“Come, I’m not the only one that needs you, my darling.”
He helps me up off the couch, and I cling to his side as we go to the door. “What will you do?”
“I’m afraid I’ll have to leave you in the care of your other men once more. I have to tell the headmaster all of this immediately.” He runs a hand through his hair and shakes his head. “The fallout of this will be devastating. I’ll be tied up in securing campus. Please promise me you won’t leave the pack’s sight.”
I snuggle against him. “As long as you promise me you’ll be careful.”
He presses a kiss to my forehead. “I’ll call you or come to the pack house as soon as I can.”
Ian releases me into Cassian, Marcus and Simon’s care, demanding they not let me out of their sight. He sighs as he looks to the stairs leading up from the basement of the library. “I must speak with Headmaster Langford. Please, keep our omega safe.”
Cassian gives him a resolute nod and claps him on the shoulder. “Do what you must.”
We follow Ian up and out of the library, and I watch him as he heads toward All Saints Hall where the headmaster’s office is. I let out a shuddering sigh.
“He believed me.”
“He’s lucky,” Cassian mutters.
“Can we stop in and see Bitsy?”
“Ellie said she woke up this morning,” Simon says, taking my hand. “I’m sure they’ll both appreciate some company.”
We make our way to the infirmary, and it’s there that we see the real evidence of the attack on campus yesterday. Though most of the wounds Alyssa and I treated were minor, too many of them weren’t. I’ve never seen so many of the ward’s beds occupied before.
We find Bitsy in the infirmary’s nest, where Doc must have moved her to at some point in the night, and though she’s awake, the junior omega is far from well. Her eyes are nearly swollen shut, her lip is split, and she looks weak. Bitsy’s honor guard sits in an armchair at the door while Ellie’s honor guard dozes in a chair beside him. I imagine they took turns watching over their omegas the entire night.
Connor gives me a tired smile as he admits me and Simon into the small room the infirmary nest is in, and Ellie jumps to her feet and hugs her brother tightly when she sees him, before hugging me with just as much ferocity.
“Sorry we didn’t bring flowers,” Simon says. “Shit’s a fucking mess out there.”
Bitsy gives him a weak smile and winces as her split lip tugs. “Did Connor get patched up?”
Simon looks over his shoulder out the window and gives her a nod. “With a lot of bitching about it, I’m sure.”
“He wouldn’t let me or Alyssa touch him yesterday. Not until he knew you were okay. Bitsy, what the fuck happened?”
“She was protecting me after Jace got hexed,” Ellie says quietly.
“Yeah, duh,” Bitsy mutters. “You were making sure he was okay, so I was making sure you were safe.”
“It was foolish,” Ellie says, a hard tone in her voice I’ve never heard from her before.
“Ellie, I’d rather be here in this bed than see you in it,” Bitsy says, and there’s a plea in her voice. A plea for her best friend to understand.
“Foolish,” Ellie mutters again.
“Brave,” Bitsy teases, wincing when her bruises sting when she tries to crinkle her eyes in a smile. “Daring. Sexy.”
“You’re impossible,” Ellie says, glaring at her.
“Impossibly sexy.”
I cringe and shoot her a teasing grin. “Not right now, you’re not. Bitsy, I hate to break it to you, but you look like shit.”
“Sure, Junie, kick me while I’m down. Some friend you are.”
“Glad to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor,” Simon says, shaking his head.
