CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CLOVER
Raina and I arrived back at her house less than ten minutes before the Gods showed up. As soon as Havoc walked in the door, he shook a finger in her face.
“Did you really think you could go to the Saints’ party and I wouldn’t know about it? I track your every move, Bad Girl.”
“We weren’t trying to hide anything.” She slapped his finger away. “I needed a way to take Clover’s mind off things. I’d say it worked. She threw a punch at a girl for bad mouthing Daire. It was glorious. You should’ve seen it.”
Havoc glanced at me with a raised brow, like he didn’t believe I’d be capable of such a thing. I sure was. My swollen and throbbing knuckles proved it. When Cash and Daire didn’t appear behind him, I started to worry.
“Where is Daire anyway?” I asked, afraid of the answer.
Knight offered me a sympathetic smile. “At the hospital with Cash and Blaze. Come on. I’ll give you a ride over there.”
“You guys found Blaze? Is he okay?” That was probably a stupid question. If he was okay, they wouldn’t be at the hospital.
“He’s in pretty bad shape,” Knight said, holding the front door open for me. “But he’s alive. We better get going. They asked me to bring you to them.”
Raina pulled me into a hug. “He’ll be okay, Clover. Deep breaths. You look like you’re going to pass out. Call me when you have some news.”
I nodded, trying to fight back the tears that threatened to fill my eyes. Following Knight from the house, I robotically got into his Jeep and buckled my seatbelt. I kept telling myself that this was good. We got Blaze back. Everyone made it out alive.
And yet, I couldn’t shake the fear that gripped me. How bad was it if Blaze needed medical care? It had to be bad if Daire and Cash hadn’t come for me themselves.
Knight glanced over at a me a few times as he drove. Finally, he said, “I’m sure he’ll be fine. He’s a tough guy. A lot of people would have died from what he went through. Blaze was still holding on. He’ll pull through.”
Knowing that Knight didn’t really give a shit about Blaze or any of the Angels, I appreciated his attempt to make me feel better. “Thanks, Knight. I hope you’re right.”
Most of the drive to the hospital was spent in silence. I felt comfortable with Knight though. He was the least manic of Raina’s men, at least as far as I knew. When we pulled up in the drop off zone, he gave me a gentle pat on the shoulder.
I thanked him for the ride, making sure I had my purse as I got out of the Jeep. Peering up at the large building, a shiver rolled through me. I pulled out my phone to text Cash, asking him to meet me so I didn’t have to wander through the building alone.
I paced in the entryway, trying to focus on my breathing instead of the many clinical sound and smells that assaulted me. Panic threatened to engulf me. Maybe I couldn’t do this. The thought of seeing Blaze broken and fighting for his life made my mouth dry and my palms sweaty.
“Hey, Sunshine.” Cash’s voice came from behind me. He pulled me into his arms, burying his face in my hair. “I’m so fucking happy to see you. We need you right now. Especially Blaze.”
“How bad is it?” I asked as he took my hand and led me over to a bank of elevators.
“We’re not sure yet. Still waiting on the doctors to run some tests and let us know. He was barely conscious when we found him.” Cash tightly gripped my hand so hard it started to hurt.
We went up a few floors and then Cash pulled me out of the elevator. The bright fluorescent lights were harsh, forcing me to stare at the floor as we walked. We passed a nurses’ station and turned a corner where we found Daire pacing the floor next to a handful of chairs. He glanced up as we approached.
Daire’s expression went through several emotions. Worry. Relief. Irritation.
“What the hell were you doing at the Saints’ house?” he asked when we’d joined him. “Did you think I wouldn’t find out about that?”
If circumstances hadn’t been so dire, I’d have laughed. He’d fume if he knew how much he sounded like Havoc.
“Raina thought stopping by their party would help me stop worrying. It didn’t.” I raised my bruised hand, studying the knuckles. They were red and puffy. Hitting someone in the face hurt a lot more than I’d thought it would.
Daire took my hand, eyeing my bruised knuckles. “What happened here?”
“I, uh, I hit someone.” I tried to shrug it off, hoping he wouldn’t press me further. “It was nothing. Tell me about Blaze.”
“We don’t know anything about Blaze yet. Tell me what happened to your hand. Who did you hit?” Daire fixed me with a serious stare.
“I don’t know her name. Some blonde girl at the party. She was talking shit about you. It kind of set me off, I guess.” My cheeks reddened under the intensity of his stare.
“Really?” A small smile tugged at Daire’s lips. “You hit someone because of me? What did she say?”
