Page 97 of Knot Playing Fair 2

The door was cracked partway open, a cheerful male voice coming from inside. “There you go, Mr. Bell. Now, if your pain levels don’t decrease within twenty minutes or so, I want you to press the buzzer and let me know, okay? Oh, look, you have visitors!”

I opened the door the rest of the way, leaning my head in.

“Nat?” I asked, tremulous.

“Mia?” Nat breathed. “Oh my god,Mia.”

He lookedterrible. One side of his face was swollen black and blue, and his complexion was pasty gray beneath his golden skin. His eyes were bloodshot, with heavy dark bags beneath them.

“I’ll just give you folks some privacy, shall I?” the nurse said in a kind tone. “The doctor should be along to speak with you before too long.”

I could only nod dumbly. Emiel herded me into the room properly, clearing the doorway so the poor guy could get past us. I walked to Nat’s bedside in a daze.

“You’re hurt,” I whispered, in the height of stupidity. Ofcoursehe was hurt—they’d brought him to ahospital.

But Nat shook his head, wincing. “I’m okay. But Mia, I was so worried—” He cut himself off, swallowing hard. “I’m so sorry. The restaurant... just when things were starting to look up, and then—”

At first, I didn’t understand what he was saying. But Emiel spoke up.

“Nah, she kept things running for you. We just came from there. Place was packed solid all day.”

“Shaniqua’s closing for me,” I added, my throat tight. “The restaurant’s fine, Nat. But you and the others? Can you tell us what happened?”

Nat stared at me for long moments, his cracked lips parted. He drew breath as though to speak... but then his eyes squeezed shut, and he broke down into harsh, ragged sobbing instead.

FORTY-ONE

Nat

I COULDN’T CONTROLmy breathing. I couldn’t controlanything. Humiliation flowed through me at the thought of what I must look like. I hadn’t sobbed like this since I was tiny, before I’d learned that crying only made the beatings worse.

But Mia was here, and she was safe. Somehow it was all over, and I was still alive. She’d even kept the restaurant running while I was gone. It was too good to be true—part of me worried that I was actually passed out in the warehouse, and all of this was a dream. What if I woke up to find Byron dead of blood loss and Luca being raped? What if Ineverwoke up, because the second goon had actually shot me and this was nothing more than the hallucination of a dying brain?

My chest constricted until I couldn’t seem to get any air between hitching sobs. Then soft arms wrapped around me, the familiar scent of summer flowers surrounding me like a comforting blanket.

“The others?” I choked out, burying my face in Mia’s neck—despite the flare of pain it brought when my bruised temple pressed against her.

“Zalen called me earlier,” came a deep voice. Emiel was here, too, and I couldn’t be happier that he was watching over Mia.“He said neither of them was listed as critical. Byron’s in surgery and Luca’s getting blood tests.”

“They... they tried to inject him with a heat stimulant,” I managed, my voice wavering so badly the words were hard to make out.

Mia stiffened against me with a gasp, and I thought I heard a low growl come from Emiel’s direction.

“He said they didn’t get it into him,” I went on. “But I don’t know if he was telling the truth. He was holding his arm like it hurt.” The words started to pour out of me, past my aching throat and sore jaw. “Byron picked the lock on the room where they were holding us, after they took Luca away. We managed to take them by surprise and overpower them. I think they might be de—”

---