“Then we’re done here,” Remy said finitely, standing and lifting me into his arms. He stared at Lulu. “Finish what you need to do and go home.”
Dimitri stood up, his gaze warily going from Lulu to me and then back. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, unable to form the words as my head dropped against Remy’s shoulder as my eyes slowly closed.
I just needed to rest for a minute.
That was the last thought I could form before I drifted away.
51
Skye
“I’m really okay,” I insisted almost two days later, my voice small while I watched as Remy jerked a t-shirt out of his dresser drawer and yanked it over his head. I was still in bed, where I had essentially lived those two days, one of which I just spent sleeping.
I was exhausted from whatever magic Lulu had siphoned out of me, but I was feeling stronger by the minute. But Remy was the one who seemed to be stuck on what happened days earlier. He’d been oddly absent during the day, but I had the feeling he set up a schedule to have all my friends take shifts sitting at my bedside since someone was always there when I woke up.
Everyone except the guy currently with his back to me as he got ready for our trip to Illinois to confront Damien today. With the exception of sleeping next to me, I’d barely seen him.
Worry had been slowly eating away at me, but now it was turning into a full blown gnawing in my gut.
“Remy.”
He grunted noncommittally and turned away to grab his cell phone from his desk.
I sighed, leaning forward and bunching the comforter in my lap. “Would you look at me?”
He turned slowly, jaw clenched as he gave me his attention.
I squirmed uncomfortably at the tension between us. “It’s been almost two days since I helped Lulu. We’re leaving in a few hours for Windale. You’ve barely spoken to me.”
He crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed, next to me but not touching. The few inches between us felt like an uncrossable chasm.
I glanced down, balling up the fabric of the sheets and comforter in my hands until my knuckles turned white. “I know you’re mad at me.”
His eyes narrowed. “I’m mad at me, Skye. I never should have let you—”
I arched a single brow.
He huffed and rolled his eyes. “Fine. I never should have agreed to letting Lulu use you.”
“But it worked,” I pointed out.
It had worked. Maybe better than any of us expected. Lulu had easily funneled our combined magic into the bracelets and it barely winded her.
“You were unconscious for over a day!” he snapped, getting up and pacing anxiously. “Do you know how scared I was?”
Okay, that part definitely hadn’t been planned. And I knew for a fact that Lulu felt like shit about it. She had apologized profusely when Dimitri brought her up to Remy’s room to see me yesterday afternoon.
She hadn’t meant to suck so much magic out of me. It just kind of … happened. And she looked completely gutted over i.
“I have stuff to do before we leave,” I tried weakly, starting to shift my legs to get out of bed.
“No,” Remy ordered brusquely. “The plane leaves in a few hours. Until then, stay in bed and rest. Katy and Larkin already packed for you.”
I knew that. They both had kept me company last night while Remy stayed downstairs with the council, making contingency plans in case he failed. Katy had done most of my packing while Larkin cuddled on the bed with me, resolved but more than a little anxious that she had been included in Damien’s deal.
“I’m not an invalid,” I snapped, running out of patience.
With the exception of going to the bathroom, which was a whole new level of mortification for me the first time Remy literally carried me to the toilet, I hadn’t left this bed in almost two days. I was over being an invalid.
I was really over the way Remy was acting.
The borderline terrified, ragged look in Remy’s eyes when I woke up would haunt me for years to come. But once I had woken up, and he knew I was okay, he’d started staying away.
And that didn’t work for me.
Just like staying in this bed while everyone else prepared for us to leave wasn’t working for me.
His eyes flashed as he glared at me. “Just … stay where I know you’re safe, okay? I have to handle a few more things before we leave for the airstrip.”
I pushed myself up higher. “Hold on, okay? Can you just talk to me for a second?”
His jaw clenched and he glanced at the door, almost … annoyed?
“Did I do something wrong here?” I asked helplessly. Last I checked, our plan had worked.
He sighed and tipped his head back, his throat working. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” I pressed, my frustration turning to worry.
“What do you want me to say, Skye? That I wasn’t scared as hell when you were unconscious? That it didn’t feel like I was back in that infirmary room at school, wondering if you would wake up?”
I twisted my hands together on my lap as he started pacing again.
Well, shit.
I hadn’t expected him to say that.
“That I spent more time worrying about you than focusing on a challenge that I’m not sure I can win?” He spun and faced me, and I could see the fear in his eyes. “A challenge that I bet your life and Larkin’s on? Not to mention Griffin and his pack.”
I held out a hand.
He sighed again, warily eyeing my hand.
“Either you come here, or I’m getting up to come to you.” I wasn’t above threatening my somewhat volatile mate in the middle of his outburst. “Your rules, remember? We talk shit out. We don’t walk away, and that’s exactly what you’ve been doing.”
That made him move. He joined me on his bed, this time his thigh brushing against mine.
“You’re right,” he said after a second. “I’m sorry.”
I grabbed one of his large hands with both of my smaller ones. “I’m here and I’m safe. I’m fine.”
His nostrils flared as he went to object.
“Okay, I’m a little more tired than usual,” I acquiesced. “But I need you to stop focusing on me and focus on you, Rem. The only way I’m not going to be okay is if you lose.”
He dipped his head and leaned forward, resting his forehead on my shoulder as I wrapped my arms around the wide expanse of his back. I felt his body shudder as I hugged him.
“I need you to focus on winning, Remy,” I whispered, stroking my hand along his spine. “Not just for me or Larkin, but for all of us. Damien can’t win.”
“I went to see my dad last night,” he admitted, pulling back.
My heart pinched with guilt. I hadn’t seen Gabe since I’d been home. Not that there had been much time. I’d spoken with him on the phone a few times when Remy had called to check on him, but I hadn’t physically gone to the med center in town.
“How is he?” I asked, my hand running down his arm.
“Good,” Remy replied, “but not totally back to normal. The doctor thinks in another week or two he’ll be himself again.”