Page 12 of Entangled

“All going well” doesnotinclude trying to take his feeble self out of bed and tearing open his stitches.

Resisting the urge to chain him to the headboard to keep his disobedient ass where it should be, I adjust Lucky’s pillows.

“Back in bed. And look,” I say with forced levity as I straighten, “not one single bullet needed.”

He looks away, scowling.

Taking in the room, I realize his empty plate is upturned on the floor, spilling crumbs everywhere, his pillows have been tossed halfway across the room, and a book is discarded on the floor at a spine-breaking angle that would have Jasper reaching for his sharpest vampire gloves.

I sigh. I forgot how Lucky turns surly as a new-branded bull when he’s sick. I’ve been neglecting him while I tried to get Bristlebrook back up and running. No wonder he’s upset. Working so hard is the only thing that’s kept me from descending into a full-blown panic.

“I need water,” Lucky says as soon as I finish cleaning up the mess he made.

I glance at the half-full jug of water on his bedside. “Youhavewater.”

“It has ataste.”

A throbbing starts behind my eye. Pushing aside the urge to dump it on his head, I replace it with fresh water from the canister I dumped in the hall.

Lucky ignores me, but that unhappy knit to his brows hasn’t left, making me soften a little.

Until he huffs a sigh. “Did you fix the pipes yet? I need a shower.”

The throbbing behind my eye intensifies. “Itried,” I explain, full of professional, doctorly patience.I’m a healer. I’m a healer. I’m a healer.“It ain’t that easy, Lucky. I’ve got no idea how to fix pipes on a good day. Them being blown apart? Not a good day.”

I might as well have shit in his soup and forced him to eat it by the wretched, disgusted look he gives me.

I rub a finger over my pounding temple. It’s not like I’ve been doing anything else, like, I don’t know, saving his life, taping up shattered windows, cleaning up debris, or feeding the animals. Small things, like disposing of the ceviched corpses that decorated our front lawn.

You know,errands.

I try to find my patience, the way my momma would want me to. This is just panic talking. Panic and helplessness.

“They’re going to bring her home, Lucky,” I tell him quietly, even as my veins seize with the fear that it’s a lie. There were so many men. What would so many men do with a woman alone with no rules and no one to stop them?

My throat closes over, paralyzed, and Lucky’s face shuts down again.

“Leave me alone, Beau.”

“Lucky—”

“Get the fuckout!” he shouts.

I stare at him for a moment, then go, wishing I had any kind of hope to offer.

By the time our friends reach Eden, there’s a good chance there’ll be nothing of her left.

Chapter5

Eden

Survival tip #13

Embrace your pain.

It’s proof you’re alive.

Iwake to fire. A twisted, tattooed hand blackens, wood snaps, and a blazing barn collapses in over my head. I scream and scream until smoke smothers my lungs, charring their edges like burnt parchment.

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