Page 172 of Revenge Saints
“I’m not eating all of this,” I laugh.
“You will,” he growls. “Or I’ll feed it to you myself, like we used to.” His eyes darken, and I roll mine.
“That happened once,”
They laugh, and so do I.
Sean starts talking about his wife and his son. How Knox and Dante reminded him of the boy he lost. How hope is a hell of a drug.
My eyes drift toward the stairwell.
We moved Knox to his room, gave him clean sheets, fresh water, warm light. I washed the blood off his body myself. Shaved him. Ran my fingers through his hair until he looked like him again.
“He’ll wake up soon,” Sean says gently.
“I know,” I whisper. But the weight’s still there, in my chest.
“The bodies are all gone,” Ryker adds between bites.
I wrinkle my nose. “Can we not talk about burned corpses during lunch?”
They laugh again. And for a second, things feel… almost normal.
Then, crash.
Something shatters downstairs, and I’m already moving before anyone else stands.
We run down the stairs; my heart is a drum inside my ribs.
Knox is sitting up, blankets twisted, glass shattered beside him.
“Knox!” I cry, lunging toward him, but I stop, frozen.
His eyes meet mine, pale blue and foggy with pain, but finally open.
“No hugs, pet?” His voice is hoarse, broken at the edges.
I drop beside him and gently lay my head on his chest, over the place where his heart beats strong and slow. “Sorry. I was reaching for the glass,” he whispers.
I glance at the broken cup beside him.
“Fuck, Knox.” Ryker steps forward, breath catching. I stand and give him space. He kneels and wraps his arms around Knox’s shoulders, pulling him close.
Knox whispers. “It wasn’t just Aspen keeping me here, brother. I heard you.”
Ryker swallows hard and lets out a shaky breath. His eyes are red, but he doesn’t cry.
He steps back. Max takes his place, dropping to his knees and pressing their foreheads together.
“You scared us, mate,” Max mutters, and Knox nods silently.
Dante stands a little farther back, still stiff.
Knox looks up. “You do anything not to lead, don’t you?”
Dante’s mouth twitches. “You know me,” he mutters. “Not into the whole leader shit.”
But the words come out fractured, and his body stutters forward. He leans in and hugs Knox like he’s afraid he’ll vanish again.