I gave him a playful shove. “Stop. It doesn’t matter. She was a jerk.”
“Tell me.” He jabbed me in the ribs, making me squeal when he hit my ticklish spot.
He wasn’t going to let up, so I said, “She called you a freak, among other things. It kind of pissed me off.”
Daire gently rubbed a thumb over my swollen knuckles. “Apparently. I’m surprised you didn’t join in with her. I can’t believe you came to my defense.”
Yeah, I understood why he’d feel that way. I wasn’t sure if I recalled a time when Daire had touched me as gently as he was now.
“Well, maybe you are a bit of a freak sometimes,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “But you’re my freak.”
Daire shocked me further by pulling me into his arms, holding me tight against him while resting his cheek on the top of my head. A man with a mop and bucket passed us while a woman on the intercom called a doctor to a specific room. The hustle and bustle of the hospital surrounded us. In that moment, wrapped up in Daire, I was able to close my eyes for just a moment and tune it all out.
“Do either of you want anything from the vending machine or the cafeteria?” Cash asked. “I can’t sit here and wait. I need to move around. A coffee might be good right now. How about you two?”
Daire sat down on one of the chairs, pulling me down on the chair next to him. “Yeah, coffee sounds good. Grab me a muffin or something if you find one.”
The thought of coffee made my stomach turn. I wasn’t in the right headspace for a stimulant right now.
“A muffin sounds good,” I added. “Maybe just some water for me though. Or an iced tea from the vending machine.”
“Sounds good.” Cash started to walk away, pausing to turn back and say, “Call or text my phone if you hear anything.”
We sat there while the time crawled. Cash took his sweet time finding some snacks, and he still returned before we’d heard anything about Blaze. The wait was driving me crazy.
I nibbled a chocolate chip muffin, doing my best to get it down. My appetite hadn’t been good lately. The stress was getting to me.
“Eat that thing,” Daire said when he saw me set the muffin aside. “You can’t starve, Clover. I know it’s hard, but the last thing I need right now is to worry about you too.”
The thought of Daire worrying about me filled me with warmth. He didn’t seem like the type to worry. Seeing him sitting here restlessly waiting on news about Blaze proved otherwise. Not wanting to add to that, I picked up the muffin and tried again.
Finally, a doctor came to speak with us. It was almost three in the morning.
“You’re Blaze Bixby’s friends?” The doctor waited for us to confirm before continuing. “Has his family been notified about his admittance tonight?”
“Yes,” Cash confirmed. “They live a few hours away. They can’t make it tonight.”
I had no idea if that was true or not. Knowing Blaze, he wouldn’t want his family hearing about this unless he was at death’s door.
“We’re his family. Tell us how he’s doing.” Daire’s tone left no room for argument.
The doctor studied him a moment before saying, “He’s been badly injured. Thankfully, there’s no internal bleeding, although he does have some bruised organs, cracked ribs, and a concussion. He’s awake now and asking to see you. Since he needs his rest, I ask that you don’t stay more than a few minutes. We’ll been keeping him for at least twenty-four hours for observation.”
The doctor went on about criminal activity and how we should share anything we know with the police. Cash played the yes man, agreeing to anything he said so we could finally see Blaze. We were then given a room number and another warning about not staying too long.
My heart leapt into my throat as we entered Blaze’s room. They’d stuck him in a room with a few other people, each separated by a curtain drawn between the beds. We found him at the back of the room next to the window.
I bit back a small shriek at the sight of him. My brain refused to accept what my eyes were seeing.
Blaze’s face was a mess of cuts and bruises. There was more black and blue skin than untouched. His nose was swollen twice its size. One eye was nearly swollen shut, the other bright red with broken blood vessels. Stitches held his eyebrow together. The bruises disappeared beneath the hospital gown he wore. An IV in the back of his hand fed him fluids and meds. My gaze was drawn to the bandage on his hand where his missing finger had once been.
I stood there frozen, staring at him with a lump in my throat. When I began to feel lightheaded, I realized that I’d stopped breathing. It took effort to make my lungs move, to suck in the sterile scents all around me.
“Jesus Christ, you look like shit.” Daire approached the bed, looking Blaze over.
“Oh really? Well, I feel fucking spectacular.” Blaze’s attempt at humor surprised me. He rolled his eyes, wincing when he tried for a half-assed smile. The gash on his lip must have hurt. “Tell me you got them all.”
Cash and Daire exchanged a look. “Sorry, bro,” Cash said. “We nailed the rest but Brady got away. We won’t stop looking for him until we find him. He’d not getting away with this.”
