Page 22 of Degradation
‘I haven’t met all the guys in the world, so I can’t say that. It might be a lie.’
He lets out a quiet laugh and then cocks his head to the side. ‘So, you can’t lie?’
‘I can, but I don’t like to,’ I say truthfully.
He snorts. ‘Sit up, Sleeping Beauty. I’ll bring you some pills and water.’
He leaves the room, and I lever myself up in the bed with my arms, wincing at the soreness that’s pretty much everywhere.
‘What day is it?’ I ask when he comes back in a minute later, holding a blister pack and a glass of water.
‘Saturday. You’ve been asleep all day. Your friend was here earlier. She came to check on you. She didn’t stay all that long after she found you asleep though.’
Maybe that means that Lu and I are still friends. My worry that she might not want to be anymore eases a little.
‘Thanks.’
He hands me a couple of pills and I drink them down with some water, realizing as soon as I take my first mouthful how thirsty I am, and gulping the rest of the glass.
He quirks a brow at me. ‘Want another?’
I nod.
‘I’ll get you one in a minute. I need to take a look at the ankle. Mav’s orders.’
An unbidden memory of Mav and I chatting last night has my heart stuttering in my chest. Oh, my God. Did I mention the notes? I couldn’t have, surely! I definitely wasn’t firing on all cylinders, though, and there was a moment just before I fell asleep that I was thinking about them, and I might have mentioned them out loud. What if I did?
‘Where is he?’ I ask.
I’ll just have to say that I don’t remember anything about it if he brings it up, I decide, and then he’ll assume I was half asleep and talking nonsense.
I can’t discern Blake’s expression. ‘He stayed with you until this morning, but there was a problem at the lab, so he had to?—’
‘At the lab?’ I sit up straighter, remembering the experiments Mav was setting up just before Halloween. He was cagey about it, but I know he was putting a lot of time into it. It was important to him, and I’m the lab assistant, so I should be there to help.
‘Relax,’ Blake says slowly, putting his hands on my shoulders and pushing me gently back down into the bed. ‘Everything is fine, our smart little lab assistant. There’s nothing you need to do. Mav has it all in hand. You won’t get in trouble for not being there, or something.’
‘Okay,’ I sigh a little petulantly because I’ve realized that they’re keeping me in the dark on purpose about some of the things they’re working on.
‘I’ll stay with you until he comes back if you want.’
The idea of being by myself makes me anxious. I know it’s stupid, but I can’t seem to help it. What if they come up here and I can’t get away from them? I can’t suppress my shiver.
‘Okay,’ I say again.
His jaw tenses and I wonder if he’s angry with me. ‘They’re not going to get away with it, you know.’
I look up at him and shake my head. ‘Who?’
‘Marcus and those two other fuckers. They’re going to regret everything they did in that room sooner or later. I’ll make sure of it.’
I look up in surprise and then down at the comforter again, drawing circles with my finger slowly. He doesn’t realize I’m to blame. I should make sure he knows the truth.
‘But it was my fault,’ I say quietly, cowering a little in the face of my confession.
‘What the hell are you talking about?’ he snarls, his outburst making me flinch back.
I don’t look at his face.
