Page 12 of We Will Rise

CHAPTER EIGHT

KOVU

Camilla clings to me like her life depends on our bodies being pressed together, and I hold her just as tight.

Today put things into perspective.

Up until the day my little lamb walked into my life, I would have been happy to die. The scars of my past, the nightmares that plagued my sleep, the ghosts of what I’d done since the night I escaped the hell my parents brought me up in. I deserved to die.

And maybe I still do.

But I’ll fight to the bitter end to stay with Camilla.

Seeing her like this. Seeing her tears. Seeing her thirst for blood. I have to do everything in my power to stay with her because she makes me stronger. She makes all of us stronger.

Silence descends upon us as we make the trek up to Crew’s office. It’s the place we always have our meetings, and after the day I’ve had, I need a drink.

It’s rare for me to reach for any kind of substance to deal with my emotions, given both my parents were addicts, but I need it. I need something to take the edge off.

Crew pushes the door open for us and waits for each of us to file in before he closes it behind us. There’s no one here except maybe Rogers, but you can never be too careful. If the last few months have taught me anything, it’s exactly that.

I take a seat in the corner with Camilla resting in my lap and pull her flush with my body as I lock her in place.

Crew moves to the liquor cart in the corner and pours five glasses before Bishop helps him bring them over to where we’re sitting.

Kaos paces restlessly on the other side of the couch, his hands fisted at his sides with each step he takes. He’s on edge. Hell, we all are.

I take my glass from Bishop and down the contents in one quick swallow, reveling in the burn as it makes its way through my body.

Crew and Bishop take their seats across from us, but Kaos doesn’t pause. Instead, he drains the glass and drops it to the table on his way past.

“What the fuck happened today?” Crew finally asks.

I let out a breath and carefully pry Camilla’s arms from around my neck. She tries to hold on, but I quickly turn her around so she’s sitting across my lap with my arms banded around her waist. “I knew the car had been tampered with the second I got into it. The idiot left a fucking tool on the passenger seat in his haste to get out of there because the meeting ended earlier than it should have.”

A soft sound in the back of Camilla’s throat drags my attention to her, and I find her staring up at me with tears in her eyes, a sight I would normally cherish, but not like this. Not when she’s in pain.

“I couldn’t waste time trying to find it because I wanted to see what would happen if they thought they were successful. So when I turned the corner, I threw the door open and made a run for it. I was caught in the explosion and barely got out of there before I lost consciousness in the alley a few yards from where the car exploded.

“Everyone around the site was too focused on the flames to notice me slip past them, and I bunkered down behind a trash can where I woke up a couple of hours ago.”

Kaos pauses his pacing to stare at me, while Bishop runs a hand down his face and Crew drops his head back against his seat.

“Why didn’t you come straight here?” Camilla asks softly, her voice hoarse from crying.

“I went and got the spare car we keep in the middle of the city for emergencies and made a couple of quick stops on the way home. Caleb and Davenport appear to be setting up for something big. I got to the penthouse at the same time they were heading to a run-down building at the edge of Davenport territory. There were a bunch of men there and it looked like some kind of meeting, but I didn’t check it out because I didn’t want them to know I’m alive just yet,” I explain.

Camilla sighs and drops her head onto my shoulder. “Can we make a new rule where if there’s any chance any of us think one of the others is dead that we get in touch? Please?”

Crew’s eyes soften when they fall on her. “Whatever you want, Little Menace.”

“I mean, maybe we can just try not to ever be in this situation again,” Bishop muses, the smallest smile playing at the corners of his lips.

“I like that option best,” Camilla agrees. “We need to get you looked at by Rogers. You could have a concussion if you passed out.”

I open my mouth to argue, but when I notice just how exhausted she looks, I snap my mouth shut and nod. I’ll do anything to make sure she’s okay, including letting Rogers poke and prod to make sure I’m not going to drop dead any second.

Crew drops his elbows to his knees and rests his chin on his closed fists. “Okay. For the moment, I want to keep Kovu’s situation close to the chest. Elias will come check you out to keep Rogers out of it just in case, and I’m going to tell Meredith to take the week off.”

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