“Just hold still for a second, let me help.”
Gently, cautiously, I plucked tiny shards off of her and dropped them to the floor. Her exposed collarbone and right arm were dotted with tiny nicks in the skin, slowly reddening as blood beaded from the cuts. WhenI moved to her hair, glittering like she was adorned with diamonds, she lifted a hand to remove a couple bigger pieces from her cleavage.
“What the hell was that?” she asked.
“Some asshole getting his rocks off on destruction? I think your hair is clear.” I stepped back to look her over, searching for the telltale twinkle of more glass.
“Police are on their way,” Olivia called from the table, outside the radius of broken glass. “You two okay?”
I opened my mouth to reply as Eden reached up again to check her bra, but my assurance that we were fine died on my tongue when I saw a wash of red covering Eden’s left forearm. I caught her elbow in one hand to inspect it and found a two-inch slice across the back of her hand.
“Eden, baby, you said you weren’t hurt.”
She blinked at me. “I’m not.”
“Liv, call Mark, tell him we need Libby. We can meet them at the clinic. I think she’s going to need stitches.”
Eden’s arm jerked in my grip as she cried, “I don’t want stitches!”
Olivia was already on the phone, speaking quickly, when Addie appeared at the edge of my vision. I turned and she tossed me a clean towel from the storage closet, which I wrapped carefully around Eden’s hand.
“Eden, babe, you’re okay,” she called gently.
“I don’t want stitches,” Eden whispered frantically. “It doesn’t even hurt.”
I cupped her face in my hand, sweeping my gaze over a tiny dot of blood along her cheekbone and another closer to her jaw. “It’s going to be okay, I promise. We’ll let Libby figure out what you need, okay?”
Eden’s eyes were wide, still dazed, and her breath came in ragged gasps. My heart clenched hard in my chest as I tucked her into my side and led her out of the sea of shattered glass. Addie and Olivia were standing with the other gamers, arms around one another, staring at us.
“Liv, can you tell the police we’re headed to the clinic? Are you okay staying here until I get back?”
Olivia nodded quickly. “Of course.”
I glanced around at the destruction inside—fortunately, nothing a shop vac couldn’t take care of—but there in the center of the mess lay a brick with a strip of paper and length of twine wrapped around it. Addie stepped forward to tug Eden into a hug while I squatted down to look at the paper.
“What the fuck?” I muttered.
Even with the twine across it, I could read the words scrawled on it.Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness.
I stood and looked at the group of gamers, a range of ages from late teens to early thirties, mostly dressed in nerdy shirts like my own. No one else had been close enough to end up showered in glass like Eden, but they all looked shell-shocked.
“Everyone okay?”
From the group, I received half a dozen nods, a few verbal confirmations, and a tense smile from Addie. She released Eden back into my arms.
“Nobody touch that brick,” I warned, “but make sure the police see it. We’ll be at the clinic, then I’ll come straight back here. I’m sorry, guys.”
Olivia squeezed my arm. “Go on. We’ll be fine. Take care of your girl.”
It was only when I pulled up outside the clinic with no recollection of the trip over that I realized maybe I shouldn’t be driving, but we arrived safely and Eden was still bleeding, so that was all that mattered.
Libby appeared on the sidewalk before I even opened my door. Though my sister-in-law possessed a killer poker face, I saw the concern in her eyes as I helped Eden out of the car, especially when Libby’s gaze dropped to the towel that was now stained crimson.
“Come on inside, we’ll get you sorted out,” she murmured, positioning herself on Eden’s other side. “Mark and your dad went to get some plywood to board up the window after the police finish up.”
I sucked in a breath—the window was the last thing on my mind, but a warm rush of gratitude soothed some of my panic. We got Eden into an exam room, where Libby carefully unwrapped the towel to inspect the injury while I gave Eden another once-over to check for errant pieces of glass under the brighter fluorescent lights.
“I don’t want stitches,” Eden whispered.
