Page 97 of Killer Kiss

I wanted to fucking cry, hearing her say that.

Penelope rolled her eyes and opened the door wider. “Honestly, if you were any other patient, we’d all be bitching about you in the staff room and you know it. You’ve had more visitors than the rest of the patients combined.”

Willa chuckled as I entered. “They’re my friends,” she told me. “So you’d think they’d be a little more worried about my welfare, wouldn’t you? Instead, all they give me is endless sass. Once I get back on the ward, they’re all getting the night shift as punishment.”

Penelope leaned on the doorway. “Just keep it down, would you? Your room is party central half the time, and the other patients are complaining about special treatment.” But her complaints were half-assed, and it was clear she loved and was as worried about Willa as the rest of us.

Penelope turned to me. “Make sure she uses that pain relief. She can press the button every few minutes, but she’s stubborn.”

Willa lifted one hand weakly and shooed her friend out the door, which she closed quietly behind her.

I sank down into a chair at Willa’s side, and my heart nearly broke in two, taking in how much of her body was wrapped in bandages. They covered her arms completely, and there were others peeking out of the neckline of her hospital gown. One side of her face was bandaged, the strips taped to shaved parts of her skull.

Willa tutted beneath her breath. “Don’t gawk at me like that, Augie Mitchell. I’m just fine.”

She wasn’t.

“I should have got there earlier,” I muttered. “I took too long.”

She lifted one hand weakly like she wanted to swat at me but then she winced and placed it gingerly back down on the bed. Even still, her eyes burned into mine. “Rubbish. You got there exactly when you were supposed to. I’m really glad you came. I wanted to say thank you for what you did for Luna.”

I shook my head. “You don’t need to thank me for that.”

“I do. You didn’t have to run into that house for her. A lot of people wouldn’t have.”

I didn’t feel right taking praise for something that hadn’t been a choice. When Willa had said Luna was still inside, there was no question of would I run in or not.

I just did.

A knock came from the door, and Willa and I both glanced in that direction as it swung open.

Colt poked his head around the corner, his gaze searching for his mom and then landing on me.

Not all that long ago, every time Colt had looked in my direction, his gaze had been cold at best. Fiery with hate at worst. I couldn’t blame him. He loved Lacey and my brother, and after what I’d done to them, I’d never blamed him for hating me.

There was none of that in his eyes now though. In fact, he gave me a half-smile. “Well, I guess this is good timing.”

I didn’t know what that meant, but he opened the door wider, revealing the rest of his family all crowded into the doorway.

Luna’s eyes lit up when she noticed me sitting there, and her little-girl voice filled the room. “Uncle Augie!”

To my surprise, she broke away from her parents, running across the room in pink boots with soles that lit up with every step. She threw herself at me, and I caught her with a soft laugh.

“Uh. Hi. How are you, squirt?”

She scrambled up into my lap and sat cross-legged like a tiny genie, peering up at me with big dark eyes. “Good! I went to school today and I told all my friends about how you saved me from being burned alive!”

I blanched at her choice of words, a jolt of fear that felt all too familiar reminding me both of us very nearly had.

Colt, Lacey, Banjo, and Rafe followed their daughter in. I expected one of them to pluck her from my lap, but they didn’t.

Colt just ruffled her hair and smiled at her affectionately. “She’s been terrorizing all the kids with stories of flames that eat ceilings and smoke that swirled like demons, haven’t you, kiddo?”

I swallowed thickly, understanding exactly why she’d described it like that.

When she stared at me, she was searching for understanding. Validation. Someone who had experienced what she had.

“But we slayed those demons, didn’t we, squirt? Luna and Uncle Augie ran through the building, jumping down stairs, spinning and turning, ducking and weaving, fighting our way through the flames, until poof! They were all gone!”

---