Page 147 of The Blood Witch

“But you both need to rest,” Fey finished.

“I should be able to heal everything else in a day or so,” Joy said. “Until then, yes—lots of rest. And no… no funny stuff.”

Fey raised an eyebrow, and Joy responded with a huff and a roll of her eyes.

“No sex. And I mean it. That broken hip is a problem, and if you—or Alastair—do anything to make it worse, it’ll be a nightmare for me to heal, okay? There’s no guarantee I can repair the bone fully as it is.”

“I’m sure I can control myself,” Fey assured her.

Joy just laughed.

“See that you do. I’m going to call Sana and see if she can come and help with some of the injuries in the meantime.” Joy’s eyes were kind as she smiled. “Go in and see him, sister. He’s waiting for you.”

Intentionally or not, they’d put Jasper in Fey’s old room when they’d rushed him here last night. She smiled as she closed the door behind her, looking around at the place she’d once called home. Then her gaze landed on Jasper, deep asleep on the bed, and her smile fell.

Bruises covered half his face and continued in a molted purple downhis body. Joy had made a cast for his hips until she regained enough strength to finish mending the bones there. But…

Fey let out a shaky breath. He was alive. Seeing him lying there for the first time since he’d gone off the edge of the roof, Fey allowed it to really sink in. Jasper was alive.

She wouldn’t cry. She promised herself she wouldn’t cry…

Taking a shuddering breath, Fey wrapped her arms around her own shoulders and curled in on herself. She’d come so close to losing him. Come so close to losing everything. She screwed her eyes shut tight, fighting against the tears she refused to cry.

“Hey,” came a voice from the bed.

Fey looked up.

Jasper was awake, watching her. He tried to lift himself up on his elbow, wincing as he did so.

“What’s wrong, gorgeous?” he asked her, frowning. “Are you okay?’

A startled laugh broke through her lips.

“Okay?” she asked. She shook her head. “Jasper… you’re alive. I’m much, much better than okay.”

He grinned.

“But if you don’t lay back down, I’ll call my sister back in here, and she will break something non-vital until you do,” Fey warned him.

Chuckling, Jasper lowered himself back onto the pillows.

“Come here,” he beckoned her closer, opening his arms and patting the bed next to him. “Lay down with me. Then I’ll have no reason to move, will I?”

Wiping a hand over her face, she moved closer and crawled into bed next to him, curling on her side to press against him. His heart was slow and steady in his ribcage.

I’m alive, it said with every beat.

We’re alive.

“I was so scared when you went over that ledge,” she admitted, burrowing her face in his chest. “I thought I’d lost you.”

“Me too,” he responded, voice thick. “When I couldn’t fight it, I thought…” He trailed off.

He didn’t need to say it. His arm pulled her toward him a littletighter.

“Is Alastair here?” he asked.

Fey shook her head. “He was, before the sun came up. Alice sent him home. We’re lucky she didn’t murder him. He didn’t want to leave your side, and she kept saying he was getting in Joy’s way… one of them threw a lamp. It was a whole thing…”

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