Page 141 of Mad Love

“Furious,” he answered gently, kissing the side of my head as he looked in Royal’s direction. “She’s going into shock.”

“Who’s going into shock?” My tone was slurred, like I’d drunk a bottle of tequila. Except I hated tequila. The idea that I’d drink a whole bottle of that shit was hysterical for some reason, and I started laughing uncontrollably.

“Can you get her out of here?” Royal asked over my head. “Bishop and I can help Knight with Winthrope.”

“Where’s Ash?” I asked, worrying that he hadn’t been mentioned.

“With the helicopter,” Ryan assured me. “Let’s go see him, okay?”

“Okay,” I agreed, numbness and exhaustion making my brain buzz as my adrenaline crashed. It was as though someone had filled my limbs with lead, and I could barely keep my eyes open. The entire room was spinning while blurring in and out of focus.

Ryan picked me up, cradling me in his arms.

“I’m too heavy,” I protested.

He snorted, like the idea was utterly ridiculous, and carried me out of the ballroom and then the house. Once we were outside, I took a deep breath and looked around with wide eyes. “Ryan.”

“Yeah, babe?”

“There’s a monster on the front lawn,” I mumbled, wrapping my arm tighter around his neck as I tried to make out the wonky shape in the distance.

“It’s the helicopter, Mads,” he assured me. “No more monsters here.”

“Because you killed the monster,” I whispered.

He turned his head and met my gaze, his expression soft. “Yeah, baby.”

I gulped back a sob as tears filled my eyes. “Can we go home now?”

“Back to PC?”

I shook my head. “Can we go to Brookfield?”

He exhaled a long breath. “Yeah. As soon as we get you checked out, okay?”

“Chase, too?” I pressed.

He growled slightly. “Fine. That asshole, too.”

“And Bex?”

“And Bex,” he confirmed before arching a brow. “Anyone else?”

“Does anyone else need help?” I frowned, trying to remember if anyone else had been hurt, but my memories were scrambled like a jigsaw puzzle.

“Don’t worry about that right now,” he told me as we closed the distance to the helicopter.

As we got closer, I heard Bex’s sharp gasp. “Oh, my God. Is Maddie hurt?”

“Goddamn it, Becca,” Court snarled, “would you stay the fuck still? You need that ankle looked at by a fucking doctor.”

I lifted my head to see Bex trying to jump down from the helicopter as Court grabbed her waist and pulled her back. Linc and Ash were waiting near the helicopter as if they were guarding it. Both stepped toward us.

“She okay?” Ash asked Ryan.

“I think she’s in shock,” he answered, his worried eyes glancing down at me.

I frowned. Was I in shock? I mean, I was cold and felt a little off, but… “I’m f-fine.”

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