Everything in me turned to ice when I saw the photo of Lorraine and Heba. Not just some of Val's people gone rogue, but her daughter and niece. Lorraine would never cross her mother. Ever. She only obeyed. So if Lorraine was in on the scam, so was Val.
It seemed I blinked and then we were at the hospital, in a private room, and a man I remembered as Cal's brother threatened me. The monster mojo lashed out, silenced him. Silenced some of the pain of the morning. Betrayed. Twice betrayed.
And then Benedict, eyes wide as he edged away from me, said, "Medusa," as if somehow I'd betrayed him too.
Guilt crushed me and cold surged out, wanted to making everything in the world ice and stone so nothing else would warm my heart and blood and soul. Deaden feelings so I would never be hurt again. Benedict swayed back, and for the first time I saw real fear in his eyes. Even when he teased, I knew he didn't fear me. I knew he believed me better than I really was.
I missed that.
But first there was the matter of Cal Armstrong. I turned my attention to his brother, Harrison, and willed some of the ice into my words. "Start talking."
Only vile cursing spilled forth, until I said, "This will wear off and you'll be able to walk again. I can just as easily make it permanent."
"Fuck off," he spat. "He told me that bitch wanted to elope. She said to meet at Aaron's and they'd get money and a head-start. He asked me to drive him, drop him off. So one of the pack cars wouldn't be left on Evershaw's territory." His eyes rimmed with red and he looked away. "Four hyenas showed up. They grabbed him, dragged him away before I could help him. By the time I reached him, he looked like that," and the man jerked his chin at Cal, swollen and bloodied and bruised.
The ice made it difficult to swallow. I looked at Cal, counted the slow, uneven beeps of a heart monitor. "Why isn't he healing?"
"The bitch gave him something so he couldn't." Harrison snarled a terrible angry, grieving sound. "She wanted him to suffer. They left him to die in the cold on the wolves' territory."
"Is he —"
"Braindead," he said. Bitterness rolled off him and nearly knocked me back. "We're only waiting for the extended pack to arrive so we can bury him."
I looked at Cal and some of the ice around my eyes cracked. I'd liked him. A lot. He'd been nice to me when he didn't have to be, even when no one else was around. Warmth trickled down my cheek. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry doesn't avenge my brother." Harrison growled as he struggled to move, but his feet and legs remained stone.
"After you bury him," Benedict said, slow and careful. "Your people will go after the hyenas?"
"Wouldn't you?" The jackal gestured at his brother's broken body.
"I left the money at Aaron's," I said. The words felt heavy and slow, landing with greater weight than anything I'd ever said before. "Lacey asked me to set it up so she and Cal would have money to start their life together. The money disappeared. The hyenas took it, the same ones who attacked Cal. And now Val blames me. If I don't have the money and Lacey back to her tonight, I'll pay for both."
"My brother is dying." Harrison fixed me with a wintry look. "I don't give a fuck about your problems."
"You should," I said. "Because if Val set this up to kill me and split Cal and Lacey up, then she's probably ready for a war with the jackals and all of your people will end up right there," and I pointed at poor Cal. My voice shook as badly as my hand. "So get your shit together, Harrison. If Lacey was in on it too, I'm surprised you're not already dead. If we can't work together, at least help me."
The jackal bared his teeth at me and tensed, attention going to the open door and some of the curious nurses and passersby who peeked in. Benedict shut the door but gave me a look like maybe he wanted to be on the other side of it, too. My heart cracked and splintered, falling the rest of the way to my feet. But the lawyer only said, "We should get going."
"Get out of here," Harrison said. "And if you see that bitch again, tell her I'm coming for her."
"Stay away from her." I backed away toward the door, wishing I could say good-bye to Cal without losing the rest of my composure. "If she was part of this, she's mine. If she wasn't — anyone who touches her will end up a statue in my garden."
My lungs seized up and all the air went out of the room as I shoved past Benedict and into the hall, past the crowd on onlookers and at least one concerned nurse, and headed for the stairwell. I made it down one flight before my legs gave out and I collapsed onto the stairs, all the feeling draining out of me. Maybe if I sat there long enough, Val wouldn't look for me. Cal would wake up. Lacey would call to say it was a fucked up joke. Everything would go back to normal. Benedict would forget about me and go back his rich brothers. I could go back to staying at Ruby's bar when I got evicted from my apartment for being late with the rent again.
I covered my face and tried to breathe.
Clothing rustled behind me and the tap-tap-tap of Benedict's expensive shoes interrupted my panic, and then the warm bulk of his body eased onto the stair next to me. Something deep inside me eased, uncoiled. The tension faded. Some of the cold rage even thawed to lukewarm disgruntlement, and suddenly the world didn't feel so hopeless. I took a deep breath.
