Page 36 of Own

I made a face. “I hate that that makes sense.”

His chuckle was delicious and low. “I’d say sorry, Firecracker.”

“But you’re not,” I finished for him and he just let out a hum of agreement. His breathing deepened and his heart beat steadily beneath my fingers. When I tipped my head back, Ihad to smile. His eyes were closed and his breathing deep and regular.

Settled, I snuggled closer and told myself to drift. If he could sleep, maybe I could too.

It was almostthree when I slipped out of my room and left Voodoo still sleeping. I’d dozed, but worry continued to nibble away at me. About Lunchbox, Alphabet, and Bones? Yes. About Amorette? Also, yes. Worry about where we were and what came next?

Absolutely, yes.

I didn’t want to wake Voodoo up since he’d seemed so exhausted. It was to let him sleep for as long as he could.

The soft spit and patter of the rain had grown fainter and fainter until it vanished altogether. The other upstairs doors were all closed. Hopefully, that meant the guys were all getting sleep. Cooler air greeted me as I descended the steps on bare feet.

A soft clink of china told me someone else was awake. Alphabet was in the kitchen, dressed in sweats and a t-shirt when I slipped inside. He was stirring something in a mug and turned at my arrival to hold it out to me.

“Hot chocolate,” he said. “Probably not as good as yours, so don’t judge me.”

A laugh escaped me at the offer. “I’m sure it’s perfect.” The smell of the chocolate was an invitation. He just gave me a faint smile before moving back to the stove and pouring more milk into a pan.

Goblin sprawled on the rug beneath the farm table. He glanced up briefly to look at me before his eyes drooped closedonce more. Sipping the hot cocoa, I sighed. It was definitely made with powder, but it was double-chocolate, sweet, and very warm.

When he finished his, he waved me over to the table. It was hard to miss his faint limp as he came to join me.

“Are you really okay?”

When I nodded toward his leg, he flashed a smile. “Just sore. I get stiff, the joint can get a little raw. We pushed it. I’ll be fine.”

So matter-of-fact.

“Well, if I can help or do something, tell me.” It didn’t seem like much of an offer, but I wanted to make it anyway. “I was really glad to hear you were all fine.”

“Did we worry you?” The note of teasing in his voice seemed to be an invitation to play, but I lifted a shoulder.

“You did. All of you did. Bones because he wouldn’t let me go back. You guys because you were in the middle of it.” I ran my bare foot along Goblin’s back to pet him. “Goblin because he was covered in blood when he came racing down the street.”

Alphabet grimaced. “We were planning on the fly. We knew something like thatmighthappen. If it did, you and Goblin needed to be elsewhere.”

“Because they could have hurt him.” Goblin wouldn’t have let them be taken prisoner.

“Yeah.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, Gracie. I didn’t think about the blood on him—it wasn’t mine. It wasn’t any of ours.”

“Well, that helps—now.” I wrinkled my nose. “But apology accepted. Even more because you guys made it back.”

“You scare me a little.” The admission surprised me.

“I do?” That was so not what I expected to hear.

“Yeah, you do.” He toasted me with his mug. “You’re stronger than I thought you were when we first met. You seem to get stronger every day. Not sure we planned for you. Not like this.”

“I didn’t plan for any of you.” Admitting that wasn’t remotely difficult. “How could I? I didn’t plan to be kidnapped or to end up in the middle of some international trafficking ring. All I planned to do was just survive. Then… you guys showed up.”

“Well, that’s not totally true,” he said, tilting his head as he turned sideways. He’d taken the seat next to me rather than across from me. “You planned to go home.”

“You did take me home though—and I know, I was a bitch about the fact you had to pull me back out and then you kept me.”

“You werenota bitch.” He scowled and when I shrugged, he cupped my chin and pulled my gaze to his “You were not. You were struggling. We weren’t really taking the time you needed and we didn’t feel like we had the time. That’s on all of us.”

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