I close my eyes.Fuck.
I thought I would be able to save Jericho. It’s why I went after Foxx. But he’s still out there? Had it all been for nothing?
What about the club? The other vampires? The humans? Shit, what about the pack?
“What about—”
“Shh,” Jericho whispers, kissing my hand again, like he knows how quickly my brain is firing off questions. “I’ll fill you in on the details later. The important thing is everyone’s safe. Most of them are at the house, the others are downstairs getting some food. Kaine and Willow are sitting outside, watching the door.”
Kaine is here? Seriously? I can’t even begin to process that.
“Everyone’s okay?”
He nods. “Everyone’s fine. Ivy and Taren both got some cuts, and Grant broke a leg. But they all shifted and healed just fine. We’re all okay.”
He still hasn’t stopped crying. It’s so unlike him that it makes my heart ache. I let go of his hand to brush away some more tears. He turns to kiss my palm.
“How long was I…” I try to say.
“Two days,” he says, his voice broken. “You almost died, Ev. I thought… fuck.”
I reach for him, attempting to pull him closer, but Jericho takes the opening and climbs onto the bed next to me, being extra careful of allthe wires and cords. I’m already on the far side, though, making me think this isn’t the first time he’s climbed aboard. For some reason, that makes me smile, but my head still throbs.
“Gimme some of your blood,” I say quietly. I hate being so groggy.
Jericho doesn’t hesitate, biting into his wrist and feeding me some of his blood. Within seconds, my head begins to clear.
“Don’t tell the nurses,” he whispers with a small grin, “but I, um, may have given you some a few times already.”
I laugh, then my chest aches. Apparently one of my ribs cracked when Breck knocked the air out of me.
“Have you been here the whole time?”
He feigns a smile. “What do you think?”
Of course he has. If the situation were reversed, I wouldn’t have left his side either.
I lean in, wanting to kiss him but unable to reach.
“Kiss me,” I breathe, not caring that it’s been days since I brushed my teeth. I fucking need Jericho’s lips against mine.
He kisses me sweetly, cupping my face. I circle a hand around his wrist, holding him.
And that’s when it hits me. With his breath against my skin, his lips on mine, and his body stretched out next to me, I realize just how close I came to never seeing this man again. I reach for him, hugging him as best I can.
“I love you so much,” I say.
Jericho says nothing for a long time, but I can feel his chest shake with quiet sobs. What have these last two days been like for him?
“I love you,” I say again.
He pulls back, his eyes still wet, then he kisses me one more time, salty tears touching my tongue. “I love you too.”
“So, what now?” I ask after amoment.
“Now, we wait until you’re discharged, and then we go back to the house,” he says simply. “Start over. Figure out another plan. Only this time, we don’t know where Foxx is.”
“What about the club?”
