Page 28 of Veil of Web and Ruin

‘Rose?’ Rula presses again. ‘What did he say to you?’

I shake my head. I need to get to Kay, but I can’t do it on my own, and if Rula decides she’s going to finish what Tella started, I won’t stand a chance. Not in this state.

‘He wasn’t making sense. He was drunk. Saying he was going up against you … saying I had to choose sides. I don’t know … I just wanted to get away from him. Get to Kay. I need to … Kay.’

Panic races through me, intensifying the pain that seems intent on consuming every part of my body.

‘Okay. It’s all right.’ For once, Rula’s voice matches the maternal image she tries to project. ‘You wait here. I’ll get Jack to take you home. You’re all right. You did well. You did well, girl.’

Cold seeps into my bones as I lie prone on the ground. I don’t know how long I’m left waiting there, shivering against the freezing temperatures and the pain that emanates from every part of my body, but at some point, I become vaguely aware of hands lifting me. Holding me. I’m being led as I half-walk and am half-dragged through the alleys. Whether it’s the cold, or the pain, or the sheer exhaustion of the day, I don’t know, but my eyes are struggling to stay open.

Only when a familiar voice breaks through into my consciousness do I finally gain some agency.

‘Rosey?’ I’m not sure if his voice is just in my head until he speaks again. ‘Rosey, what the fuck!’

‘Ruben?’ I stumble forward, dropping myself directly into his arms. Into his warmth.

‘What the hell happened?’

‘Don’t ask me.’ Jack’s voice has a tremble of fear. ‘Rula just told me to get her back here.’

‘Kay?’ I look up at Ruben. ‘You need to get to Kay. You need to protect?—’

‘Kay’s fine,’ he tells me. ‘She went to bed a couple of hours ago. I’ve been out here since.’

‘You’ve been …’ I don’t even have the energy to finish my sentence, let alone thank him. Still, the way his eyes gleam down at me, he knows what I’m thinking.

‘It’s fine. I don’t feel the cold, remember? Let’s get you inside. Get you cleaned up.’

He moves towards the makeshift scrap of metal that makes up our door. Before he can open it, I reach out and grab him. The action is enough to cause me to release a silent scream of pain.

‘No.’ I bite back the searing pain that pulses through my chest. ‘Kay can’t see me like this. I need her … I need …’

What do I need? I need to be with her, to protect her from Tella, but also to protect her from seeing what life out here is really like, and that means not seeing me like this.

‘Jack, wait here.’ Ruben’s voice doesn’t leave any room for negotiation. ‘Anyone comes within fifty feet of that door, you call for backup. You got it?’

Jack bites down on his lip. Unlike Ruben, he doesn’t have the advantage of staying warm out here, and given the grousing he gave about waiting for me in the freezing cold earlier, I expect him to object, but clearly Ruben’s tone makes him think better.

‘You know the neighbours, right?’ Ruben scoops me up in his arms, already making a beeline for their door.

‘Yeah, but?—’

‘No buts on this one, Rosey. Either they see you like this or Kay does. Got it?’

Tears of pain trickle down my cheeks as he raps his knuckles on Corem’s door.

‘Remember,’ he says, turning back to Jack as the door swings open, ‘fifty feet.’

A second later, he’s carrying me inside and laying me down on Evelina and Corem’s makeshift wooden bed as they gasp in concern at the state of me.

Chapter 12

‘Idon’t know how many ribs you’ve broken, but I’d guess at least four. Maybe more,’ Ruben says as he manoeuvres my hand so that I’m holding the ice against my side. One thing about living in this temperature is that there’s always plenty of ice on hand for when wounds need to be tended.

I’m just not used to them being mine.

We’ve been in here for close to twenty minutes now, of which I spent the first fifteen apologising to Evelina and Corem for disturbing them. Although now that Ruben is using some of their cloth to clean up the blood on my face, I feel like I should apologise again.