Page 43 of Rise of the King

Dean sits down next to me and squeezes my shoulder. “Sam’s gonna be okay, you know?” he whispers in my ear. “He’s gotta be okay.”

I look up at the usually silly Dean and force a smile. “He has to be.”

The exchange is quiet.

It’s just for us.

But I see Sebastian watching us as an older woman with floral scrubs and a pair of light pink Crocs comes over to speak with our group. “Mr. Beneventi, your brother’s been moved to a private room. He’s sleeping, but you can go in now.” She looks around at the crowd surrounding Bash, then adds, “He can have two visitors at a time, but that’s it. I’ll be at the desk. Let me know when you’re ready to go back.”

“Thank you,” Bash answers politely before turning to the rest of us. “Guys, I appreciate you all coming, but you should go home too. I’m gonna spend the night here.”

Oh. Hell. No.

I jump to my feet and move next to Bash, ready to put up a fight if I need to. “I’m staying with you.” When I turn around to say goodbye to Belles, her smile is enormous and kinda creepy, like Jack Nicholson’s in The Shining. With a finger pointed at her, I add, “I don’t want to hear a word about it from you.”

I ignore the rest of the group as I walk across the room to the nurse but still manage to hear Belle tell them, “I know nothing.”

Little liar.

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