"Eloise," he said, then paused. I braced for the bad news, the condemnation for what I'd done and the lawyer-ese to tell me to stay the hell away from his family. Instead, his arm looped around my shoulders and drew me close to his side. He sighed. His cheek rested against the top of my head, and the hair-snakes moved to twine around him. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" My voice cracked and I wiped at my cheeks, horrified to find tears.
"For a lot of things." Benedict rubbed my upper arm, both of us staring at the blank wall ahead of us. "That Cal is dying, that Val probably set you up, that your friend might have been part of it."
I turned my face away so he wouldn't see, and wondered where my sunglasses were.
His deep breath jostled me a little, even more as he pulled me close and kissed the top of my head. "And I'm sorry for what I said, and for stepping back. That wasn't right, and I didn't mean it."
Of course he did. They always did. I remained rigid, unbending, even as he tried to comfort me. Waiting for the cold and ice to return so I could paralyze him and get on with my miserable, monstery existence. But nothing happened except a crack in the ice, more thawing. He still made me feel better, even when I wanted to hate him. Even when it would have been easier to run away.
Benedict knocked some of my hair out of his face and tried to rest his forehead against mine. "So here's the plan, at least from where I sit. If we can get your freaking hair under control, we get out of here before the rest of the jackals show up. We get somewhere safe to rest and eat and decide how we're going to deal with Val. Then we walk into this thing with clear minds, and we make sure she never bothers you again."
My heartbeat echoed in my ears with a dull thumping, slow and distant. We. He said 'we.' Not 'you.' I blinked, searching for a response, but when nothing came to mind, I waited.
He scowled and pushed another braid off his cheek, beginning to bat them away like an overzealous cat. "My apartment isn't far from here. There's still another ten hours or so until we meet with Val, right? Let's go get some food."
"Why are you so nice to me?" The words slipped out even though I meant to thank him and say I didn't need any more help, that I would face Val alone even if it turned me to ice forever.
Benedict pushed to his feet and descended a few stairs, until we were face-to-face. His eyes locked with mine, and not even a hint of trepidation showed in his expression. As if he weren't staring a gorgon in the eyes. "A lot of reasons, Eloise, but mostly because you deserve for people to be nice to you. Isn't that enough?" He held out a hand to help me up.
I couldn't move. "Are you really going with me to see Val?"
"No," he said, and my heart sank. Until he bent down so we were nose-to-nose, and he breathed, "I'm going with you to scare the fucking life out of Val and her daughters, so none of them bother you ever again." His lips pressed to mine and his hand slid into my hair, the kiss deepening as a searing heat burned through the cold in my heart. My hands lifted and slid into his hair, drawing him closer as his tongue teased mine and my heart jumped. Heat sparked through every inch of me but collected low in my stomach. Benedict pulled away suddenly, so suddenly I gaped at him, mouth open and hungry for his. He tapped his chin. "Although I suppose we have to see Val in order to —"
"Someone's got jokes," I said under my breath as I shoved to my feet and tried to knock him down the rest of the stairs. My pulse raced in my ears and dizzy stars spotted my vision. "You're not as funny as —"
He gripped my waist with sudden force and lifted me, spun me, pinned me against the rough concrete wall. I gasped, searching his face for the threat, but Benedict's gold eyes devoured me and then his mouth did as well. He nipped my chin, behind my ear, down my throat until I slid boneless against the wall and would have fallen if not for his thigh, wedged between mine.
A deep rumble started in his chest, almost a purr, as his palm slid under my sweater and up my ribs. He kissed me hard, then broke contact to study me as my chest heaved. "I think I'm funny."
His fingers grazed a heated trail across my breasts, searching for my nipples under the sweater, and I made an indecent noise as I wriggled and tugged on his shirt. Benedict adjusted his leg, pressed between mine, and hiked me up higher on his thigh. "Don't you think I'm funny, Eloise?"
"F-funny," I gasped, head tilting back as he traced the waist of my jeans, played with the button and belt loops. I closed my eyes. "Funny isn't your gift."
"Oh," he said, all grumbly and deep. "Then what is my gift, babe?"
My insides clenched and I melted against him, holding on to his shoulders and using him as a furnace and a convenient wall. I wanted him naked, in a bed. With no expectations between us other than passion. Even if Val tried to kill me. I touched his face, searching those radiant golden eyes for a hint of our future. "Driving me to your apartment seems like a gift."
"That might be a place to find my gift," he said. Benedict took my earlobe in his teeth and nibbled, then muttered a curse and jerked back. I blinked, dazed with the thought of going back to his apartment and tangling our limbs together for the rest of the afternoon, and he scowled as he waved his hands around my head. "But first we're going to get your hair under control, because I want to taste every inch of your body and not have your braids get in the way."
I smiled, trying to gather the hair back, but wasn't sure how to tell him the hair wasn't acting up because of the earlier threats and anger. No, the hair only got grabby when it found someone it liked. Someone we liked. Someone I really loved.
I might be in serious trouble, but so was he.