Page 14 of Forever Midnight

“You’re safe now,chaton,” he whispers.

I nod, still clinging to him, not knowing what the last word means, but too weak to ask. I’m aware that we’re in a car. I don’t know where he’s taking me, but it can’t be worse than where I was. Is Midnight a murderer? Pretty sure he is. A distant, self-preserving part of me pushes its way through my cloudy, pained thoughts, but it has no chance right now. Reason is out the window and only survival remains. If Midnight wanted to hurt me, he would’ve done it by now.

That much I know for sure.

* * *

“What happened to him?”

“Shit. That’s a bad cut on his cheek.”

I blink, focusing on the worried faces gazing down at me. A pretty woman with red hair hovers over me, touching a cotton ball swabbed with something rank to the cut on my cheek. I hiss with pain, and she offers a comforting smile.

“I promise it’ll feel better soon,” she says.

I search for Midnight and realize he’s holding my hand. Trying to sit up, I flinch with pain, giving up on that idea quickly enough.

“Where am I?”

“My home,” Midnight says. “You’re safe here.”

“I gotta get home.”

“Not like this,” the woman says. “Do you live alone?”

“No,” I mumble, realizing it hurts to even move. “Why does it hurt so much?”

“He got you good,” the other man who was with Midnight says. “Gotta make sure you don’t have a major concussion.”

“No hospital,” I groan.

“We’re better than any hospital,” the woman says again, holding a vial up to my lips. “Drink.”

I pull back. “No.”

“Tru,” Midnight says, his voice instantly soothing. “Please let us help you. You can trust us.”

I focus on his face, nodding as comfort spreads through me. “Okay.” I let the woman feed me the terrible-smelling liquid.

“You’re gonna feel awesome soon,” a young man with long wavy hair says as another man hovers behind him. I remember seeing the taller man before, then it slowly sinks in that these are the men who saved me from Malek.

“Let’s give Midnight and his guest some space,” yet another man says, his tone authoritative but still kind.

“Call me if you need me,” the woman says, kissing Midnight on the cheek.

“We’re alone now,” Midnight says a moment later. “You can sleep.”

“What…time?”

“Just after one. Is someone expecting you?”

“No. I gotta be home by morning. Mom worries.”

“I’ll wake you up in a few hours and get you home in time. Just relax.”

“Relax,” I repeat, my eyes heavy with exhaustion.

All the tension seeps away as I allow myself to believe that Midnight will keep me safe and get me home. I don’t know why I trust him. I just do.

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