62
Stranded
Amanda
Talking wakes me up. My brain feels dopey with the pain medication I was given before I fell asleep.
Silk sheets and softness surround me. Where am I?
The conversation in a room nearby won’t let me fall back asleep. If they would shut up, that would be great.
“Everything is set up.”
Hurray. Hang up, strange voice.
“And the arrests?” Gabriel’s cold voice asks, prolonging this torture.
“Arrests? There won’t be any, Junior,” the stranger scoffs.
“I will deal with the stragglers, and our side of the bargain will be complete,” a deadened voice adds from the phone.
“Nice work in the manor, Heretic,” Jake pipes in happily.
“Did you find the other people involved?” The first voice asks tightly. “I’d like to know who fucked up my computer, and I’m pretty sure that whoever it was joined you at the manor.”
Uh oh. Someone else is cranky.
“No,” Shade’s deadly tone cuts the guy off. “And you’re dropping it. I’ll buy you a new one.”
“It got so overloaded it practically melted,” the guy grinds out through clenched teeth.
“The hard life of sitting on the bench,” Cade teases with a laugh.
“Fuck off. After this, we’re done with petty errands and bullshit.”
“Sounds good for you,” Jakes chimes in again. “Enjoy your retirement.”
“Yeah, yeah,” the voice grumbles.
A silence follows, broken up by Mikael.
“Was it Tera?”
“Of course, it was that little nerd,” Shade scoffs. “And none of you are going to say shit about it. She’s convinced Amanda is a superhero and she just fulfilled her lifelong dream of being the best sidekick on Earth. Besides, Asher is pissed, and she’s basically been grounded until this whole thing is wrapped up.”
She melted a guy’s computer for me? I love that woman. Sight unseen, she's the best person I’ve ever known. I’m not telling her about that computer either. Whatever that asshole did, he doesn’t deserve an apology letter.
“Well, this kind of ties up all the loose ends,” Ace mutters. He doesn’t sound happy about it.
“Everyone is on an enemy list and about to be executed. The population will replenish in no time. Plus, the sun is out,” Jake sighs happily.
“And the victims?” Gabriel’s voice is a wash of ice over their happiness.
“Amanda had everything set up,” Shade comments absently. “Everyone is being taken care of. Families have been contacted, and some are being released from the hospital to go through detox. There’s enough money left that they’ll be well off for the rest of their lives.”
“Good,” Gabriel lets out a tight breath of relief.
“I’m out. Wedding planning calls.”
Shade sounds so smug about it that I have to hold back my laugh.
“Shade,” Gabriel calls, his tone softening.
“What?” He snaps back.
“Thank you. For everything.”
I’m proud of the fact that Gabriel doesn’t hesitate to say it.
“Whatever.” The dismissive comment is made in a tense voice before Shade’s throat clears. “This Saturday. Wedding. Wear a suit.”
“I’ll be there.”
A door closes softly, and people loudly shift around the room.
“We do have one issue,” Mikael says so softly I barely hear it.
I can’t stand it any longer.
“Can you guys shut the fuck up so I can go back to sleep?” I yell, squeezing my eyes tight in frustration.
A lot of muttering I can’t make sense of follows. It’s quiet enough that it becomes background noise. I’m almost asleep again when the bed dips behind me.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” I mutter in resignation. “I'm hurt, tired, and cranky as fuck. Save yourself and walk away.”
“No,” Gabriel whispers. A body settles along my back as an arm carefully slides under the covers to wrap around my waist.
“Oh, it’s you. I guess I should have said run away. That’s more your forte.” The bitter grumble has me hunching defensively. Unfortunately, it makes my butt press against him.
“You did the same,” his aggravated tone amps my anger up. This fucker has no right to be pissed off. I’m the reigning champ of rage in this bed. He can’t have my crown.
“You wanted me to wait around for whatever bullshit comment you were going to make? If I grossed you out that much, why did you bother touching me? Are you that desperate to have your pick-me cries answered? Don’t answer that. It was rhetorical.”
