Page 105 of Jig's Last Dance

“Maybe I am. But I’d rather be stupid than a machine.”

He snorts and I shrug, bending to rub my aching leg. “Why do you care, anyway? What’s going on between you two?”

I expect a brush-off, which is why I’m surprised when he rubs his bald head and says, “I knew Iris before all this. She was . . . fuck hot with an amazing smile and crazy personality.”

“And?”

He glances down at my leg absently before his brows flap over his eyes, and he kneels before me in the dirt. I sidle away from him as he shines his light on my knee. “Fuck. Why didn’t you say something?”

“What could I say? ‘Jig’s dying, but hey, look at me,’?” I huff.

He raises his disapproving gaze to mine, and I sigh, grumbling, “C’mon. How far is the fucking walk anyway?”

To my relief, he follows, saying, “All the way home? Probably 120 miles.”

I stumble and right myself, holding back an onslaught of frustrated tears. I can’t walk that fucking far; besides, it would take us days.

“Don’t worry. Cyn is sending someone to pick us up,” Bastion says.

“Where?”

“Down the road.”

Chapter Fifteen

We walked another hour before we were picked up. The guy was someone I had never seen before, and I collapsed in the back seat, passing out almost immediately.

I wake when the vehicle slows and peek through my lashes. We’re at a hospital I don’t recognize, but as soon as we’re stopped, I sit up.

“Is Jig…?” I ask with my hand on the door.

“He’s good. They stitched him up,” Bastion rumbles.

“Can I see him? Where is he?”

Bastion turns back to me with a blank expression. “He’s home by now. C’mon.”

“What?” I say, but he’s already shut the door in my face. “Rude.”

Truthfully, although a dull ache, I forgot about my injury until Bastion leads me into the emergency room. I check in while Bastion hovers over me, and I’m taken back almost immediately. But we’re forced to wait while they attempt to contact my brother because, as a minor, they need permission to treat me.

After four hours of mind-numbing waiting, I’m stitched up. Luckily, the bullet grazed my skin, and I’ll have nothing more than a scar to show for it. I’m just finishing dressing to be discharged when Ben comes strolling in.

He eyes me with a cool look, but I’m so glad to see him that I rush into his arms. “Ben!”

He’s rigid around me for a minute before he hugs me to him, and it feels so fucking good that tears fill my eyes.

“I’m so glad to see you,” I say thickly. He drops his arms, stepping back.

His blue eyes are wintry, and I search them for a sign of my brother, the one who used to mess up my hair just to see me screech like a hyena. But he’s not here, and my stomach sinks before I look away. Is anyone who I thought they were?

“Ben, I—”

He cocks his head to the side, his mouth a thin line. “What happened?”

“I, we were at a cabin, and someone shot at us,” I whisper, shrinking as his eyes grow darker with each word.

“Who’s we? No, wait. Let me guess. Blackstone,” he sneers. “What the fuck were you doing that someone shot at you?”

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