Helpless (Steel Demons MC #5) - Crystal Ash Page 0,74

eyes. Neither one one of us seemed eager to sleep, so he just watched over Shadow while I paced around the room.

“Hieroglyphics!” I blurted out after an exhausting, silent few hours.

“Hm?”

“The tattoo on his thigh,” I said. “I undressed him for bed and saw symbols inked there. They looked familiar, but I didn’t know from where. Now I remember seeing them in an ancient history class in high school, years ago.”

Grudge smiled wolfishly. He didn’t have to gesture or write anything down for me to know what he was thinking.

“I was not getting up to anything!” I told him. “He needed to rest and still had pants and shoes on.”

The silent man chuckled and held his hands up in a defensive posture.

“I like you guys,” I blurted out next. I was so exhausted, but not allowing myself to sleep made my mouth seem to disconnect from my brain like I was drunk. “The Sons are good allies. You saved us out there, and you guys have never steered the Steel Demons wrong. So, thank you.”

Grudge glanced down at the floor, a smile still on his lips. He pulled out his notepad and quickly scribbled out, Feeling’s mutual. Feel bad S got hurt, though.

“Nobody could have seen those fucking harpoon arrows coming,” I told him. “And you cut him free. So, thank you for that. I’ll make sure Reaper knows you saved one of us.”

It’s what friends do.

I gave his arm a friendly squeeze and went back to my worried pacing.

Freyja climbed in through the window at some point during the night and curled up in the bed next to Shadow. Her presence seemed to calm his fitful tossing, turning, and mumbling, but his fever never came down past 100.

I can help you put him under the shower, Grudge told me as dawn started creeping through the windows.

“Maybe, but,” I rubbed my forehead, well past exhausted at this point, “it’s not super high anymore so it’s not life-threatening. The fever serves a purpose, it’s trying to fight the infection in his body. If we keep bringing it down, the infection could run rampant. My instinct is to let it run, but…”

Something else nagged at me. My gut was trying to tell me something, I just didn’t know what.

Shadow rolled to his side, seeking a cool spot on the sweat-soaked sheets. Taking a seat on the bed, I looked at his back for the hundredth time that night, noting the purple bruise-like discoloration spreading out from his wounds.

“I’m sorry, love.” The endearment slipped out again while I touched his shoulder, and I seriously considered brushing a kiss along the scar running under my hand. “I don’t know what to give you to help you.”

It’s sepsis.

That word clicked into the knowledge in my head like a puzzle piece. Freyja stared at me from the other side of him, but I couldn’t be sure that was her voice. It felt like my own, but I was too tired to pay attention.

Even so, I knew what to do now.

I headed for the door and went out into the hallway. Picking the door on my left at random, I knocked with a heavy fist.

“Hold on!” T-Bone’s gravelly voice called from the other side.

I pounded again. There was no time to wait. I heard the latch unlock, and pushed the door open just as he zipped himself into a pair of jeans. A blond service girl in the bed covered her chest with a sheet. Next to her, a naked Dyno slammed a pillow over his lap.

“Uh. Morning, Mari.” He smoothed his hands over the pillow in an attempt to look casual.

I lifted an eyebrow at T-Bone in question.

“What?” he responded. “We like variety sometimes.”

I shrugged. I thought women weren’t their type, but it was none of my business. The girl didn’t look mistreated, at least. On the contrary, she was panting slightly with dreamy, dilated eyes. Apparently, they’d been in the middle of something.

“How far is Four Corners from here?” I asked.

“Um.” T-Bone scrubbed a hand down his face, shifting his thinking to the correct head. “Five-hour ride. Maybe four if we push it.”

“I need you guys to ride back and bring some supplies here for me. I’ll give you a list. My guys will know where my stuff is and what’s what.”

T-Bone shook his head. “We’re not leaving without you. If Reaper doesn’t have eyes on you, I’m as good as dead.”

“Shadow isn’t fit to travel and I’m not leaving him.” I crossed my arms