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This would be a good time to say it back, but I think I might choke if I try, so I tap my throat. She leans toward the nightstand and picks up a cup, holding a straw to my lips so I can drink. I finish it, relishing the coolness on my throat, and when she puts the empty cup back, I speak.
“You don’t hate me?”
She cups my cheek and shakes her head. “I had to make it believable in case Ryker was watching me. I had to make him think I hated you. But I don’t, I could never—” She kisses me again, resting her forehead against mine. “I’ve been hating myself, thinking I might never have been able to explain.”
My chest seizes at the words, and I almost forget how to speak. “Silence, your dad—”
“Cleo explained everything,” she says, wiping her eyes. “You had a choice in your first kill, didn’t you? But you chose my dad.”
Yes, I did. We didn’t get to know the ins and outs of why a hit was out on someone, but my supervisor told me one thing—he was abusing his kid, badly.
That was all I needed to hear.
“You saved me. You did what I couldn’t.”
“Halle-fucking-lujah!” Looking behind Silence, I grin as Xavier appears. Tucked under his arm is a huge teddy bear holding a love heart, the words “wake the fuck up” embroidered into material. “No more bears!”
“No more bears!” Silence cheers, putting her arms in the air.
I look between them. “What’s with the bears?”
Xavier comes over to me and pinches my cheek. “We said we’d buy a bear every day you were asleep. Then it became a competition of who could buy the biggest. How you feeling?”
“Alive.”
“The bare minimum. Awesome.” He leans over and kisses Silence. “You said you were going home to sleep.”
“And now I’m glad I didn’t. I’m gonna go get someone to check him over.” Another kiss for me and my brother, and she scrambles off the bed and disappears from the room.
Xavier smiles down at me. “Welcome back.”
I grunt. “What happened?”
“Massive blood infection, dehydration, blah, blah, blah. Let’s talk about me.” He hops onto the edge of the bed. “Ask me how I’m doing.”
I roll my eyes. “How are you doing?”
“Fucking great. Ryker is dead.”
“He is?”
Xavier nods. “Our girl got him.”
Something lurches in my chest. Ryker said she’d killed Grant, too. She’ll have had her reasons, and we know she definitely had just cause to kill Ryker, but I never thought she was capable of it.
“It’s weird, right?” he says. “Knowing she’s killed people.”
I nod, brow furrowed. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. No change. Yale and I are keeping an eye on her, and she’s agreed to start seeing my therapist next week.”
That’s a relief, at least. Maybe we could all benefit from a few sessions. “Charlie?”
He winces. “He’s in bad books with the NYPD. We know he’s gone underground for a while, but we’ve not heard from him. Mercy got let off with community service. Apparently, her almost-squeaky-clean record kept her safe. She’s back at the Agency.”
A cheer from the doorway interrupts us. Yale walks in, holding an even bigger bear.
“No more bears!” He high-fives Xavier, and I laugh, despite the fact it hurts like hell to do so.
