I watched her throw back a drink, pick up a shot, and down that, too. Fuck, she was trying to get completely wasted.
"Leave her be, Priest," Wizard said, shaking his dark head at me. "Pining will do you no good."
I pressed my lips into a line. "I'm not pining; I'm worried about her. You've seen what the Hunters do to people; she was in that house long enough to witness those horrors. I don't want her to—suffer."
To end up like Lavinia.
I knew it was my fatal flaw; I thought I could save everyone. To make up for failing my niece, I'd save everyone else.
"Did they … y'know?" Cobra asked, his eyes as black and glaring as ever but something brittle and understanding in his expression.
I wanted to sayno, but lying to my brothers left a queasy feeling in my gut. Instead I murmured, "I don't know."
"Ah, shit," Sweetie sighed, raking a hand down his beard. "I'll give her double portions at breakfast."
We all laughed at that, even if it was a subdued response. Sweetie's answer to everything was always food.
"Head's up, Priest," Wizard murmured, his brown face tight with a new concern as he jerked his chin at something across the room.
I turned—and my stomach tightened with a sudden cramp. Luna raced past the tables to the small corridor of the toilets, not something extraordinary in a bar, but her body was taut and locked and her pace itself was cause for concern.
I tried to reach through the bond, wishing I'd asked Guardian how to use the tether between Luna's soul and mine properly, and inhaled sharply at the crashing storm of violence and terror.
"You leave, you fold, Priest," Cobra reminded me.
Sweetie held out a hand to me. "Give 'em here, I'll play both. But you owe me, Priest."
"Thanks," I said genuinely, patting his shoulder as I got to my feet. "The usual price?"
"A bottle of the finest truffle oil you can find on the internet," Sweetie agreed, his eyes glinting. "And I'll know if you skimp on it."
I huffed a weak laugh, clapped his shoulder again, and headed after Luna.
Vienna was halfway to the bathroom, but she caught sight of me and a look of understanding crossed her face. I was Luna's mate—even if she didn't realise it, I had an innate power to soothe her. Vienna gave me a double thumbs up and went back to her table.
I moved quickly down the corridor to the bathroom door, putting my ear to the wood. My heart crashed at the short, gasping sobs on the other side.
I said a silent prayer, asking God to give her strength and comfort, and knocked softly with my knuckles.
The sobs stuttered.
"It's Priest," I called, reaching out through the bond to give what comfort I could. "Let me in, darling."
"I'm fine," she replied, thick with tears.
"I'm not going anywhere; I'm very stubborn. I can either wait out here for you, or you can let me in and I can give you a hug."
"I'm really fine," she insisted.
"And I'm really good with hugs," I countered.
"You've already hugged me today," she muttered, close by the door now. I could just about smell her bitter orange scent through the cracks around the door.
"Exactly. Why not make it twice?"
She groaned, and then the lock clicked, and Luna drew the door back enough for me to step inside.
"I'm okay, really," she insisted, but she melted into me when I wrapped my arms around her.