“He’s fine,” Miranda said. “Back on duty.”
I was afraid to ask the other thing I needed to know. Where was Eli?
The memory of telling Eli I loved him was cemented in my brain. I’d been about to die. I wasn’t going to go out without telling him. He hadn’t said it back—hadn’t said anything in response. I wasn’t even a hundred percent sure he heard me.
And it didn’t matter. I had to know. “Where’s Eli?” My voice ground to a halt, hot shards of pain spiking in my throat from too much talking. I reached for the mug of tea.
Miranda got there first, lifting it, carrying it almost all the way to my mouth before she let me take it. She shot another look at Wren, then said, “Eli is…” She rolled her eyes. “Eli’s on a mission.”
I raised an eyebrow, wanting to demand more information, but pretty sure I couldn’t force out another word.
“He bullied the doctor into releasing you both from the hospital and made us swear we wouldn’t leave your side. Then he took off.”
Where?I mouthed, the soundnot coming out.
“Who the fuck knows,” Wren said. “He’s after the bomber.”
“But—” My voice wasn’t cooperating, so I raised my hand to my aching head, then pressed my hand across my throat.
Miranda nodded. “We’re aware. Cooper’s aware. Eli has been informed that he’s a fucking idiot and he should be in bed or in the hospital. Anywhere but out on the street trying to track this guy down.”
“Eli’s not much better off than you,” Wren said. “His throat’s a little bit better. Maybe. And his brain’s not broken, but he has a concussion.”
“Maddox is with him,” Miranda added. “Mostly trying to make sure he doesn’t get himself killed.”
“Why?” I rasped, wincing at the pain. I wanted to tell them to make him stop. If he wasn’t much better than me, how was he even on his feet, much less running around the city looking for the man who’d almost killed us?
Miranda gave me a long look, then shared a quick one with Wren, who shrugged and said, “Penance.”
I raised my eyebrows, needing more of an explanation.
Miranda filled in the gaps. “Knowing Eli, he feels responsible. He wasn’t honest with you. He played a game, thinking he could only tell you what he wanted you to know. If he hadn’t lied to you, you never would have been out there on your own. You only left without backup because you didn’t think you could trust any of us once you found out Eli was lying to you. Right?”
I didn’t want to, but I slowly nodded, because she understood exactly. Eli’s secrecy had made me doubt all of them. They were a team. I was on the outside. It had never occurred to me that I could tag one of them in, as Wren had put it. If I couldn’t trust Eli, how could I trust any of them?
But still… “It’s not his fault,” I forced out. “He didn’t strap a bomb to my chest and tase me.”
Relief flashed in Miranda’s eyes. “Well, you know that,” she said. “And we know that. It’s going to take Eli a little longer.”
“You haven’t seen how bad you look,” Wren said, maybe too honestly. “You scared the shit out of him.”
“Maddox will keep him in one piece,” Miranda assured me. “And in the meantime, he ordered us to stay with you until it was safe.”
“‘Don’t fucking let her out of your sight’ were the exact words,” Wren said.
“Eli can give you orders?” I asked, too curious to spare my words.
Miranda let out a surprised laugh. “Technically, no. Technically, Eli is very much not the boss of Wren or me. Doesn’t work like that.”
“Who can order us to do things?” Wren asked, cocking her head to the side, looking up at the ceiling.
“Silas,” Miranda said, “though he’d have to come back to do that. Cooper, I guess.”
“You and Ryder can be pretty bossy,” Wren said, and she looked at me. “Those two are in charge if Silas isn’t around?—”
“But the rest of you only take orders voluntarily, so it doesn’t really count,” Miranda added.
“That’s true,” Wren said with a grin. “None of us are great at following orders we don’t want to. You fit right in.” She got up from the end of the bed and came around to the other side. Fluffing up the pillows against the headboard, she climbed in, making herself comfortable beside me.
