“He’s Rupert Edgewood.” I sniffle. “The love of my life.”
Her brows rise to her hairline. “Oh. Interesting. Well, I’ll warn you that the police are very fascinated with him, for better or for worse.”
I raise my fists subconsciously. “Nobody gets near him.”
She smiles at me. “I’m glad he has you on his side.”
rupert
“He didn’t do anything wrong,” I hear Peony say in an agitated tone. I just want to ease her frustration, but I can’t seem to move. “Andy had me hostage. He shot at Rupert. Anyone else in that bank will say the same thing.”
“Most of them can’t talk about anything exceptthe monster,” a man’s voice responds.
“Look at the gunshot wounds!” Her voice rises. “Andy shot him, plain and simple, for trying to protect me.”
“You say this man, Andy, is your ex-boyfriend? But the monster is your, erm… current boyfriend?”
“Yes!” The impatience is rolling off her.
Everything hurts when I open my eyes again, trying to intervene in whatever is upsetting my lovely flower. The world is blurry, and I squint trying to find her face.
“Rupert?!” She bends over me, and slowly, she comes into focus. “Oh, Rupert! You’re awake!” She glares over her shoulder at someone. “Can you leave, please? I’ve given you everything I can.”
“We have a lot more questions for him,” the irritating man answers.
“You can ask later, when he’s rested and well again. In the meantime, Andy better be behind bars.”
The man grunts. “We have him in custody.”
A small hand winds around mine. “Good. Keep him there.”
I can just make out a retreating back in a blue uniform when the door closes. Peony smiles down at me, and nearby, Kellen is standing watch.
“I’m so glad you’re all right,” Peony says, stroking my cheek with her other hand. I lean into her touch,overwhelmed by relief that she’s unharmed. “I can’t believe you took a bullet for me.Twobullets.”
She glances down, and I follow her eyes to my injuries: my arm is bandaged, and so is my side. Thanks to the painkillers, though, I only sense a begrudging ache. My head feels fuzzy, though, which must be a side-effect of whatever medication they’ve pumped into my veins.
“I would take any and all bullets for you.” I want to kiss her so badly right now, but I can barely move.
“I can’t believe you left the manor.” Peony’s pleased expression falters. “You showed the entire world that you exist, Rupert.”
I cringe at the notion. It’s true, though. I saw the mobiles all recording me at the grocery store and the credit union. Knowledge of me is now out in the world, and based on what I heard when I awoke, the police aren’t going to let that go easily.
“I had to,” I croak out. “There was no other choice. I needed to keep you safe.” My lip curls as I growl. “You should have let me kill him.”
“No.” Peony grips my hand firmly. “I want you to come home with me at the end of this, Rupert. If they put you behind bars, who knows what they’d do to you? But right now, you’re still a free man.”
“Even though I’m a monster?” I cough as I laugh, then groan as pain rips through my side.
Kellen drags over a chair to sit down. “They can’t whisk you away to a science lab in broad daylight when you haven't committed a crime.”
I grumble, hoping that they’re both right. But that horrible man’s blood would have tasted so good after what he did to Peony.
“You’ll have to give a statement soon,” she warns me. “I’ve given mine, but they don’t care what I have to say.”
If I could right now, I would roar with fury. Instead, I grip Peony tighter and lift her hand to kiss her fingers.
“Don’t worry about me. I can deal with a constable or two.”
