Snake hisses out a breath, and Rush turns the volume back down while messing with some keys again. He doesn’t say anything, but Dash does.
“Still don’t trust her?” he asks Rush.
Rush doesn’t respond as he plays the video again, and Eve raises her voice, making it easy to understand her this time.
“Fuck. You.”
She starts laughing in that smoker’s rasp again, while coughing violently at the same time. That kills me all over again. I have to fight to stand up.
That’s all I can take right now, so I lean over and pause it myself. “I’m going back to Eve. I’ll watch the rest later. Let me know if you figure anything out,” I tell them.
I glance over at Drake who is snoring loudly, and I walk back out, barely slowing down. All the guys move out of my way, and Sarah eyes me when I walk in.
Axle’s eyes find mine, and he frowns when he takes in my expression. I shrug out of my cut, pull off my boots, and gingerly climb in the small, uncomfortable-as-nails bed next to my girl.
She’s whimpering in her sleep, but the second my arms go around her, a sigh leaves her lips, and she relaxes against my chest as her head settles in. Axle doesn’t speak. He leaves the room, and I know he’s heading in to find out for himself what I just had to watch.
Sarah leans back in her chair, and Colleen takes the seat Axle just vacated. Eve sighs again, whispering my name in her sleep, and I concentrate on not holding her too tightly against me.
“Drex?” Colleen whispers, drawing my attention.
“What?” I ask, clearing my throat when I hear how thick my voice is.
“When you find them, I want you to live up to your name,” she whispers coldly.
No one wants Ben to suffer more than I do, but I don’t point that out. Instead, I just nod.
Eve’s voice draws my attention back to her as she sings in her sleep in her strained, hoarse voice.
“Up… Up above the world so high. Like a… diamond in the sky…”
Chapter 24
EVE
I’m not sure how long I’ve been out when I wake up, but I do worry that I’ve finally breached insanity. My eyes hurt against the bright sun that is filtering through the window. There’s no window in the basement.
Warmth… So much warmth is around me, but it’s not an uncomfortable heat. In fact, it’s comforting as it surrounds me.
Something stirs against me, and it takes me a second to realize someone is holding me to their body. I tense, but almost immediately I relax as the familiar scent engulfs me.
It’s not a hallucination. Drex is really holding me to him. When I lift my gaze to the arm closest to me, I see the telltale tattoos.
“I don’t think it’s wise for you to stay here right now,” I hear someone saying.
I hold still in Drex’s arms as his grip tightens.
“I don’t give a fuck what you think is wise,” Drex growls.
Herrin. That other voice is his father’s.
My mind races as I try to take in the sights I can see without moving. Sarah’s eyes meet mine, and at the same time, I realize the sterile, white room I’m in is a hospital. And Drex is in my hospital bed with me.
Sarah looks away, feigning boredom—probably for Herrin’s sake.
My head is killing me. My mouth isn’t so dry, but it isn’t exactly normal either. My hand… my hand hurts. It takes a second to realize there’s still a needle in it… No. That’s a new needle.
“She has a target on her.” Herrin’s loud, booming voice snaps me out of my own inner appraisal. “You’ve already been here for over eighteen hours.”
Eighteen hours?
“The fact she has a target on her is why I’m not going anywhere. I’d be dealing with the actual problem right now if not for that. I’m not fucking leaving her until she can get out of this place.”
Drex’s lips brush against the top of my head, but I remain still, not letting him know I’m awake. I don’t want Herrin in here, and I hope Drex gets him out.
“Take her back to the warehouse if you’re so insistent on keeping her with you. Be fucking smart about it,” Herrin snaps.
Drex stiffens under me, and I almost feel the cold glare he’s shooting his father without having to see it.
“When the doctor says it’s safe for her to leave, then we’ll leave. Until then, get the fuck out of her room. Last I checked, you withheld a tip, and I almost died. Don’t act like you give a fuck about me now. Besides, in case you haven’t noticed, there’s a small army camping out in the hallway. I’m covered here, Pop. You just worry about you. That’s what you do best.”
