Then the wiggly body went still.

“Damn, I’ve never seen a kid go to sleep that fast in my life,” Shine said softly. “And look. Her heartbeat’s faster.”

It was?

“She knows we’re here,” Bram said. “Told you.”

“You didn’t ‘tell’ me anything,” Shine grumbled. “I was the one who agreed with you. In fact, I was in here complaining about you before you arrived. She knows that you’re being a dumbass.”

“Fuck you,” Bram said.

“Don’t swear in front of my baby,” a whispered croak sounded from the bed.

“Holy shit, Dory?” Bram was all but pressed against my face as I felt his warm breath whisper across my lips.

“Yes,” I said.

God, it hurt to talk.

It hurt to breathe, actually. But it really hurt to talk.

My vocal cords hurt, and even worse, every time I moved my jaw, it caused something in my scalp to ache.

“Hurts,” I whispered, barely moving my lips.

“I’ll call the nurse,” Shine said.

Then I felt a drop of liquid hit my lip, and the taste of salt on my tongue.

I couldn’t open my eyes, but I could tell without looking that Bram was crying.

“I’m. Okay,” I whispered, moving as little as possible.

“I know,” he rasped. “I know.”

CHAPTER 29

Your anxiety is a lying ass ho.

-Coffee Cup

DORY

“Going back means I’ll have to face Amon. I’ve been running from him for so long…”

Bram caught my face in his hands and looked at me with his heart in his eyes.

“Yeah, but this time, you won’t be alone,” he promised. “This time, you’ll have me. For the rest of your life, you’ll always have me.” He hesitated. “And it’s not Amon. It’s Amon’s lackey. We can face that little shit.”

I snickered. He was right. We weren’t facing Amon. We were facing the man that wanted to be like Amon and couldn’t.

Amon was dead. Even if Travis Haynes wanted to glorify him for the rest of our days.

Travis Haynes had survived the slitting of his throat, barely, and hung on to life with sheer determination because of the hate in his heart for us.

It’d been exactly six weeks since the bombing. Six weeks of excruciating pain, rehab, and determination had led me to here. Now.

We were going back to Accident, Florida, for a trial that would determine whether or not Travis Haynes was guilty of any crimes.