Page 94 of Cruel Revenge
“I would love that,” I said, leaning my head into Heath’s shoulder, knowing it was the only way to wipe my tears away. I looked back up and touched my heart. “I would be honored.”
“I would, too,” she said as we left the warehouse. “Then I can say that I love you, too, Mom.”
The words meant everything. To both of us.
“My sweet, brave, amazing girl,” I said softly. Carey’s eyes were once again filled with tears. I reached for her face, which forced her to try stepping in front of her father. I tried to wipe those tears away.
“Carey, I have to work on her injuries. Please.” Heath had no heat in him to tell Carey to move.
“I can help—” Carey’s plea fell on deaf ears, though.
“Carey, you have to give them space,” Landon said, suddenly there. He grabbed her shoulder and started to move her out of the way. “Come on. Pa can treat her.”
Carey nodded and allowed Landon to lead her to the side. I lost sight of her, but I trusted Landon to keep her safe. Heath took me to the bed of his truck and pulled down the tailgate. I was able to sit up once he put me on it.
“I think the Change’s healing abilities were active while you were running around,” he said quickly, not pulling my shirt off, but ripping it open. “Which is good. Some of these really look like they’ve already started healing. The bleeding stopped on most of them.”
“That’s good.”
“How do you feel?” He looked into my eyes. “And don’t try lying. I need to know what hurts.”
“I didn’t feel it until just a moment ago… but there’s pain. And I’m exhausted.”
“I bet,” he said, opening the first aid kit. He was working, bandaging me up, stuffing holes, and even stitching up one. As it happened, others arrived. Werewolves flooded the area, thenhumans from different organizations, locals and federal agents. Because the humans got there, I saw one SUV that parked, but no one ever exited. I knew my family would be in it. I waved at it, and a window rolled down slightly.
Gold eyes met mine across the asphalt. Hasan inclined his head in a small bow, then rolled the window back up.
Heath must have looked at what I was looking at and sighed.
“They’ll have to check on you more thoroughly at home, thanks to the chaos around us.”
“Yeah, they risk being seen by so many in broad daylight,” I agreed. “I look normal, right?”
“Except for being covered in blood that might take multiple showers to get off you… yeah, you look normal,” he said, leaning back and taking a long look at me.
I was almost embarrassed that he would use those eyes in the middle of a very public space. He caught that and smiled, leaning in to kiss me. When it was done, I was certainly pink, blushing as some people stared at us like we were crazy. He leaned in closer, his mouth at my ear.
“The moment Carey launched herself toward you, you started to go back to normal. I had a suspicion, and I knew I could trust you with her. It doesn’t matter what else is going on with you; I know I can trust you with her. Because you would never hurt her.”
I closed my eyes, washed in that truth. The ultimate faith. He had seen me as a monster and still knew I would never hurt Carey.
“And you still love me,” I whispered back. “Even after seeing…”
“Always.” He wrapped his arms around me and held me. I reached around and grabbed handfuls of his shirt, holding on tight. “I do need to say one thing.”
“Oh?” I worried immediately, but he only chuckled.
“Oursweet, brave, amazing girl,” he said, then kissed my cheek. “Now, there’s a lot of work still to be done. You can pass out in my truck, or you can try helping. You’ll need a lot of painkillers, though.”
“I like that,” I said, kissing him back. “Our girl.” I kissed him again. “I’ll take the painkillers. I want to look around.”
“I’m not going to leave you alone,” he warned. “So, you’re not going to try to disappear, right?”
I groaned as I tried to move, but he held me in place, knowing more about my injuries than I did.
“Jacky.”
“I won’t try to leave you.” I couldn’t even if I wanted to. Not in any way. There was now something very permanent between us.
