Jason stopped laughing, but Lilith was still giggling.
"Who died?" Jason asked us.
"Where have you been?" Hallam asked.
Jason rolled his eyes, striding into the kitchen. He flung himself into a chair at the table. "Geez, Hallam, you sound like you think you're my mother."
Had I ever seen Jason drunk before? I tried to think. Sure, Jason drank at parties, but he usually didn't have more than a few drinks.
Lilith followed Jason into the kitchen and sat down with us. She was still grinning. "We went out for a couple of drinks with some of the people from work," she explained.
Really?
"Oh?" said Hallam, folding his arms over his chest.
"It was my idea," said Lilith. "I didn't know if Jason would go for it or not, but when I asked he said, 'Sure.' I think Jason needs to get out more. Don't you, Zaza?"
I glared at her. I couldn't believe her. I did think Jason should get out more. I'd said as much to him on numerous occasions. But when I asked him to come out with me, he always said no. Apparently, when Lilith asked, it was a completely different story. "Did you have fun, Jason?" I asked him.
He grinned at me. "I had a blast. Lilith was telling me this hilarious story about you freshman year. She said that you got lost your first day and you went into the wrong classroom . . ." He started laughing again and so did Lilith.
"That's great," I said. "Because while you guys were off having a blast, some guy picked me up and tried to carry me off."
Jason stopped laughing. "What?" he said, his eyes darting between Hallam and me.
"She's right," said Hallam.
We filled Jason in on the details of the evening.
"I can't believe you went to the shooting range without me," Jason said angrily.
I snorted. "I can't believe you went out drinking with Lilith without me."
"That's ridiculous," said Jason. "I wasn't in any danger."
"That's not the point," I said.
"It absolutely is," said Jason. "You went off to Sarasota with Jude, and you nearly got hurt."
"I'm fine," I said. "I took care of myself."
"Because I wasn't there," said Jason. "You're blaming me for not being there, but you snuck off without me. You could have asked me to go with you."
"I did the other day at lunch," I said. "You didn't want to go."
"But if you just had to go," he said, "you could have called me."
"You were working!" I protested. "Besides, you didn't call me and ask if I wanted to come with you tonight."
"It was just people from work," he said. "I didn't think— This is not my fault."
"I'm not saying it is," I said.
"Yes, you are," he said. "If I'd been there, this wouldn't have happened."
I couldn't believe him. "Jason, are you listening? I hit the guy. He dropped me. I'm fine. Nothing happened. I didn't need you."
Jason jerked back, as if I'd slapped him. He didn't say anything for several moments. "I wish you would have called," he said finally.
"Well, so do I," I said.
"Listen," said Hallam, "it's over. There's no point in worrying about whether the incident would have been preventable or not. It happened. We just need to figure out who did it and why. So, I'm going to do some digging tomorrow. We'll get to the bottom of this."
"It's my fault, anyway," said Lilith. "I really shouldn't have encouraged Jason to come out tonight."
"It's no one's fault," said Hallam. "Let's go to bed."
But I kind of half-agreed with Lilith. Why had she asked Jason to hang out? What was more, why had he said yes? The two were awfully chummy these days. I didn't like it.
Hallam left the kitchen, leaving me with Jason and Lilith.
"I'm so sorry," said Lilith. "I'm sorry that happened to you."
"I'm fine," I said. I didn't need her pity.
"You must have been so scared," she said.
I shrugged. I'd been terrified. Hadn't I? With all the worrying I did about the Sons swooping in and terrorizing me, I expected myself to be more jumpy about the entire incident. But I felt calm. I'd felt calm almost the entire time. It surprised me. Apparently I was tougher than I thought I was. "Not as scared as I thought I'd be, actually," I said.
Jason was shaking his head. "Well, I don't think you should be alone anymore."
"I wasn't alone tonight," I said. "I was before, in the apartment, but after that I had Jude with me."