“It hurts, but nothing like it did. I can walk on it without my eyes crossing in pain.”
The door opened then, and like a messenger sent from biblical heaven, or a healer who eavesdropped on his patients, Abbott descended upon us with a plastic contraption in his hand that he pointed at me with the conviction of an archangel wielding his holy blade.
Sixteen
“You’re going to wear this.” Abbott slapped an ankle brace across my palm. “You’re going to like it.”
“I won’t,” I countered only to be contrary, “and you can’t make me.”
A quick trip to the storage cabinet produced my tennis shoes, one of them rather bloody.
“These are ruined.” He clucked his tongue. “I’m throwing them away.”
As I gaped at him, they thumped the bottom of the can. “What do you think bleach is for?”
“You don’t have time to bleach and dry the shoes if you’re going toddling off into danger this second.”
Toddling off made me sound like a baby, and I was in age compared to most gwyllgi, but grr.
I bought bleach in bulk for a reason, dammit.
“I took the precaution of having Remy procure another pair.” He returned to the cabinet. “Here we are.”
The sneakers were still in the box and smelled overwhelmingly of new.
“These aren’t my shoes,” I grumped. “I like my old shoes better.”
Midas rubbed a hand across his mouth, but it didn’t smudge his grin.
Abbott ripped out the sole in the right shoe, slid the contraption in, then replaced it with a scowl.
“I’ll make you a deal.” He crouched in front of me. “Lift your foot, please.”
I wrinkled my nose at the top of his head, but Midas crossed his arms over his chest.
No help there.
Bowling Abbott over and hobbling to the elevators, to freedom, wasn’t happening without an accomplice. I cooperated like a co-beta ought to, but I wasn’t happy about it. “What’s the deal?”
“Be a good girl, wear the brace for the next week, and I’ll bag your old shoes for you to bleach later.”
“Fine.” Gripping the bedrail, I lifted my foot and let him slide the shoe contraption on me. “I’ll do it.”
“We shall see,” he muttered. “In the meantime, I’ll keep the shoes until you fulfill your end of the deal.”
“What?” I grimaced as he Velcroed the straps into place around my tender ankle. “That’s not fair.”
“I’m not saying I don’t trust you.” He leaned back to admire his handiwork. “I’m just saying motivation is a good thing.” He rose. “You don’t have to wear it around the house, but keep it on while you’re at work for the next seven days. Seven, Hadley. Not six. Not five and a half. Not four. Seven.”
“Why did you become a healer when you enjoy inflicting pain on others?”
“We all must play to our strengths.” He stood back. “Please be careful.”
Remy had also brought me a change of clothes, which was nice. The black yoga pants were heaven and stretched over the itchy brace. The bright-pink racerback sports bra was not my favorite thing, but the white oversized Metallica tank might end up in rotation for my runs in the Active Oval.
“This isn’t as horrendous as I feared.” I pulled my hair into a high ponytail. “Remy didn’t do too badly.”
“It’s tame by her standards.” Midas raked his heated gaze down me. “It’s hard to go wrong with you as her model.”
“You’re adorable.” I pinched his cheek. “Can we spare a second for me to look in on Boaz and Addie?”
“Sure.” He took my hand. “Grier and Linus are still at our place. It’ll take them a minute to get downstairs.”
Our place.
Music to my ears.
“You texted them?” I made stiff progress to the door, but my ankle was loosening. “Good deal.”
“Grier is our best bet for getting information out of Ares without resorting to the usual methods.”
The usual methods being torture, which no one would want to inflict on her, even a shell of her, least of all him.
“I’ll keep my fingers crossed she can work her magic then.”
Midas stopped a few yards down from my room in front of a door with a cutout identical to mine. I pressed my face to the glass and ignored the slight hitch in my breath.
Boaz and Addie each had a bed, as reported, but he had hauled her onto his, and she slept draped over the top of him. His arm, the one not cuffed to the bed, circled her waist, and he held on as if afraid someone might take her from him again. Her face was turned toward the window, and she was smiling even in her sleep.
Yep.
She was a goner.
We might be hearing wedding bells this year after all.
“They’re cute.” I resisted the urge to tap the glass like they were fish swimming in an aquarium. “Right?”
“They love each other.” He rubbed my shoulders. “They might not have realized how much.”
“Boaz is a loveaphobe, and a commitmentaphobe. She’s got her hands full with that one.”
“Yes.” Midas twisted me away from the window before I registered the squeak of my shoes on the tile. “She does, literally.” He captured my face between his palms. “No.” He held me still. “Don’t look back.”
“Eww, eww, eww.” I threw up a little in my mouth. “Get me out of here.”
We hit the elevators and rode up to the lobby then crossed it to reach the enforcer’s on-site HQ.
An uncomfortable silence fell when I entered, which I would have blamed on the intrusion of an outside authority figure in their personal space, if not for the fact I had bought their loyalty with pizza, donuts, and fried chicken over the last several months. No, the quiet wasn’t my fault. It was our fault.
Midas and I had caged Ares. We were hunting Liz. And we couldn’t exactly make an announcement to put everyone at ease. From the outside looking in, we had done the unthinkable in turning against a packmate, and it smarted.
