Page 70 of Finding Her Panthers

They share a loaded look that makes my eyes narrow. “He’s at the club. Making sure it’s secure.”

There’s something they aren’t telling me. I thought what happened in the middle of the night helped Blue, and I turned a corner, but maybe not. “Why? The threat is gone. Isn’t it? When is he coming home?”

“We think so. To you anyway. Penny woke up. She told us that they spoke with a fourth person on the phone. Not a lot to go on, but enough to know that they may have someone else out there that is working with them,” Jax explains. “He’ll be home tonight, I think.”

“You think. Is he alright? Holy shit, how could I forget about Penny?” I catch James smirking. “Okay, maybe I know why, but what a horrible friend does that?”

“You are not a horrible friend. You ran into danger for her. You get brownie points for life,” James disagrees.

“Where is she?”

“We put her in your room,” Jax tells me.

“What? She probably heard everything!” I screech, hitting James in the arm when he laughs.

“She’s sleeping. The doc gave her some good stuff to sleep off all the bad shit she was given. Her wounds need time to heal. Sleep is good,” Jax says. “Another thing, Penny heard some of the conversations Ames had with this other man. They talked about abducting women, turning human women into shifters and vampires. Mickey is probably in the middle of that, too. So for now, Penny needs to stay here.”

“Ames and Mikey are in the middle of all the shit.” I reach over to hug Jax. “Thank you for letting her stay.”

“She’s your sister. Why wouldn’t I? Especially after everything that happened.” He presses a kiss on my forehead. “I’m going to go check in at the club. If you want to check on Penny and spend some time with her, she may come around hearing your voice.”

“It would put your mind at ease too. I’ll scrounge something up for you to eat. Help get your strength back.” James winks at me and gets busy in the kitchen.

“Will you tell Blue hello from me? Make sure he’s coming home tonight?” I ask.

“I’ll do my best.” He turns to James. “You might want to clean off the counter before cooking.” He smirks at me while walking out the door.

“Ass,” I yell after him. I move my glare to James when he chuckles. “I’m going to take a shower, then sit with Penny.”

“Food will be done in a bit. I’ll bring it up.” He kisses me and then makes a show of wiping off the counter.

“You’re both assholes,” I say but can’t help but laugh, jogging up the stairs.

***

Once I’m clean and comfortable in joggers and a long-sleeved shirt, I put my wet hair in a bun, having no energy to dry it. I slowly open the door to my old bedroom, afraid to wake her. She does need rest. There’s a chair beside the bed, all ready for me to use.

She is facing it, curled up. A battered face is hard to see. Hopefully, the pain she has suffered didn’t follow her into her dreams. Guilt hits me hard, eating away at me. The only reason she's in this pain is because of me. I brought all these horrible people into her life. If I had done things differently, not accepted her offer to move, left her to live her life away from me, none of this would have happened. She is the best person I have ever met, so open and giving. She accepted me when no one else did. She rolled with it when a panther suddenly was in her room. There was no convincing on my part that I was still the same, just a bit different.

She deserves better than this. She is fighting for her life with creatures that are the worst of us. How would I be able to make this up to her? I know firsthand how traumatic events can change you and follow you for years.

I drop my head to my hands, fighting the tears gathering.

“I hope you aren’t planning to kick me out of your life,” Penny’s voice breaks through my misery.

I look up, finding her eyes on me, surprised she can open them fully with how swollen they are. “Why would you think that?”

“I know you. You take on the actions of everyone. You feel guilty when you shouldn’t.”

“Of course, I should. I’m the only reason this happened.”

“If it weren’t these idiots, it would have been someone else. You can’t control what happens to me. Life is full of obstacles.” She shrugs.

“Jesus, Penny, have you seen your face?” I swear.

“No, I can feel it, though.” She touches her eye lightly, wincing.

“Exactly. You shouldn’t be in this kind of pain. Especially since I am supposed to protect you.” I wave my hand towards her face.

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