Grace listened while the phone rang on the other end.
“Hey, Grace,” she said, sounding tired.
“Hi, how are you feeling?” Instantly, tears snuck up on Grace. She blinked them fast away while trying to swallow the lump of guilt wedged in her throat. Both were nearly impossible.
“My arm’s killing me. The doctors can’t cast it until Monday. It’s too swollen. But hey, the pain meds they have me on are great.” The medicated laugh was a painful shot across the bow of Grace’s heart. “How are you?” Emily asked, slicing through her guilty thoughts.
“Feeling physically well at the moment. My body hurt and so did my head earlier. I’ve got a huge goose egg.” Grace rubbed the sensitive spot with her right hand, wincing from the sharp, cutting pain.
“It’s sad the guy who hit us last night died,” Emily said, suddenly sounding remorseful.
“What?” Grace jolted upright. Her lungs didn’t want to work. The air crushed out of her in a long, drawn-out breath. “How do you know that?” She choked on the words.
“My mom and I saw it on the news this morning. They still don’t even know who he is. Can you imagine—” But Grace couldn’t hear through the underwater effect the loud whooshing in her ears caused. A purplish haze covered her sight and she thought she might faint. Her world started to tip as the reality of last night knocked her sideways. The Fallen had intended for her to die, and had almost killed her friends in the process. “Grace? Hello?”
“I’m sorry. It’s awful he died.” Her words were robotic. Empty. A tear ran down her cheek, but it didn’t fall for him. The fact someone had died last night had her already frayed nerves threatening to break. “How’s Tommy? What about Leah, do you know?” Grace asked rapidly, teetering on the edge of hysteria.
“Tommy’s fine. He’s got a raging headache, but he’s good. Leah was kept in the hospital overnight for observation, but was released this morning. I haven’t talked to her, though. My mom’s been in contact with her mom and yours, if you can believe it. I was floored when my mom said Laney stayed home with you.”
You and me both, Grace thought. “Yeah, I was a bit surprised. I’m so glad everyone’s okay.” The Fallen being dead made her glad. The thought of more coming frightened her, but thinking about one of them coming after someone she loved to get to her, completely terrified her. “Do you think Leah’s mom would care if I called?”
“The worse that can happen is she says to call later.” Emily yawned loudly. “Sorry, even though I have painkillers, I can’t sleep. My arm’s throbbing.”
“I’m so sorry, Em.” Another sob choked Grace, making it nearly impossible to breathe again. Her lungs painfully sawed the air in and back out.
“It wasn’t your fault, Grace. Stuff happens.”
If she only knew. “Well, I’m going to let you go. It sounds like you need to try to sleep.”
“Yeah, okay,” Emily said, yawning again. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Bye, Em.”
Staring at Emily’s picture on her cell phone, Grace let out a sob.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Quentin said softly as he came up behind her, touching her briefly on the shoulder before lowering himself to sit on the edge of the coffee table. He leaned toward her, resting his elbows on his knees as he stared into her eyes, his expression conveying his compassion.
Grace raised her tear-filled eyes. “It wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t in the car with them.” Tears spilled over her lower lids, blurring her view of Emily’s picture glowing from the cell phone she still gripped.
“Look at me.” Quentin lifted her face with a gentle finger. “It was my fault. It’s my job to keep you safe and I failed.”
She heard every word Quentin spoke, but couldn’t cling to them like he intended. Every one of her friends could have died—because of her, not him. Visions of caskets and grieving families had her pulse quickening. Worry festered in the center of her chest—circling and tearing at her until what rose forth was anger. With every beat of her heart, the anger pulsed stronger. No. In her head, she said it again. No. The word ricocheted like a war cry through her cerebral cortex until it owned her, heart and soul. Energy channeled through every inch of her body. A shiver chased behind it. Those she cared for and loved would not pay for what she was.