Page 32 of Ashes

My head was killing me. My stomach was still upset.

“He always seems to just know things,” Ashes continued, shaking his head.

“Which is why I think we need to trust him about specter.” Church looked at both of us. “Even if it fucking guts us. I think he was only demonstrating what he’s capable of.”

“I agree,” Ashes said, rubbing his eyes and grabbing his jacket.

“Sin?” Church looked at me.

I blew out a breath, the nausea twisting like a snake in my guts. “I don’t give a shit about Asylum right now. Right now, I’m worried about Stitches. We need to go. One thing at a time.”

“You’re right.” Ashes strode to the door and pulled it open.

Church was quick to join him. I grabbed my cell phone off the coffee table and followed them, my heart in my throat.

* * *

It tookhours for the doctor to let us back to Stitches. When he did, we just saw him for a few minutes since he was knocked out on meds.

“He’ll survive,” Dr. Conrad said as he looked at his chart. “He’ll be sore. We’re going to keep him on a mandatory ninety-six-hour hold, though. Headmaster Sully will come in and do an assessment as well. If we deem him unfit to leave, he’ll remain here until he is well enough to go.”

A muscle thrummed along Church’s jaw. “If you so much as fucking think about putting him in the hole, I’ll fucking put you in one. Understand?”

Doctor Conrad visibly swallowed. “Perfectly, Dante.”

Church eyed him for a moment longer before stomping out of the room, Ashes and me following him.

“I hate that prick,” Ashes grumbled as we walked.

“Me too,” I muttered.

Guy was a tool.

We walked in silence for a few more minutes down the quiet hall. We were about to pass siren’s room. Church slowed.

Cady stepped out of the room and waited for us.

“I saw them bring him in. Is he OK?” she asked as we stopped next to her.

Cady was a beautiful girl. Not the same mesmerizing way her sister was, but I bet she still fucked with the hearts of men though. She looked like the type.

“He’s OK. He’s under a ninety-six-hour psych hold,” Ashes said as Church peered past Cady into siren’s room.

Cady nodded. “What did he do?”

“Tried to hang himself,” I muttered.

Her eyes widened at the information.

Church wordlessly stepped past Cady and went into siren’s room. I watched as he approached her bed and stared down at her.

“He’s just hurting. He’s worried about Sirena,” Ashes said.

“Real shit way to worry about her,” Cady answered, shaking her head. “Trying to unalive himself doesn’t seem like something he should do to help her. If he loves her as much as he claims to, why would he want to hurt her by killing himself?”

“There’s a lot of shit you don’t understand about the things that go through our heads,” I started.

She held up a hand to stop me. “I’m going to stop you right there and tell you to shut the fuck up.”

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