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“I’ll grab it,” Cipher says, already moving toward the kitchen counter where her phone is charging. He is back in seconds, tucking it gently into the blanket burrito she is wrapped inside.
Cave carries her out the splintered front door like she weighs nothing at all, and I jog ahead to pull the back door of Ares’s car open. If there is one thing I know about Cave, it’s that he is not setting her down voluntarily until he decides it’s safe to do so.
“My medication is on the kitchen counter,” Valli says weakly. “The orange bottle.”
“Got it.” Cipher doubles back without being asked, reappearing a moment later with the bottle, which he hands off to me.
“Buckle up, sick girl,” I say, sliding into the driver’s seat once Cave finally straps her into the back beside him. “We’re about to be very protective of you, and I think you’re going to love the attention once the fever breaks enough for you to appreciate it properly.”
“I hate all of you,” she mutters, but lets her head drop against Cave’s shoulder.
I pull away from the curb, glancing behind us at her front door hanging open on its broken hinge. I make a note to call a handyman to fix it ASAP and replace it with a stronger door.
Chapter Seventeen
Valli
In the three days since I’ve been brought here, I have learned a few things about myself. Mostly, I’m a terrible patient. I have three men trying to take care of me, and yet I believe I have to look after myself. It’s something I’m used to, and I can’t switch it off, no matter how hard I try. Cave physically dragged me back to Cipher’s shed when I went for a walk, and it has been hard enough to sneak out since Noa has been like a mother hen. Cipher still struggles to look at me, but he brings me soup and medicine like clockwork.
“Valli,” Noa says, and I almost jump out of my skin. “Why are you not resting?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about—I was going to shower,” I say, pausing at the door and turning to face him.
“You have your scheming face on. Now get back into bed.”
“Noa, I can’t stay in bed forever. I need to look for a new job because I have bills and a sister who relies on me. I also hate lying to Leni, and she’s asking too many questions.”
“We’re working on it, I promise. And tell her you are here—it’s fine if she knows.”
“I guess I could. But everyone keeps telling me they’re working on it, and I don’t even know what that involves.”
Noa’s grin falters for a second. “Come and drink this tea. Cipher made it for you.”
I walk over and grab the mug, since I figured out early that arguing with Noa is like running in circles—you get nowhere.
Cipher comes in, holding a fresh washcloth. “Why are you out of bed?”
I huff and storm over to the makeshift bed he has set up in the main room, so I can watch him work, because I have been bored out of my brain. Cipher comes to sit beside me and places the washcloth on my forehead.
“Better?” he asks.
“A little, though I think there’d be a bigger improvement if something cold was on my face.”
“I read that fevers respond better to gradual temperature regulation.”
I chuckle. “Did you also read that patients are supposed to be allowed to do literally anything for themselves, or was that chapter optional?”
“Valli, your bitch is showing,” Noa calls out, and I laugh. “I can always get Cave here to give you a sponge bath again.”
“Don’t you dare!” I warn him.
That was a mortifying experience. Cave lugged in a bucket and cloths, then started cleaning me yesterday morning. I had not showered since the day before because everything hurt.
“I will do it, I swear on my life.”
I laugh, which turns into a cough, which has Cipher hovering with a glass of water. With no more energy to fight them anymore, when they are only trying to help, I decide to give in. “I’m just used to being the one who does this for myself,” I tell them once the coughing settles. “Not the other way around.”
“Well, get used to it. At the very least, you’re our friend now,” Cipher says.
