Page 185 of Thrust & Throttle

He sighed. “That’s not true—”

“It’s an illusion. They took me—”

“Yeah, but I rescued you. I’llalwaysrescue you.”

“What do we do now?” I asked.

“Right now, you let me take care of it and you try to let tonight go as best you can. Let’s get some sleep.”

“Sleep,” I repeated. “Oh God, you haven’t slept yet. You’ve been awake for—”

“Don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t have slept until I knew you were safe.” He took my hand and led me to the bedroom. “And youaresafe, Willa. I’ll be back in a few minutes. I need to shower before I can crash.”

“You could’ve showered with me.”

“No. You needed that time for yourself,” he said. He handed me a clean T-shirt and then I slipped into a pair of his sweats. I crawled beneath the covers and drifted off, only waking just a bit when he took me into his arms.

In his embrace, I slept.

The smell of coffee roused me from a sound sleep. Duke was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching me with bloodshot eyes, a mug in his hands.

“What time is it?” I asked, my voice hoarse.

“A little after nine,” he said.

I stretched my legs out and groaned. My entire body felt like one massive bruise. I sat up and twisted my torso. “Why are you awake?”

“Prez called church.”

“Now?”

He nodded and handed me the cup of coffee. “He asked that you come.”

I raised my brows. “Tochurch?”

“Yeah.”

“But I thought only brothers attended church,” I said, perplexed.

“Yeah, that’s usually how it’s done.”

My gaze narrowed. “What’s going on?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” he admitted. “Waverly’s here. You want to see her for a few minutes before we go?”

I nodded.

“All right. I’ll send her to you.”

He got off the bed and headed to the door. I tracked him with my eyes, my brow furrowed.

Why was I getting the feeling he could barely stand to look at me?

I set the coffee cup onto the nightstand and then climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom. I did my business and then brushed my teeth and washed my face in a hasty attempt to clean up.

“Willa?” Waverly called out.

“Be out in a second.” I dabbed my mouth with a white hand towel and then went into the bedroom. I’d barely made it out of the bathroom before Waverly launched herself at me.

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