Page 67 of Lamb

Pride was Ash’s greatest foe, and now all her strength was crumbling around her. She would have no choice but to show her weakness to both me and Mint, and I knew that the mental strain would be harder for her than any physical fight.

Still, she didn’t fight me and allowed me to hold her still, even if neither of us would acknowledge it. A flicker of the fire in my chest warmed my cold soul, the subtle submission pulling an involuntary purr up my throat.

“You should sit down,” Mint interrupted, turning the page of his magazine. “This is going to be a long ride.”

Ash looked down at the plush carpet beneath her feet and the soft grooves already worn into the surface. It was the track Ash had been building just before she’d decided to brutalize the clock on the wall. For a second time.

“That is not as simple as it sounds,” Ash grumbled, tugging free from my grasp. I allowed her to slip away, her cool touch lingering on my fingertips.

I studied her; she rocked from one foot to the other as she shuffled back to the bed.

“I needto do something. Walking, talking, fighting.” Ash settled on the bed, wringing her hands in and out of each other, her nails raw around the edges. “I could take a distraction right about now.”

“Well, I don’t think you’d do well in a fight right now,” Mint chipped, still not looking up from his magazine. “And I don’t think the carpet can take any more of your pacing.”

“Talking, it is,” I finished for him, following Ash around the other side of the bed. I sunk onto the bed, the warm mattress welcoming me back into the spot I’d had to vacate the second Ash’s fists had begun to clench and her eyes locked onto the clock. My book was cast aside into the wrinkled mess of the bed, and I reached back for it; but instead of continuing where I’d left off, I folded it closed and set it aside on the bedside table.

“So, what shall we talk about?” I turned to Ash, my fingers folded over my lap, waiting.

Ash met my gaze and didn’t like what she saw there. A disgruntled groan dragged from her lips, a deep eye-roll pulling her gaze away from me and over to the window. She dropped her head in her palms and, with another groan, said, “I should have taken the drink.”

“Why didn’t you?”

Ash lifted her head again, her eyes cast softly over my reclined form; my feet propped up on the soft duvet with my ankles locked, leaning deep into the soft duck feather cushions.

“There was no point.” She sighed, shaking her head. “The sooner this starts, the sooner it will be over.”

“Why bother prolonging the inevitable?” Mint asked, the physical embodiment of an intrusive thought.

“If it even comes,” Ash scoffed, her eyes regaining that dangerous glint as she looked back up at the clock on the wall.

I kept my body lax but was ready to jump up and intercept should the need arise.

“It feels like it has been hours already.”

“It’s been a few,” Mint answered, fingers soothing down the edge of a page before casting it over. “Three? Maybe four.”

“Four hours and twelve minutes,” I corrected.

“Is that all?” Ash groaned, reaching out and snaking her arms around her knees, her head buried between them, rocking slowly from side to side.

I sat up, reaching out for her. I touched her clammy skin, but it disappeared just as fast as Ash lurched from the bed in a blur of wild movements. She threw herself up, her balance unable to catch up, so she stumbled forward. She made a strangled noise, and all I could do was watch, half-jerked over the bed as she made impact against the wall.

The noise wasloud, and my heart began to pound in my chest, struggling and strangling itself of oxygen as adrenaline threw me straight over the length of the bed and to her side.

Mint had gotten there first, his trained instincts having him moving the second she had jerked from the bed, but he hadn’t been quick enough to prevent the fall. He wrapped an arm over her chest and caught her as her head made contact.

Her knees went limp as she collapsed into Mint’s arm, his own body dropping to cradle her weight as she dropped.

“Ash,” I breathed, throwing myself down by her side, scooping my hand under her chin and turning her to face me.

“Ow,” Ash hissed through gritted teeth. “That fucking hurt.” She moaned, her eyes squinted tightly shut, as a deep frown wove into the pained grooves of her face.

Relief flooded my veins, and my grip relaxed against her skin.

She snatched her head back from my hand, but it only pulled a louder groan from her.

“You good?” Mint asked, pulling her back and helping her lean against the bed. No blood covered her skin, but a growing red mark was darkening over her temple. “You hit that pretty hard.” Mint had flicked into nurse mode and was already poking, prodding, and turning her face to get a good look at the damage.

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