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Douglas snorts.

Clary gets up from the dining table.

We all watch him closely as he walks out and into the living room before sinking onto a couch.

I glance at Bennett.

He shrugs.

While Clary was using the shower, Bennett said Clary didn’t try to leave in the night after he regained consciousness. He just sat up, seemed to recognize someone had brought him back to the rental, and lay back down again.

“Breakfast sounds like a good idea, Ivy,” I say, rising from my seat.

I try to hide my surprise as my dad heads to the refrigerator without any prompting and pulls out a carton of eggs. While Ivy and my dad prepare the meal, I can talk to Clary and try to cut off any attempts he might be planning to sneak out.

I turn on the TV and dial down the volume before I sink onto a far too hard couch beside Clary.

He doesn’t speak or even look at me.

“We’ll get them back,” I say as I take in the results for a football game and a brief roundup of the regional news.

He nods.

Behind us, pots rattle, water starts running, and the others chat between themselves about the insane traffic on the way to Michigan.

“I know it feels like we’re doing nothing, but they are here and so are we. It would be suicidal to charge in there without even knowing how many we’d be up against.”

“I always told her I’d fight for her,” he says so quietly, I barely hear him. “She’s right there—feet away from me—and I’m doing nothing to get her back.”

I know exactly how he feels.

“Do you know how Aerin and I met?” I ask him.

He shakes his head.

“She ran from her mate. He was not good to her. She was pregnant, afraid, had nowhere to go, but still determined to walk away the second her injury had healed.”

“Injury?”

“She nearly got herself run over by a semi. I shoved her out of the way and broke her leg in about four places,” I say wryly.

Not exactly the most romantic way to meet the love of your life.

“Four!” his eyes pop.

“I still feel as bad about that today as I did then. She said it didn’t matter. That I saved her life, and that’s what’s important, but… I’m losing track. I fell so hard and so fast for her, I knew I would do anything to convince her to stay with me. And that I would do anything to make her happy.”

Clary looks at me.

I squeeze his shoulder. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her and the baby. Not one thing. Give me today. Can you promise not to go charging in there for one day?”

After a long look, where he seems to be deciding how much he wants to trust me, he nods. “Sorry I scared her in Winter Lake. I didn’t mean to make her fall in the forest.”

“I know, and so did she.”

When Ivy calls out to say breakfast is ready, I raise my eyebrow. “How about we eat something and get back to working out how we can save the women we love, huh?”

Smiling, he nods and gets to his feet.

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