Page 87 of Marked by the Demigod

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She jerks awake.

Well, she jerks awake because people are yelling really fucking loudly around her and that fucking hurts cause her head feels like it's about to fucking explode.

And someone's holding her hand so hard it feels like it's going to break.

It takes a few seconds, but she pries her eyes open, only to see Iakov standing, gripping her hand, facing away and yelling. Katya's standing as well, close to the door, her face pale and drawn, and...

And Trixie is in the middle of the room, her face as red as a beet, yelling right back.

Aimes closes her eyes again, and they're still yelling. The words are so indistinct that they wash over her, spiking into her brain like something fierce.

She twitches her hand in Iakov's in some attempt to signal him, and he abruptly cuts himself off mid word. For a blessed second the only sound is the scrape of a metal chair.

"Aimes?" And it's Trixie's voice that speaks, close and soothing. "Aimes, you awake?"

Now she has to respond, so she opens her eyes in slits again, and now it's Trixie looming over her, Iakov sitting in the chair, his hand still firmly in hers. The two of them are so mismatched, so from different parts of her world, that Aimes feels like her eyes are crossing.

Trixie looks impeccable, in a flowing blouse and pressed slacks, like she came straight from work. Just her eyeliner is mussed, giving the only impression that she was screaming a few seconds before.

Iakov's grip in her hand tightens ever so slightly, before consciously relaxing. "Didn't mean to wake you." He mumbles, his accent thick. He looks...better. Someone got him a new shirt, and his skin has some color back.

The look Trixie gives him is pure venom, and Aimes really wishes she knew what the hell was going on before Trixie's face softens with worry. "Aimes, what happened?" She breathes. "You were out of town with no word, I couldn't text you, and Evan said you had a family emergency?" She throws a glare over her shoulder at Katya, who's still standing at the door.

Aimes sits up, and is pleasantly surprised to find out that moving is way easier than it was ...before. Cause, of course, there's no telling how long she was out for, not without an obvious clock and an obvious window. But the pain in her chest is now a much duller ache, one closer to bad heartburn over, you know, actual stabbing.

Trixie immediately helps her up, and the blood all over the sheets is gone, thank god. Cause Aimes can just imagine the screaming that would've happened with that.

As if sensing her thoughts, Iakov gives her hand a gentle squeeze, and she locks eyes with him. He faux grimaces at her, conveying some sort of apology that he hasn't actually said. Aimes tries to be angry, but it's really good to see him without blood all over him.

Trixie leans close, as if she wants to give a hug but doesn't know if it will hurt. "Aimes," she breathes, "Aimes, I was so worried I called your mom."

A bubble of laughter hits her throat. "I'm sorry? This was..." she gestures at the small group, with Katya still frozen at the door, "this was out of my control."

Trixie glances dubiously at Iakov. "I want to talk to her without you." She snaps out.

Iakov's eyebrows flash up. "No." He drawls out, rubbing his thumb on Aimes's hand in such a clear moment of possession.

As she sets her jaw, Trixie sits up straighter. "I will call in a lawyer on this," and her voice goes deadly quiet, and Aimes has known her long enough to know that this is a bad sign.

She coughs, and they both look at her again. "Trixie, what have they explained?"

The nostril flare happens again. "That he's some sort of Jesus figure and he married you then got cut open."

Aimes blinks. "He's not Jesus."

"No shit." Trixie snaps, then immediately softens. "Aimes, what the fuck?"

She tries to sit up straighter, but her head swims. "You're probably dehydrated," Katya says from the door. "I'll go --" and quick as a flash, she's out of the room, and Aimes isn't sure she ever saw her run away from conflict so quickly.

Iakov snorts, as if he thought the exact same thing. "I'm a Demigod, it's not fun."

Trixie full on ignores him, and the put-out look in his face is so surreally funny that Aimes feels the bubble of laughter again. "I've been looking for you for three days." Trixie says, and her voice breaks, just a little. "I went to the police, they said they couldn't do anything."

Aimes glances at the door Katya left from.

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