“What if they do?” I ask wide-eyed. My eyes go to Sin, and it breaks my heart to see him lying there. I’ve never seen him look so vulnerable. I want to protect him. Any way that I can. He’s covered in blood. Some is dried to his skin; other parts are still fresh. There aren’t any visible bruises or cuts other than the three sixes and the cuts around his wrists that are still wrapped in pieces of my father’s shirt.
“They won’t,” Tyson assures me, getting my attention, but I don’t believe him. How will they not know? They know everything.
“Although you have the Lords’ crest, it’s too small. The one we wear is much larger in size. I’m sorry but we can’t use it. We’re going to have to make a new one.”
Gavin gets my attention again as he tilts Sin’s head back and begins to feed a tube down his throat. “Why are you doing that?” I go to walk over to the side of the bed, but Tyson grabs my shoulders, stopping me, and pushes me into my dad. He wraps his hands around my upper arms, keeping me in place as Tyson walks back over to stand next to Sin and Gavin.
“I’m intubating him, so his body doesn’t have to work so hard to breathe while he’s sedated.” His eyes meet mine for a quick second. “He deserves the break.”
SIN
I OPEN MYeyes to a softly lit room. The first thing I realize is I’m lying on my back because I’m staring up at a ceiling. The second thing I realize is that I can’t feel much. Why do I feel numb? The tips of my fingers tingle and so do my toes. Swallowing, I flinch at the soreness in my throat. A groan escapes my lips when I try to roll over onto my side.
“Hold on.” A hand touches my shoulder and I reach out to shove it away. “Easton, relax. It’s me.”
I blink, looking up at a face hovering over mine. “Ty-son?”
“You’re fine. But I need you to stay on your back.” He removes his hand from my shoulder, and I relax into the bed.
“What—why are you here?” I ask, my voice rough. Why the fuck would he be at Carnage?
“Here, drink this.” He places a straw in front of my mouth and I take a sip, not caring that I need him to hold it for me.
Pulling away, I nod, and he places it next to me.
“Nicholas, Elli, and I went to Carnage—”
“What?” I snap, making myself flinch. Using my heavy arms, I push myself into a sitting position as Tyson curses under his breath. My heart is racing and I’m breathing heavily once I’m sitting upright. My feet dangling over the side of what I realize is a hospital bed. “Why the fuck would you bring her here?” I demand. “She has to go.” I go to push myself to stand but he places his hands on my shoulders, keeping me sitting on the edge. I grind my teeth that I’m not strong enough to fight him.
“Sin—”
“What were you thinking?” I ask through gritted teeth. “Where is she? I want to see her.”
“You’re not at Carnage. We’re at the cathedral,” he says slowly, as if I’m hard of hearing. When he understands that I can’t beat him, he takes a step back, shoving his hands into the pockets of his bloody jeans. I don’t even bother asking whose it is. It doesn’t look to be his. Nodding behind me, I turn to look over my shoulder and see her cuddled up on a hospital bed. A blanket pulled up to her neck, sound asleep. I let out a deep breath.
“She passed out about thirty minutes ago. She fought it for as long as she could,” Tyson goes on.
I look over at him. “What in the fuck happened? How did we get here?”
“She got your letter. Cried. A lot. Thought she was going to pass out after she read it. Your phone got a text, it was to Nicholas from the Spade brothers telling him he was free. He got pissed. We rounded up her mother and your dad and went to Carnage. We made a trade, you for them. We brought you to the cathedral. Gavin was already here waiting for us.”
I sigh, lifting my hand to run down my face but I see a bandage wrapped around my wrist. Looking to the other, I see the same thing. “How bad was it?” I ask. I remember them removing my brand and giving me their own. It was hell. But other than that, my head is foggy. Even now, the soft lights are hurting my sensitive eyes. My body is sluggish and although I don’t feel much pain, I do feel light-headed.
“It wasn’t good,” he answers. Stepping back, he rests his back against the counter and crosses his arms over his chest. “Pretty sure she thought you were dead. Then she offered up her brand when Gavin explained you needed a skin graft.”
My hand runs up my bare stomach and to my chest, I flinch when I feel the bandage over where my original Lords brand was. “Please tell me he didn’t—”
“No.” He shakes his head. “He took it from your thigh.”
“Thank God.” I sigh, closing my eyes. They’re growing heavy.
“What you did was stupid, Sin,” he growls. Leave it to Tyson to tell you you’re an idiot. “We found you unconscious. Who knows how long they would have left you bleeding out and hanging in that room. You could be dead right now.”
Cracking my eyes open, I stare at him, and he arches a brow, expecting me to say something. Instead, I look over at Elli cuddled up in the other bed and a smile tugs at my lips. “We all do stupid shit for love, Tyson.” Then I close my eyes again and let whatever drugs Gavin has me on swallow me up into the darkness.
_______________
WHEN I OPENmy eyes again, I sit up and the room starts to spin, making me dizzy. “Take it easy.” A hand gently touches my shoulder and I look over to see Tyson.