“You are unbelievable.”
“You’re a dick,” I snap back.
“I wasn’t grossed out. I was scared!”
“You big fucking baby,” I sputter out in disbelief. “That’s what you’re going with? You were overwhelmed with feels ?”
“I was ,” he grits out. “Heaven forbid I have any dignity left with you.”
“Dignity? More like the popsicle that’s lodged in your ass to prop you up is sliding out. What are you, a weak-kneed virgin after her first time? Am I supposed to take responsibility now?”
“You’re not even making sense.”
“I’m on pain meds, asshole. You get what you get.”
The heavy, frustrated sigh he lets out blows my hair over my face.
I shove it back angrily. “Can you be annoying somewhere else?”
“No.”
“Figures. From one torture to another.”
“Shut the fuck up and go back to sleep,” he snaps, finally at his wit's end.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you,” I wheedle just to be perverse. “For me to not call you out on your nonstop bullshit parade.”
The arm slowly draws away from my body, and he leans back a bare inch. I catch sight of a pillow slowly coming from behind me to hang over my face.
“If you suffocate me, you better finish it. Otherwise, it’s dentures for you. How much do you like your rich kid, pearly teeth?”
The pillow gets flung off the bed, and the mattress shakes from the vehemence.
“I don’t want to fight,” he defends in agitation.
“Uh, you crawled into this bed despite the warnings. This is on you, not me.”
“What do you want from me, Mana?” His arm wraps around me again to hold me tight. “I’ll give you anything to make up for what I did. Money. Self-respect, apparently. I’ll grovel. Anything . Just stop hating me.”
He waits, his body tense as he braces for whatever I might say.
I don’t hate him. I wish I could right now. Simply so I can get some rest. Everything is over, according to them, and I’d like to bask in it. Maybe do a fist pump and flip off Blake’s body as it lowers into the ground. I blame my mother for that one.
“I killed for you.”
His whispered guilt trip comes out shaky.
I understand how he feels. It’s something you don’t come back from with a smile. It’s soul-crushing to know you’ve gone to that length just to preserve yourself or someone else. Especially when he’s been tormented by his father for his inaction before.
I swallow hard as images of the things I did haunt me. My breaths hitch, and getting therapy feels like a really good call right now. Until then…
My hand moves to cover his under the blanket. He spreads his fingers, intertwining them with mine.
“We’ll deal with it together,” I mutter in defeat. I hate the fact that this pathetic little attempt at a guilt trip is working.
“You didn’t think I would care,” he presses his forehead against my shoulder. “If I could have gone back in time, I would have stayed home with you.”
“I want you to remember that when you go to sleep at night,” I grumble back without mercy.
“I will,” he assures me darkly.
“Good.”
“What else?” His voice has gone tight.
I let out a ragged sigh. “I want to sleep. A day off that doesn’t include being fired. Maybe a vacation. I want to see my parents. Have somebody call them and let them know I’m ok. Then I want pancakes. Now, why does my butt cheek hurt? I wasn’t hit there.” I try to untangle my fingers to touch the spot, but Gabriel doesn’t let go.
“Jake put a tracker on you.”
My body sags into the bed.
“Of course he did,” I sigh in resignation.
“I love you, Mana-chan.”
I blink my eyes open in surprise. He sounds like the words were pulled out of him via torture.
Good.
“And someday, you will say that without sounding like you’re getting an anal probe.”
“God damn it,” he mutters with a weak laugh. “You could at least say it back.”
“Let me sleep on it,” I taunt, a grin slowly spreading. I stop that shit immediately as several parts of my face scream out in protest.
“Fine,” he grumbles.
I wait several minutes. Until his body sags in the bed and his breathing goes even.
“I love you too,” I whisper helplessly.
A light snuffle comes from behind me before a sleepy, satisfied voice mutters, “I heard that.”