Something shatters, causing me to startle ever so slightly, and Drex tenses again as his arms tighten around me.
“Damn it! Stop talking to me like you’ve forgotten who I am, or I will remind you.”
A chill runs down my spine as the temperature in the room seems to plummet. Drex slowly kisses my head again, and he gently moves me aside as he stands. Obviously I continue to pretend to still be asleep, actually closing my eyes again.
He’s leaving? No. I don’t want him to leave me with—
“Feel free to start reminding me,” Drex says with an eerie tone that borders on resembling a psycho taunting a rabid dog. “I’ll let you take the first swing out of respect.”
He spits out that last word, and I open my eyes again, keeping them focused on Sarah instead of turning around to see the showdown. Sarah’s eyes meet mine again, and she scoots a little closer.
“This is the last time you disrespect me,” Herrin snarls, but a few seconds later, I hear a door slam.
“Find the doctor,” Drex tells someone. “She’s awake.”
I realize the charade is up, so I slowly turn around to see Drex’s back as Axle nods and walks out. My stomach clenches when the door opens to reveal a hallway full of Death Dealers.
As soon as the door shuts, Snake stands and motions with his head for Sarah.
“We’ll be just outside the door if you need us,” he tells Drex.
Drex’s back is still to me, and I watch as Sarah walks around, patting my foot on her way by. Snake’s arm drops to her shoulders as he leads her out, and I wait for the man who saved me to turn around.
He had to have saved me. There’s no way Ben brought me here and called him. That’s for damn sure.
I try to say his name, but my throat is too sore, so the words die before a sound can be made. Drex runs his hand through his hair, still staring at the door like he doesn’t want to face me.
I guess he saved me but that doesn’t mean we’re us again.
My mistake, I think dryly.
Trying to sit up proves to be a pain in the ass, and air hisses between my teeth when the motion tugs my IV too hard. In the next breath, Drex is right in front of me, looking me over to see why I just made a sound.
Holy shit, he looks like he hasn’t slept at all.
His eyes are tired as he examines me, and his touch is almost too gentle… as though he’s worried I’ll break. I don’t think I will. I feel a hell of a lot better than I did in that basement. I can actually hold my own head up, even if it does feel like someone is trying to drill a hole through it.
“I’m okay,” I manage to whisper.
His jaw grinds like I’ve said something wrong, but he doesn’t speak as he continues to examine me.
“So she’s awake.” A man’s voice has my head jerking away from Drex to look past him.
A doctor is walking toward me, carrying a transparent cup of ice cubes and a glass of water. Drex reluctantly moves out of his way, and I wonder why a nurse isn’t bringing me things.
On the bright side, my mind seems to be functioning properly once again. I guess eighteen hours of sleep and some fluids running into me via IV is a good cure for going crazy from dehydration, hunger, and sleep deprivation.
Drex sits down on the bed near my feet, and I quietly allow the doctor to go through the motions of inspecting my eyes with a light, feel the outside of my throat with his fingers, and a few other random things.
“You, little girl, are one tough cookie. Glad to see you so alert and sitting up. Pupils are responding excellently, nothing seems to be swollen more than normal, and your blood tests have all turned out fine. The infection has been taken care of, but you’ll need to continue your antibiotics.” Infection? He turns to face Drex. “How was she sleeping? Restless? Peaceful?”
Drex opens his mouth to answer, but Sarah chooses that time to walk in and answer for him.
“She sleeps peacefully when Drex is with her. Not so much when he’s not.”
Drex grimaces like that’s a bad thing. It probably just has to do with comfort. It pisses me off that I need to feel comfort right now, but… Fuck. I’m not invincible. What really sucks is the fact he seems to hate that I’m apparently subconsciously comforted by his presence.
Bristling, I start getting annoyed with the doctor’s thorough inspection, especially when he messes with my tender wrists that are wrapped loosely.
“The wound dressings need to be changed. I can do that in just a little bit though. Do you know where you are?”
I nod but don’t attempt to speak.
He frowns like that bothers him, so I point to my throat, silently telling him it’s sore. That leads to him forcing my mouth open so he can shine his light into my throat.