Chapter 129

No… no… fucking hell… God, that show was fucking awful. Why are they airing it all over again?”

I blinked, but everything was blurry as shit. And everything fucking hurt. And smoky. It smelled fucking smoky.

“You reek,” I grumbled—though, if I even said anything at all, I didn’t know. My tongue felt ten times its size in my mouth.

“You caused me emotional distress. You and Nolan,” Roan scoffed. “I chain-smoke when I’m distressed.”

“What…” I groaned. I rubbed the heels of my hands over my eyes, digging in hard and trying to make the fog go away. I replayed everything in my head, piecing it all back together.

Nolan and Genevieve were kidnapped.

I asked Lane to turn me into a monster.

We rescued them.

Nolan was tortured.

Genevieve was hurt.

I killed the hunter.

But not before I got stabbed by the hunter.

Nolan almost died.

Nolan almost died.

“Nolan.” I gasped as I forced myself up. Holy fuck that hurt. So much so that I wanted nothing more than to lie back down.

“Hey! Stop! Stop before you hurt yourself.” Roan grabbed my shoulder to keep me from moving.

“Nolan,” I said again. I tried to push him off but had no real strength to do so. “I need to see Nolan. I need to see—”

“You’re in no condition to go anywhere,” he interrupted. “You’ve been out for three fucking days, and you’re not healing the way we do.”

Probably why I felt so fucking crappy. It didn’t fucking matter though.

“I need to see Nolan. I can help—”

“Killian,” Roan began, his serious tone stressing me out, “Nolan’s upstairs in the ICU in critical condition. He lost his eye and a kidney. He suffered significant burns from the metal she used, and the damage to his bones requires bone grafts, but he’s not stable enough for surgery. Killian… they don’t… they don’t think he’s going to make it.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

“I can help him,” I repeated adamantly. And I could. With magic. As I managed to pull my ass out of bed, I demanded, “Where’s the shit I wore here?”

“In a bag, why?” he asked. “Raven brought you clothes.”

“I don’t care about the fucking clothes she brought. I need my goddamn uniform.” Because in my fucking uniform was a Hail Mary that might just save my baby brother’s life now that the spikes were gone. I pulled out the IV, ignoring the pinch of pain and the trickle of blood. I tossed it aside with my hospital gown.

“The fucking socks.” Roan chuckled. I glanced down at the pale blue hospital socks. Deja-fucking-vu. Of all the shit he and I were repeating, it would be me naked in a pair of hospital grippy socks.

Fuck it, I was keeping them.

“I like the fucking grippy socks, okay?” I snapped. Jesus fuck, the things I found myself saying around him. “Leave my fucking socks alone.”

“You’re awful fucking touchy about socks.”

“Where’s my shit?”

“You need to get back to bed,” Roan repeated. “I can see you fucking shaking, man.”

Okay, yes, I was fucking falling apart.My body didn’t feel like my own, but I’d done that shit to myself. I would’ve bet my left nut that I felt this way because Lane’s magic was settling on top of being injured.

“Get back in bed, Killian, or I’ll put you there myself.”

“Hurt or not, I can fucking take you.”

I broke his fucking nose when he tried to wrestle me back into bed. That would forever be the story of how I became a missing patient in that hospital. In my defense, I did warn him. I left my room with Roan pissed off behind me. We had to be a fucking sight—him with a bloodied face as he carried my shit and me wearing pants I didn’t even bother to button and goddamn grippy socks.

“Jesus fuck, what did you do to his face?” Sam asked when we entered the waiting room for the ICU. My brothers were crammed in the tiny fucking chairs in the tiny fucking room, looking exhausted and emotional—even Lucas looked like crap as he slept fitfully folded over in a chair. Raven sat next to Declan while Cade sat on the floor nearby. There were too fucking many of them for a room this size.

The lack of my wife’s presence didn’t go unnoticed, but between her and Nolan, I had to prioritize. Genevieve wasn’t going to die. Nolan might. One thing at a fucking time.

“He tried to fucking stop me,” I said. “Which room is Nolan’s?”

“Mom’s in there with him right now,” Finn replied.

“Great. What fucking room?” I gripped the vial of magic that had been tucked between the fabrics of my uniform. When no one fucking answered, a deep growl vibrated in my chest. “If someone doesn’t tell me soon, I’m breaking more faces.”

“Just tell him,” Roan snapped. He threw my shit on the floor and dropped into a chair. “Fuck, I need ice.”

“You’ll heal,” I retorted. I’d apologize later.

“Mom needs time with him,” Declan stated. “You need to go back to your room. I’m assuming you’re the code yellow alert.”

“Either I go room by room until I find him, or one of you fucking helps me,” I growled, but the sound that came out of me filled the room. Shit. I had to get myself under control. I drew a deep breath and counted to ten before trying again. This time, I held up the vial of blue liquid. “I can save his fucking life with this. It’s magic. But I can’t do it if I don’t fucking know where he is. Can you just fucking trust me?”

