieving spells on top of them.
I nod to the shower. “Rinse off and wash your hair and I’ll wrap your ribs. At least one of them is broken.”
“Two,” he says with a wince. “At least two.” He nods toward the door. “Simon’s face is still busted pretty badly. Go, take care of him. I’ll join you downstairs in a bit. And Juniper?”
I look up as I gather up the dirty washcloths and his bloodied clothes. “Yes?”
“I love you.”
I toss the bundle in my arms into the laundry hamper, pad across the cool tile, stand up on my tiptoes and press a soft kiss to his lips. “I love you, too.”
* * *
I findSimon exactly where I was an hour ago: in Cassian’s arms. Cassian’s soothing purr rumbles in his chest, and Simon seems to soak up the sound, drawing comfort from his alpha. I almost don’t want to disturb him, and then Simon struggles to crack his swollen eye open.
“You should have let me or Alyssa heal you earlier,” I chide.
“Ellie needed me,” he says quietly. “She’s… she’s not doing well. Bitsy is stable, but Ellie’s a wreck.”
“You should have stayed with her.”
“Needed you and Cass.” He lets out an exhausted sigh. “Besides, Doc gave Ellie a sleeping draught so she could get some rest. She would have been up all night worrying otherwise.”
“Saints, poor Ellie. Poor Bitsy.”
Senseless.
The violence today was so senseless, so needless.
I gently tend to his wound, casting spells to reduce the swelling and ease his pain. I’m just finishing up when Luca comes downstairs. I dab a bit of ointment on his split lip and then collapse on the couch beside Simon and Cassian. Luca takes my other side and suddenly I’m between two purring alphas. I sink back into the couch cushions, my weariness suddenly catching up with me.
“Cass, I can’t thank you enough for what you did for me today,” Luca says, a note of shame in his voice. “If not for your lawyers, they would have thrown me in prison. For good this time.”
“Don’t even mention it, man. In your shoes, I would have done the same thing.”
The two alphas exchange a look over my head and understanding passes between them.
For me. Cassian would have done the same thing forme. To get to me, to keep me safe.
“I can’t believe Cadigan sicced the fucking cops on you,” Simon mutters.
“I can,” I sigh. “I’m telling Ian about him tomorrow. I’ve already put it off for too long. Saints, who knows what else Cadigan could do? He’s more than willing to let Soldiers on campus and look the other way while students are hexed. He’s despicable.”
“Thank the saints he’s not involved in securing the campus,” Cassian tells us. “A bunch of professors, including Ian, are working with the Fairhaven police to sweep the campus. They’ll be patrolling the grounds well into the night.”
“I don’t think the Soldiers will attack again so soon. This was about making a point. A saints-forsaken spectacle.” I shake my head. “We have to put a stop to this. To Rad and the Soldiers.”
Luca and Cassian each take one of my hands, lacing their fingers with mine.
“We will, princess.”
“Andrew Radcliffewillpay for what he’s done,” Cassian promises. “To Simon and to you, Junes.”
I lean against his shoulder and nod, and we stay like that until Simon lets out a yawn that nearly splits his jaw.
“Up to bed,” Cassian decides, helping Simon stand before helping me to my feet.
