Stepping into the room, the guards glanced past the two doctors. Their eyes flashed around the rearranged space—noticing bloodied towels, shoved aside furniture, and—
Lucien.
A flash of heat escaped him. With a dramatic groan, he swayed and fell.
I cried out as I caught him the best I could.
He sagged heavily in my arms, giving me most of his tall weight. I braced to collapse to the floor like we had back in Cinderkeep, but his muscles tensed, holding his own weight, only pretending to be on death’s door.
He’s...faking it.
“What’s wrong with him?” the guard with arms full of tattoos asked. “He looks like he’s about to kark it.”
“Really?” Roger turned with a gasp. “Goodness. What’s going on? He wasn’t this bad a second ago.” Clutching his medical bag, he stepped toward us. “I knew you shouldn’t have stood up so fast. Come...let me check—”
“He’s fine,” I blurted, widening my eyes and shaking my head just a little.
Don’t. Please don’t.
Lucien twitched in my hold, his arms dangling and legs at an odd angle but most of his weight braced instead of broken. I hoped to God that Roger would get the hint that Lucien only pretended to be weak as a newborn kitten and left him alone.
“He’s fine,” I repeated. “You’re right that he stood up too soon, that’s all. He just needs to rest.”
“Roger, let’s go,” Harry ordered, cottoning on far faster than his older colleague. “It’s just a case of lightheadedness. He’ll survive.” Harry grabbed him by the elbow, dragging him to the exit.
“Hang on.” The two guards blocked the threshold, their hands on their holsters. “No one is allowed to leave until Mr. Ward returns.”
“You can tell Mr. Ward that we’ve fulfilled our side of the deal,” Harry snapped. “We were assured we could go the moment our patient was stable. Well, he’s stable. And we’re tired and hungry and have families to return to. We’re leaving.”
“But—”
“Move aside.” Harry just shouldered his way out, dragging Roger with him.
The guards broke apart, granting them passage as if they weren’t entirely sure if they should.
But it was too late.
The doctors vanished without a backward glance, leaving the two guards staring at each other.
The taller, lankier one shrugged. “I suppose we just let them go?”
“I don’t remember being given orders to detain them so...I guess?” The muscular one scratched his chin. “The important thing is that Lucien Ashfall is alive.” Stepping into the room, he never took his hand off his holster. “You heard the doctors, Mr. Ashfall. You need a good sleep. Mr. Ward has gone to deal with a few things and will be back in the morning. Rest assured, there are multiple guards keeping you safe. We won’t let anyone breach the boundary so you can rest easy.”
The other guard said, “Have a good sleep, sir, and then you can go home.”
Lucien stumbled, making both of us sway.
He groaned again,loudly.
Whisper snarled as if understanding exactly what his master was doing and decided to play along too.
“Can you leave?” I snipped at the guards. “Go away.”
The taller, leaner guard raked a hand over his shaved head. “I dunno. He didn’t sound very good. Perhaps I should—”
“He’s weak and just coming out of surgery,” I snapped. “Of course he doesn’t sound good. He needs to be lying down. Get out.”
“You’re right. I’ll help you carry him to bed.” He stepped over the threshold as if intending to scoop Lucien into his arms, but Whisper snapped.
