Page 19 of Jezebel's Liberation

What the hell is Phantom doing here?

Phantom’s gaze never leaves mine, and I gulp from the intensity of his stare.

Abyss grips my hand. “It’s time for some more pain meds.”

“No, and no more sedatives either, Abyss,” I state firmly. “I have something I need to say.”

Soul closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Take the fucking medicine, Jez,” he orders.

“I thought Violet told you to shut up,” I sass.

This earns me some chuckles. I seek out Grim, who’s staring at me with fear, hurt, and anger. We’ve been the two musketeers for so long, and I can see that me keeping him in the dark and him not being the one to save me is killing him. I internally kick myself for putting that look on his face. The last time he saw me in a hospital bed was after Violet’s ex caused me to crash my car, almost taking my life. I guess for him, this is déjà vu.

“I’m okay, big guy,” I say for Grim’s benefit as well as everyone else staring at me. Violet stands beside me, signing my words to Grim. “It’s not that bad, I’m feeling better already. Just a little sore.”

“You look like shit,” he signs. Grim steps up to the side of the bed and leans over, touching his forehead gently to mine. I reach up and pat his cheek before he steps back.

I smirk. “You should see the other guy.”

“Smartass,” he responds.

“Alright, enough,” Soul demands. His eyes drift to Violet. “My apologies for yelling at you.”

“It’s fine,” Violet placates. “I know you’re worried about Jez.”

“No, it’s not fine. I took my frustration out on you, and that shouldn’t have happened.” Soul rubs his jaw, and he turns his icy stare to Grim. “That was your one and only shot.”

Grim raises his brow. “You’re lucky that right hook was all you got. You ever talk to my woman like that again, and I’ll bury you.”

I snort, knowing damn good and well that’ll never happen. Neither of them would hurt the otherora woman like that on purpose. But Soul had it coming. He should’ve kept his temper in check.

Soul flips him off. “I said I was sorry, asshole. Now, if I could talk to my sister, I’d appreciate it.”

Grim nods, taking Violet’s hand, and heads toward the door. I give him a chin lift when he glances at me over his shoulder before they walk out of the room. Demon and Phantom shuffle closer to me.

Guess they aren’t leaving.

Feeling more alert, I maneuver to sit up.

“Fuck, that hurts,” I mumble.

Phantom rushes forward and pushes another pillow behind my back. “That better?”

I give him a small smile. “Thanks.” Then I remember that I have no idea how or why he’s here, and I scowl. “You’re still fired.”

“I know your brother doesn’t want to hear this, but you were lucky,” Abyss says, interrupting our little moment. “Along with a concussion, you have two third-degree burns on your thighs. Over twenty lacerations covering your arms, legs, and chest. Most of them were starting to get infected. Your shoulder was dislocated, but I popped it back in place. That’ll be sore for a while. No broken ribs, thank God,” he ticks off his list. “However, you do have bruises covering more than half your fucking body.”

The more Abyss talks, the more his words are laced with anger. I might be cut and bruised, but screw him if he thinks I’ll let him talk down to me like I’m an idiot.

“I was fucking there Abyss, I know exactly what happened,” I bite out and take a deep breath. Abyss’s scowl drops, and I immediately feel horrible. “Sorry, I shouldn’t take my frustration out on you. It’s not your fault.”

“No, it's not,” Soul interjects. “What the fuck were you doing,Mary?”

I narrow my eyes when he uses my given name.

Two can play that game.

“Well,Matthew,” I grit. “It’s none of your fucking business.”

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