The snap makes me flinch.Evangeline doesn't make a sound, just grips the edge of the table so hard her knuckles go white.
"You're tougher than half my brothers," Ruin mutters, wrapping her thumb."I'll get started on those stitches."
I watch him work, unable to look away even though every stitch is a reminder of my failure to protect her.Tempest appears beside me, his voice low.
"Ghost wants to see you when you're ready."
"I'm not leaving her."
"Wasn't asking you to.But we need to talk about next steps.Cops are going to be here soon.Someone called in the gunfire at the warehouse."
Right.The warehouse where we left three bodies and enough evidence to put us all away if the wrong people start looking.
"Let them come.We were defending ourselves."
"That's one way to spin it."Tempest's expression is carefully neutral."Ghost has been making calls, getting ahead of it.But we need our stories straight."
"The story is simple.They took her, we got her back.End of fucking story."
"And the bodies?"
"Self-defense.They were armed, we responded with appropriate force."
Tempest studies my face for a long moment."Appropriate force.Right."
Ruin finishes the stitches and moves on to cleaning and bandaging the other injuries.Evangeline's eyes keep drifting closed, exhaustion and pain medication pulling her under.
"She needs rest," Ruin says finally."Keep her awake for another hour to monitor for concussion, then let her sleep.Someone should check on her every few hours."
"I'll do it."
"Figured you would."Ruin packs up his supplies."She's strong, Hades.She'll heal.But it'll take time."
Time we have now.Time Morrison stole from us but won't get a chance to steal again.
Ghost appears in the doorway, his face grim."Cops just pulled up.Detective Isaacs and two uniforms."
"Good.Let's get this over with."
I look at Evangeline, but she's already drifting, her breathing evening out.Safe for now, protected by walls and brothers and the knowledge that I'll die before I let anyone hurt her again.
"Don't leave," she murmurs.
"Never."
But I have to leave the room and deal with the cops before they start asking questions I don't want to answer.I follow Ghost to the main room, where brothers have already cleared out, leaving just us and the space for official business.
Detective Isaacs walks in with the same tired determination she's carried since the day she told me about Calla and Marcus.Her sharp eyes take in everything, and I can see her putting pieces together.
"Hades," she greets me, her voice professional but not unkind."Heard you had an eventful evening."
"Could say that."
"Three dead at the warehouse on Fifth.Your name came up."She pauses, studying my face."Same warehouse district where we've been tracking Shadow Hawk activity.Same Shadow Hawks I've been connecting to Ethan Morrison."
"He took Evangeline.Marcus' sister-in-law.The kids' aunt."
Something flickers in Isaacs' expression.Recognition, maybe.Or understanding."The woman you listed as emergency guardian when your sister died."