“I do trust you,” he replied and stood. “But if you pass out, I’m leaving you where you fucking fall. You look like shit, and you shouldn’t be up.”

“I feel worse,” I admitted. “I need to see Nolan.”

“Put a fucking shirt on and button your goddamn pants before your dick falls out.” Declan sighed.

I kept the fucking grippy socks because I didn’t even want to try with my boots. I pulled on the sweatshirt Roan tossed me with a groan. Yeah, definitely felt like utter fucking crap. The look on Declan’s face as he watched me wasn’t helpful at all.

“Don’t fucking give me that look,” I mumbled.

“Is it really going to help?” Declan asked as he walked me into the ICU. He didn’t pause as he nodded tightly to a nurse, who didn’t even think twice about us walking in.

“It’s called a life-pak,” I whispered. In the silence, even my quiet voice felt loud as hell. “All of us who… chase down the you-know-whats… we all have one in a special pocket in our uniforms for trips that go fucking south. It wouldn’t have worked when he had the… spikes in him. It won’t fix his eye or kidney, but it’ll get him stable again so that he can heal. It might… I don’t know what it’ll do with his bones, but I don’t give a fuck. I’d rather he be a medical miracle than…”

“Yeah,” he agreed solemnly.

“Where’s Genevieve?” Because I had to at least know.

“Raven got a block of hotel rooms across the street. She’s there with Gabby,” he said. “She has shoulder damage, and they want her to see a specialist to determine if she needs surgery.”

Fuck, I’d been afraid of something like that.

“And with her history, the doctor wants her on bed rest for at least a week. The baby is okay, but she had a full-blown panic attack during the exam. It took both Gabby and Raven to calm her down enough to continue,” Declan explained. I stopped in the hallway to stare at him. It shouldn’t have surprised me that he knew—that any of them knew—but a part of me expected her to hide it all over again. “I think it was all too much… being kidnapped, Nolan, you, her injuries, lying to the police—”

“Lying to the police?” I repeated with a frown.

“Lane had to tell them something when he showed up in the ER with Nolan,” he replied. “Especially when the police got involved. He told them that Nolan and her were kidnapped and that we hired private security to find them when our police force was too small to handle it. Ginny confirmed everything. Gabby’s watching her like a hawk at the hotel, Raven has been texting updates every hour, and I’m fairly certain Gabby’s going home with you two.”

“Great.” Gabby wasn’t my first choice ever for a house guest. “Are you okay?”

“None of us are okay. How can we be?” Declan told me honestly. He opened the sliding door to Nolan’s room and ushered me inside.

“Oh,” Mom whispered at our entrance. She rushed to wipe the tears from her face and smoothed her hands on her thighs as she stood. “You boys can’t be in here. They said only one at a time. And, baby boy, you shouldn’t be out of bed. You look awful.”

The last sentence was said as she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and hugged me tight—too tight, but I bit back the painful moan that built in my throat. Instead, I let her because she needed this.

“I can help him,” I said into her neck. She gave me a brief squeeze before letting go.

“It’s a waiting game right now, Killian. He just needs…” She faltered, pressing her lips together. I’d never seen her so vulnerable. Her attention drifted back to Nolan while she struggled to find the words, and I followed her gaze. The kid looked so small in the hospital bed, his lanky frame swallowed by stark white sheets and tubes everywhere. Her voice cracked as she continued, “I don’t know what he needs. I don’t know how to help.”

Instead of arguing with her, I went to Nolan’s bedside. I didn’t know where to touch the kid. Up close, he looked worse—a mess of stitches, bandages, tubes, and ashy skin. The unsteady beating of his heart over the monitor worried me. How long had he been teetering between alive and dead?

I uncorked the vial and swirled the contents. The vivid blue color glowed brighter—a good sign. Careful not to hurt him, I took hold of his face and opened his mouth. There was no easy place to touch him with all the bandages. Saying a silent prayer, I tipped the contents down his throat.

His skin glowed faintly, and it spread over every inch of his body. The thrumming of magic in the room vibrated against my skin as it went to work. His heart evened out, growing stronger with each passing minute. Mom’s soft gasp echoed in the room. She sat down on the other side of the bed, taking his hand gently, while Declan gripped the foot of the bed.

Nolan’s fingers twitched, and Mom held on tighter. I swore I forgot how to breathe as we waited. When his eye fluttered open, my knees damn near gave out. Thank fuck.

None of us said a fucking word. We waited with bated breath as he floated in and out of it, his gaze unfocused. His head rolled in my direction.

“Are they…” Nolan exhaled heavily, the words falling short. “Are they…”

“Yeah, kid,” I whispered. “They’re okay thanks to you.”

“I couldn’t… I couldn’t let that happen to her again,” he murmured.

“You saved them, Nolan. You’re my hero, kid” I told him, choking up while my nose burned with unshed tears. He nodded slowly, his eye drifting shut. I said nothing and just held his hand as he passed back out. He was alive.

Nolan was alive.