Page 67 of Slay King

I decided not to push it. Maybe I didn’t need to know.

• Twenty-Eight •

Doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Rumor

Maeme was out of the door the moment we made it to the porch, throwing her arms around me.

The tight hold she had on me as she let out a, “Thank you, Jesus,” left me with the urge to tear up and laugh at the same time.

I was positive Jesus had had nothing to do with my being here. There was nothing Christlike about the slit throats and trophy eyeballs that Gage had pulled from his pocket.

“Doc is downstairs, working on stitching up one of the boys from Mississippi and giving another one a blood transfusion, but he’s already got the ultrasound machine set up and is waiting on us,” she said, patting my arm as she pulled back and looked at me with watery eyes. “But you’re here, and you are okay.”

I turned back to King, who stood there with his crutches, and noticed the dark circles under his bloodshot eyes now that we stood under the light of the porch. He looked pale and weak.

Panicked, I let go of Maeme to turn to him. “You need to lie down. Get off your leg. Sleep,” I told him, wrapping my arm around his waist.

He chuckled. “Sweets, I’m not lying down without you. And I sure as hell am not letting you go down there and have an ultrasound without me.”

“But you look pale and like you might pass out,” I argued.

“I’m fine. Stop worrying and get your sexy ass in that house.”

“Come on now. We will see to both of you,” Maeme said, opening the door and ushering us inside.

King was good with crutches, I realized. Really good. I had a feeling this wasn’t the first time he’d ever used them. I walked beside him as we followed Maeme to the stairs leading to the basement.

Then, she paused and glanced at King. “Do you need the elevator?”

He shook his head. “I’m good.”

Elevator? I hadn’t known there was an elevator.

She didn’t argue with him, but I wanted to demand he use this elevator. I turned to look back at him, and he grinned.

“I got this, sweets.”

“What if you fall?”

He leaned close to me and pressed a kiss to my closed lips, which I was not opening until after I brushed my teeth.

“I’ve walked down these stairs in worse scenarios. Crutches are child’s play.”

“But there is an elevator. Why?”

He cupped my face. “Because it only fits one and I refuse to be away from you for a fucking second.”

Oh. I stared at him, wishing my mouth didn’t taste like vomit. I wanted to kiss him. Tell him I loved him. Instead, I turned and walked down the stairs slowly in case King needed me to catch him.

When we were both at the bottom, I sighed in relief.

Stellan, Ronan, Monte, Barrett, and Roland were all sitting in the sofas around the coffee table. They were looking at me and King.

“Good to see you, Rumor,” Ronan said.

What did I say to that? Thank you?

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