Page 43 of Blood Moon

“You can’t sacrifice yourself to fix him. He’s healing. Right now he needs to rest,” Eli spoke softly, as if Viktor wouldn’t hear him. I struggled against his hold, but Viktor cleared his throat.

“He’s right. I need rest. I’ll be fine, Myshka. Let Eli take you home for now. You can come back to see me tomorrow.” Viktor couldn’t hide the pain, but at least his eyes weren’t filled with anger at Eli anymore.

“But we have to figure out who did this so we can take them out.” Both men looked at me as if I’d grown an extra head. “What? I thought you’d be glad I jumped on the bandwagon.”

“Take her home. Distract her. Please. I’ll be fine,” Viktor spoke to Eli as if I wasn’t even there. What the hell was it with these two? They were allowed to want revenge, but the moment I suggested it, I’m wrong. It didn’t make sense.

Eli let go of me and walked over to Viktor. It was strange to see him lying there. He looked so small compared to the hulk of a man standing over him. I pretended not to see Eli slip him a new cell phone. His had been destroyed, but Eli’s tech guy had been able to move everything over to a new one. We had agreed that Viktor didn’t need his phone right now, but I guess with him sending us away, it made sense. At least I would be able to check on him later.

I waited until Eli stepped back to run over and hug Viktor. It was all I could do to not climb in his lap. I needed to be close to him. I didn’t want to leave, but it seemed like he would be safe here. I kissed him gently before turning to leave. “We’ll be back first thing in the morning.”

He nodded, then leaned back on the pillows as if he were going back to sleep. I knew better. He would wait until I was out of ear shot, then he’d be on the phone with Jones arranging his own revenge. We walked out of the room and I zoned out.

Eli nudged me, “Love? Are you listening to anything I’m saying?”

“Of course I am. Why?” I raised my eyebrow at him.

“Because I asked where you wanted to go for dinner and you said, ‘Yeah, that sounds great.’ So tell me what’s wrong. Vik is fine. Don’t worry.” He slipped an arm around me as we walked down the hall.

“I don’t want to be left out of your revenge plans. We’re a family now, which means I’m involved, even if you two don’t want me to be.”

Chapter 42

Eli

I couldn’t believe Delilah’s reaction to me calling her out. She wanted to be involved in any revenge planning. We didn’t even know who we needed to go after, and our girl was stepping in, making her intentions known. My heart swelled with pride. I was worried she might not take too well to the more violent side of things, but this gave me hope.

“You think we’re planning revenge?” I asked in a teasing tone.

She nodded. “I do. And I’m going to be involved. You two will not keep things from me. Understood?”

“What makes you think you can handle it?” I asked.

She glared at me. “Either you include me or I go after whoever hurt Viktor myself. Do you want to argue about it, or would you rather just cooperate?”

For being so much smaller than me, she really was determined. Honestly, I was a little scared of her already. It was so hot. I wanted to rip her clothes off right here in the hospital and fuck her brains out. What can I say? Crazy turns me on.

“I’m not arguing. As far as I’m concerned, you’re in. But we have to figure out who we need to go after first. So just take it down a notch, Killer.”

Delilah chuckled at the new nickname. Her amusement made me laugh too. It was nice to know that we didn’t have to be serious all the time. She growled at having to wait, but nodded.

“Fine, I’ll wait. I don’t like it, but I guess I can’t cut a bitch if I don’t know who I’m going after. I’m just glad he knows you weren’t really involved.” Her response made me laugh again. I pulled her in for a hug and tickled her until she squirmed away, squealing. Some of the nurses started to stare. We were causing a commotion. I decided that we needed to tone it down, making a mental note of her ticklish spots for later.

“What if we check on your uncle while we’re here? You can pop in and see how he’s doing before we go find food.” I knew that I wouldn’t go in with her, since I’d been the one to put him in this position. I still had to find a way to make it up to him. I was certain he wouldn’t accept an apology, even if I still didn’t remember hurting him.

My face must have been wrinkled in concern. Delilah stopped walking and stared at me. “What?” I asked, stopping next to her.

“He’ll forgive you. I did. Don’t worry about it, okay?” It was as if she’d somehow sensed my emotions. Leave it to Delilah to try and make me feel better when I had all but killed her uncle. The situation was ridiculous.

I pulled her to me for a kiss. “How do you always know what to say to make me feel better?” I kissed her again before she could respond.

A moment later, she pushed against my chest. “I could tell when you suggested that I go see him that you were still feeling guilty. I know that’s not going to go away, but I also know that he will forgive you. It’s going to take time.”

As usual, Delilah knew exactly how to make me feel better. I knew the guilt wasn’t going anywhere, but I didn’t have to focus on it right now either.

I walked with her to the elevator and we headed toward her uncle’s room. We approached the nurse’s station and Delilah walked away to discuss her uncle with his nurse. I stayed a few feet away, but could still hear the whole conversation because of my enhanced hearing. Vinny was doing better. They were expecting a full recovery. The nurse had given Delilah clearance to visit, but warned her not to push him too much or upset him. That ruled out me going in with her, which was fine by me. I would wait outside until she was done, then take her home.

Chapter 43

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