Page 9 of Kings & Carnage

I wanted to watch her forever. Wanted to protect her forever.

Not that we’d done such a bang-up job of that the first time around. So far she’d almost been buried in the woods surrounding Aventine and had been shot at and run off the road.

We had to do better, had to find a place where she would really be safe, because keeping Willa safe was the only thing that really mattered.

One thing was certain: we couldn’t rely on Willa’s mom for support. Willa’s tear stained face when she’d returned to Rock’s room after talking to her mom had said it all.

Celeste hadn’t believed her.

I wasn’t exactly surprised, but I’d hoped for better. Willa had already lost her dad and Emma. With her mom squarely in Roberto’s corner, she must have felt like she had no family left.

Fuck.

I shifted in the uncomfortable hospital chair and took a drink of the bitter stale coffee from the vending machine in the hall. It was so bad it was actually offensive.

It would have pissed Rock the fuck off.

I was so zoned out I didn’t notice right away that Rock’s eyes were open.

I stood and moved toward the bed, wondering if the dim light in the room was playing tricks on me. But nope.

He was awake.

“Hey,” I said quietly, not wanting to startle Willa. “How are you feeling?”

“Is she okay?” he asked.

I nodded. “She made out better than the rest of us, thanks to you.”

“She’sright here,” Willa said. She sat up and looked at Rock, then burst into tears and threw her arms around him. “You’re okay!”

His good arm came around her and I almost envied the asshole for getting to see how much Willa cared about him.

“What the fuck is wrong with my other arm?” His words were muffled by Willa’s hair.

Willa laughed and sat up, tears staining her cheeks. “It’s broken, but it's your head injury the doctor was worried about.”

“What head injury?”

“The one that had us worried fucking sick,” Neo said, standing next to the bed.

“Aw, you were worried about me?” he asked.

“Worried we’d have to haul your unconscious ass out of here on a stretcher,” Neo said.

Rock started to laugh, then winced. “Ow. Fucker. Stop making me laugh.”

“I wasn’t joking,” Neo said. “We need to get out of here.”

“Where ishere?” Rock asked. “I mean, a hospital obviously. But where?”

“The name of the place isn’t as important as the fact that it’s got a population of about a thousand people,” I said. “The hospital serves a few towns like this in the area, but it’s small.”

“I take it security leaves something to be desired?” Rock asked.

Willa was snuggled up next to him on the bed, for the moment unconcerned with our conversation.

Neo snorted. “That’s an understatement. More like nonexistent.”

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