Page 55 of Lethal Queen

It was a useless thing to complain about with my husband unconscious and injured, but I needed the normalcy. And it truly wasawful,but I appreciated the caffeine. And the gesture. Kavan had been taking care of me all night, bringing me food and encouraging me to eat even scraps of it, making sure there was always someone with me—usually him, Jonathan, or Rae and Wyn. Damien’s brothers dropped in and out, but I had a feeling they were handling the clean up in our apartment, and making sure the police didn’t get hold of what happened.

Finch was dead. He was no longer a threat to me, and his empire of criminals and morally black men and women had collapsed. Even if one of them decided to avenge his death, they didn’t have the network that made Finch so dangerous. Even a group of them wasn’t enough to scare me. Not with the Marshalls around me.

“How long until he wakes up?” I asked, because I’d learned not to askifhe would wake up. I didn’t like the way Kavan stilledwhen I asked that, like he was repressing a flinch. Jonathan just growled, his brow flattened into a scowl like he was going to physically fight Damien if he didn’t wake up. When Raegan cried silently, flicking tears off her cheek, I’d stopped asking.

“Could be days or hours,” Kavan replied, draining his paper cup. “You’re right, this stuff is god-awful. I’ll have the coffee machines replaced.”

I gave him a questioning glance, linking my fingers with Damien’s limp ones on the bed.

“Three times we’ve had to bribe someone at this hospital,” he told me, rubbing a hand over his face. “I figured we could save some money by buying the damn thing.”

“I doubt that saved money,” I replied, aiming for wry and delivering a flat, dead tone. Oh well, I tried.

Kavan laughed weakly. “It’s an investment.”

“I’d rather no one else got shot. Or stabbed.”

“So would I, but with this family and these children? Never gonna happen. At least we’re more prepared now. How are you doing?”

“I’m okay.”

“If you’re tired, I can ask Willa to bring in another bed.”

“I’m fine.”

“No wonder you fit in so well; you’re as stubborn as the rest of us.”

A smile tried to form on my face. That was all that held me together now. Stubbornness, with a healthy dash of denial. Everything else was on autopilot.

Proving that point, my hand raised itself and I drank more coffee before I remembered how disgusting it was. My taste buds protested and I gagged.

“I’ll send Eli on a mission of mercy,” Kavan offered kindly. “There’s a Costa down the street.”

I nodded blankly, brushing my thumb absently over Damien’s wedding band and trying to reconcile the use ofEliandmercyin the same sentence. I swear I blinked and the door was slamming open, Eli storming into the room like a soldier kicking down the door of an enemy stronghold. His dark blue eyes were tight with an intensity that normally sent a chill down my spine, his tall body moving with barely-leashed violence.

He gave me a quick, searing look that peeled the skin from my bones to see the mess of fear underneath, and stalked across the room to dump a holder with four coffee cups—two hot and two iced—on the beige table along with a large paper bag that bulged with fuck knows what. It could be a severed head and I wouldn’t have been surprised.

“He awake yet?” he demanded, rummaging through the bag and pulling out something wrapped in greaseproof paper before he grabbed an iced coffee drowning in whipped cream and sugar syrup and thrust both at me.

“Not yet,” I replied, accepting both gifts with a baffled expression. “Thanks.”

“Shut up,” he muttered even though I hadn’t said anything. “I can do nice shit sometimes.”

I smiled for real this time. He narrowed his eyes so I didn’t respond to his remark. I just set the drink on the table beside Damien’s bed, struggling to find space among the cards, flowers, and empty cardboard cups, and unwrapped the grease-stained parcel to find a sausage sandwich.

“It’s vegan and shit,” he muttered, glaring at me like it was my fault he was embarrassed. “I don’t know what you eat.”

And with that, he stormed for the door. “Tell me if he wakes up,” he called over his shoulder and slammed it behind him.

With a shrug, I nibbled at the sausage, leaving the bread even though it was warm and tempting. I knew my stomach wouldreject it, so I didn’t even try. I’d made the mistake of attempting to eat a sandwich during the endless night.

“He’ll wake up, Vasya,” Jonathan said, and I startled.

When did Kavan leave and Jonathan get here? Fuck, the sausage I was eating pitifully slowly was now cold.

“I know,” I murmured. I just didn’t know how long it would take.

CHAPTER 27

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