Blaze’s head fell back against the pillow in defeat. “Fuck. I owe that cocksucker some serious pain.”
“And you’ll get your chance to make him suffer. I won’t settle for less.” A muscle in Daire’s jaw twitched as he stared down at Blaze. Seeing his friend like this was harder for him than he’d ever put into words.
Holding a weak hand out to me, Blaze said, “Come here, Rainbow. God, I need to feel your touch right now. For a while there, I thought I’d never see you again.”
Forcing my feet to move, I went to his bedside, carefully putting my hand in his. “I’m so sorry this happened to you, Blaze. I was so worried.”
With a pained groan, he folded me in against him, wrapping an arm around my back as he pulled me close. “I’m just glad you’re okay. All that matters is that Brady didn’t get his hands on you.”
Hyperaware of hurting him, I did my best to hug him without exerting any pressure. He groaned a little but didn’t release me. When he stroked a hand through my hair, I rested my head on his shoulder.
My body shook as I fought against the tears that filled my eyes. Losing the battle, they slipped down my face to drip from my chin. I’d thought surely Brady would kill him. That we’d never discover what we might have together if we were parted so soon. Relief left me breathless.
“Don’t cry, Clover. I’m all right. Really. It will take a lot more than a few days of torture to kill me.” Blaze pressed a pained kiss to the top of my head. “Needing to get back to you kept me going. You helped pull me through.”
I swiped a hand through my tears, wiping them away as I straightened up. “It’s been a long few days. I can’t imagine how hard it was for you.”
“No worries, Dollface. I feel better just seeing your pretty face.” Blaze dragged a thumb through my tears. The man had his ass beat for days and he was trying to make me feel better. Maybe there was more to Blaze than I’d realized.
A nurse poked her head through the gap in the curtain. “Sorry, folks. Time to leave. Our patient needs his rest. You can come back in the morning.”
I didn’t want to leave Blaze. That hadn’t been nearly enough time. His touch was weak, his eyes heavy with exhaustion. He needed some quality sleep.
“We’ll be back soon,” I promised, kissing his bruised cheek. “Try to rest.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Cash said, patting Blaze’s shoulder. “I’ll be down the hall in the waiting area. These two can go home and sleep. I’ll switch out with them in the morning.”
Blaze tried to shake his head, wincing from the pain. “It’s cool, dude. You should go too. I’ll be fine.”
“Not happening. Someone needs to stay.” Cash wouldn’t be convinced otherwise. “We’re family. It’s what we do.”
“Are you sure you want to hang around here?” Daire asked when we were back in the waiting area. “We should all go and get some sleep. We’ll come back as soon as visiting hours start.”
Cash shook his head, running a hand through his mohawk. “You two go ahead. I’ll stay. I don’t feel right leaving him here alone.”
His dedication to Blaze melted my heart. A lot could be said about the Angels, but nobody could ever say they weren’t loyal to each other. Their bond was beautiful.
“It’s your call. Let me know if anything changes or you need us to come back.” Patting Cash on the back, Daire took my hand and together we left the building.
His free hand went to the gun tucked into his waistband beneath his t-shirt. Daire scanned the parking lot as we went to the car. He then also checked in, around, and under the car. Satisfied that everything was safe, he opened my door for me before going around to his side.
A long, heavy breath left Daire once he sat behind the wheel. He froze there for a minute, staring straight ahead at the lot filled with cars. A strange energy came over him. Like he was ready to kill.
“Daire?” I asked softly. “Are you okay?”
He glanced over at me, the parking lot light reflecting off his green eyes. “Peachy, Little Unicorn. Just struggling with some pent up rage. I’ve never wanted to kill someone as bad as I want to kill Brady Rollins.”
I nodded, not knowing what to say or do to help. Daire’s feelings were understandable. I wanted Brady to die too. As long as he was running free, he may become a threat again. After what he’d done to Blaze, we couldn’t give him another chance to hurt us.
We drove through the near empty city streets on our way back to the house. I expected it would feel so empty without both Blaze and Cash. Daire’s strong silence created a heaviness in the car that weighed me down. He watched the road, but his actions were automatic, like he ran on autopilot.
When he suddenly pulled over outside one of the city’s large cemeteries, I glanced over at him with a brow raised. “Why are we stopping?”
Daire gripped the wheel, his knuckles tense and white. “I need you to do something for me, Clover.”
Wary of the strange lilt to his voice, I asked, “What?”
He nodded toward the cemetery. His tone dropped lower when he said, “I need you to run.”