“Always, Juniper. Always.”
Later that day,Simon and Ian gently bathe me. The hot water feels amazing after not being clean for so long, but it’s their touch that soothes me the most.
They help me from the bath and settle me back down in my nest. Simon comes and sits behind me, his long legs stretched out on either side of mine, and he gently combs his fingers through my tangled hair.
“You were so brave, kit-kat. So smart. So strong.”
“Not so smart. I slashed my father’s face with a scalpel.”
“Juniper,” he says slowly. “Why did you have a scalpel?”
We’re interrupted before I can explain, Cassian coming to the top of the stairs.
“Mai and Daniel are here to heal you, love.”
A spike of fear jolts through our bonds. I look up into his eyes, a frown on my face.
“The thought of you leaving the pack house for anything had me on edge,” he explains. “The Huongs were kind enough to come here. Can you walk?”
I nod, and he helps me up, hovering around me as if I might fall at any second.
“Simon, you too,” Cassian says. “You need to get checked out and healed, too.” When Simon goes to argue, Cass continues. “For my sake if you won’t do it for your own, please.”
Simon finally stands with a nod. “Fine, but only after Junes has been seen to. Saints, Cass. She has a black eye.”
“Courtesy of my father,” I say quietly.
Cassian’s face and emotions are an unreadable snarl. “We’ll talk after Mai and Daniel leave. We have questions, and I’m sure you do too.”
I let him guide me downstairs, where my pack has gathered on the sofa, all of their arms folded. I look at Mai with a frown. Saints, my pack looks downright threatening.
Mai shakes her head. “They’re fine. They just won’t let me heal them until I’ve taken a look at you. Come, let me check you over.”
My pack and I are quiet as Mai works, save for Cassian who is having a murmured conversation with Daniel in the kitchen area of our great room.
“Your family too?” Daniel asks, his voice quiet.
Cassian gives him a jerky nod. “I have no idea if they’re alive. I had an opportunity to save my mate, and I had to take it.”
Fear spikes through our bond again. He may have needed to save me, but his fear is so potent that I know he regrets not being about to get his family out, too. Whatever plan they laid, however they crept through the dark to find me, that was the only time they had to stage a rescue.
“Cass?” I ask. “Your mother was alive after the attack. They’ll keep her alive to keep your fathers docile, just like they threatened to do with me. She’s leverage, and too important to kill.” I turn to Daniel as Mai casts soothing spells over my black eye. “Have there been any hostage negotiations yet?”
He shakes his head. “The message the Soldiers of Saint Aldous seem to be sending is ‘attack and we start killing hostages.’ No formal negotiations have occurred so far, though.”
“We have to go back in for them!” I exclaim. “Cass?—”
Cassian swallows hard, and a wave of regret washes through our bond. “We don’t have the numbers. It would be suicide.”
“But they’re your parents!”
“We were lucky to get you out, love.”
“All those hostages…”
Mai shakes her head as she wraps an enchanted bandage around my wrist where I yanked against the cuffs. “The whole situation is ghastly.”
“It isn’t just hostages. There were test subjects,” I say quietly. “And my father was removing their maginaluses. He’s giving their affinities to alphas.”
