“We’ll talk to them later, at home.”
The next morning, Sebastian insists on carrying me from the car into the house, his hold firm, like he’s making sure I’m not going to disappear.
“I can walk, the doctor said I’m fine. All the tests were normal.”
“I’m carrying you,” he growls, carefully placing me in the corner of the couch and covering me with a soft blanket. Leaving the room, he returns a few minutes later with a glass of smoothie and a mason jar of yogurt, fruit, and seeds.
“Did you tell Armand what time we were going to get back?” I question.
“You didn’t eat anything at the hospital.”
“Thank you,” I tell him, eating a spoonful of the fruit and yogurt. “Now that we’re away from prying ears, tell me everything.”
“The others are on their way. I might as well wait for them to get here first,” Sebastian says, placing his hand on my thigh over the blanket.
I’m scraping my spoon around the bottom of the jar when the front door opens, and our friends arrive.
“Starling, I am too pregnant to be as scared as I was when you wouldn’t wake up,” Sammy says, bursting into tears as she drops down onto the couch beside me and throws her arms around me as much as she can with her enormous baby belly between us.
“I’m fine,” I assure her, hugging her back. When she releases me, Clay, then Hunter takes her place, hugging me tightly before eventually letting me go.
Evan is the last one to step forward, his eyes as dull and haunted as they were for years before him and Sammy got together. “This wasn’t your fault,” I assure him. “We had no idea I’d have a freak reaction. I’m fine. The doctors say I’m fine, even Sebastian will tell you I’m fine.”
When he finally hugs me, he’s shaking as silent tears drip from his eyes. “I’m so sorry,” he whispers against my ear.
“I’m fine, Evan, I promise. It’s okay.”
“The police are going to be here in thirty minutes,” Sebastian announces, pushing Evan away from me so he can lift me up and lower me back down into his lap.
“Tell me everything,” I demand.
“The cops found her in the warehouse, they took her outside, and after she refused to open her trunk, they looked through the car window and saw the syringe in her door. They cuffed her, then opened the trunk and found you,” Sebastian says emotionlessly.
“Did they find the stuff inside the warehouse?” I ask.
“Yep.” Sammy laughs. “One of the cops found it while they were searching for you. By the time they took you away in the ambulance, they already had people inside collecting evidence.”
“So, it worked?” I question.
“It worked,” Sebastian states, his voice strangely detached.
“So, why do you all look like the plan failed?” I question.
“Because you almost died,” Sebastian growls.
“I didn’t almost die. I was just passed out a bit longer than we planned,” I say dismissively.
“A bit longer,” Evan cries. “Sis, you were out for almost fourteen fucking hours. That’s not a bit longer, that’s practically a coma. That was enough time for us to think you were going to fucking die.”
“But I’m okay,” I assure them, looking at each of them in turn, meeting their eyes and finding the same haunted expression staring back at me. “I’m okay,” I repeat.
“Next time someone fucks with us, we just kill them,” Hunter growls.
A beeping sound breaks the intensity in the room, and Sebastian lifts his cell and exhales shakily. “The police are here.”
“I’ll go and let them in,” Clay offers, standing and heading to the front door. When he returns, it’s with Chief Turner and a smartly dressed woman following behind him.
“Mrs. Lockwood, how are you feeling?” Chief Turner asks, taking a seat in the chair opposite mine. “This is Detective Hollins.” He motions to the woman standing behind him.
