Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 110809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
“I won’t. I can’t,” I answer honestly as I get to my feet, my body aching and tired.
His face softens as he looks at me. “A fucking mess.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t use gas on peaceful protesters, hmm?”
“Peaceful?” Vince scoffs. “That’s cute. They want to bring down the government, even if it means it falls right on their stupid heads.” He steps over to me and pats me awkwardly on the shoulder. “I’m watching out for Juno, all right? I need you to watch out for yourself.”
“You can count on me.” I give him a sad thumbs-up.
He gives me a not-so-sure look but doesn’t argue. “I have to get back.”
“Hey, will you tell Juno …” I pause. What can I say to her? What could ever encompass all the things I’ve learned about her in the past month? Emotion bubbles up, so much of it raw and unspeakable. I take a deep breath and say, “Tell her I’m all right.”
“Will do.” He squeezes my shoulder then trudges away down the hall. When the elevator opens, I hear several voices all at once.
Valen groans and crosses his arms as he continues looking out over DC.
“—course we can see her. We’re doctors, asshole.” Evie is giving someone hell.
I peek around the corner and see everyone pouring into the apartment.
“Wait, this is her place? Bullshit!” Aang throws his hands up. “Mine’s not even half this size. A kitchen! She has a kitchen! What the fu—”
“Aang, can it,” Gretchen scolds and rolls past him, spotting me. “Are you okay?” She stops when she sees Valen, his back to the room. Her eyes wide, she glances between us.
“Yeah.” My voice dies on a croak, and I have several painful coughs before I try to speak again. “Yeah, I’m okay.” It sounds even worse the second time.
“Jesus.” Evie similarly gawks at Valen, who doesn’t have the decency to even address the newcomers, then takes my arms and walks me backwards. “Sit down before you fall down.”
“What about you?” I ask as she gently helps me back to the sofa. “Your eyes are red.”
“It’s nothing.” She waves a hand, then dabs at her nose with a tissue. “My mucous membranes were made for chemical warfare.” She sniffles and gives a wry smile. “You got the worst of it. What the hell happened? We were running, and then I looked at you, but you were gone.”
“I fell.” I shrug.
“That’s not the only thing that happened.” Gretchen is behind me, and I feel her fingers in my hair. “You have a goose egg back here.”
Aang’s been bitching in the background, but finally he comes this way, his voice growing louder. “Did you see that? Her bedroom is bigger than my entire place. This is—holy shit, is that him?” He stops short and stares at Valen.
Valen turns around, his face in full-on scowl mode, then stalks from the apartment without so much as a word.
“What the fuck?” Aang plops down in the seat across from me and stares at where Valen had been standing. “Like seriously, what the fuck? He just hangs out here?”
“He’s my liaison on the cure. The blood. All the—” I wave my hand in a vague motion. “The stuff.”
“Liaison with who? He reports to someone?” Evie asks gently as Gretchen rolls around to my front and inspects my face.
I don’t know how much to tell them. Of course this isn’t the first time they’ve asked me about Valen and his people, but back then I didn’t have any answers. Now I do. But they aren’t safe to share.
“Yeah, my sister,” I lie.
Aang arches a dark brow. “Can’t she just ask you herself?”
“She’s busy. Valen is the one who brings the samples, so it’s just easier if I tell him our findings—well, our lack of findings—and he … you know, he writes up the report.” I try to imagine Valen sitting at a computer and writing a report. Unnerving.
“Forget that. Tell us what happened.”
Wyatt appears with a first aid kit in one hand. “Figured we’d need this.” He perches on the sofa beside me and dabs at the cut with alcohol wipes.
“Wait, how’d you all get up here?”
Aang rolls his eyes. “You think you’re so exclusive, do you?”
“No, I just … It’s not like I can walk into your rooms, can I?”
“That part was me.” Gage saunters in from the kitchen, a glass of ice water in his hand.
I make a show of looking around. “Is there anyone else in this clown car of an apartment?” A splinter of worry creeps through me at Gage being here. Is Valen going to skewer him? Then again, we aren’t alone. Maybe—
“Stop moving.” Wyatt tsks and keeps wiping at my forehead.
“Everybody shut up so she can spill!” Evie harrumphs and takes the water from Gage.
I sit back and let them fuss over me as I recount what happened to their engaging ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ and ‘that prick’ when I tell them about the soldier who wanted to shoot me. “I still don’t know what the protest was about.”