“Doing what?”
“Killing you.” His voice is barely above a whisper as he clutches me to his chest.
I bury my face in the crook of his neck, soaking in his charred Sage scent.
“Well, I’m alive. In one piece, too,” I say as I run my hands through his spiky hair.
“Sorry for waking you up. Don’t mean to cause a big fucking deal.”
“You always say not to apologize when you don’t need to.”
“Well, I need to. I?—“
“I don’t think you do,” I say, cutting him off. “You can’t control your nightmares. And you’re not causing trouble. This is a lot better than last time, remember?”
“Yeah,” he sighs. “I guess so.”
“What’s going on?” Griffin mumbles, pushing himself up.
“Oh, nothing, it’s okay, you can go back to bed,” I say, glancing at him over my shoulder.
Griffin pauses. He’s smart. I’m sure he can probably connect the dots that Ash wasn’t sleeping very well based on the way he’s clinging to me like I’m a life raft.
“Dunno ‘bout you guys, but I swear, the withdrawals from the fucking drugs they gave us are making me itchy,” Griffin says.
Rage lets out a grunt of affirmation.
“Yeah... It’s annoying as fuck,” Ash says, loosening his grip on me.
“Withdrawals?” Rowan mumbles, shifting from his side of the bed. “They fucking suck ass.”
“Looks like we’re all awake,” Griffin chuckles.
“We shouldn’t be!” I huff as I push myself up. “You guys need your rest.”
“So do you, Shortcake,” Ash says, tugging me back down into bed. “I’m good now. Let’s just pass the fuck out.”
“Okay,” I sigh. I lift a hand to Rage and pat the bed beside me. “You don’t need to hover at the foot of the bed like that, Rage.”
He’s quick to slide into bed beside me. Despite what feels like his best attempts at being careful, I’m still bounced about by the movement.
A content sigh leaves me when Rage presses his warm, bare chest against my back.
“Goodnight for real again this time, guys,” I say.
Another chorus of goodnights reaches my ears, except this time, we do get good sleep.
CHAPTER 48
Rowan
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Mirabelle asks, yelling loud enough so I can hear her over the roar of the crowd around us.
“I’m good, Sugar,” I say, flashing her a reassuring smile, despite the whirlwind of emotions I’m feeling in my chest.
I don’t like crowds. Never been a fan. I’m especially not the biggest fan of this one.
We’re at a big fight night at The Warehouse, an underground fighting ring of the Southside. Apparently, Griffin and Ash have been working their way up the ranks and they’re the two big fights before the big headline event. It’s been two weeks since we managed to escape.
