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Doc moved to the other side of the bed, checking the machines that monitored Liam’s weakened vitals, and shook his head. No change.

Jericho’s chest tightened. He slid his arms beneath Alex’s sleeping form. “I’ll take her back to her room.” Though he tried not to jostle her, she uttered a quiet noise of discomfort.

Once settled, she tucked her face into the curve of his neck in a trusting manner. Her body was soft with sleep, and her feminine scent filled his lungs. Sweet, inviting, like summer sun and strawberries. To his annoyance, he found his grip on her gentling.

He carried her across the room with sharp strides. Colin held the door open, for once, wisely keeping his big mouth shut.

* * *

Jostlingmovement stirred Alex from a deep sleep. A groan of protest rose in her throat, and she clung to oblivion with both hands. Pain lingered in the periphery, waiting to pounce once she woke.No, not yet. Five more minutes.

She burrowed her nose into the warmth beneath her cheek. A familiar tingle ran across her nerve endings, and her tension eased.Liam.

Through the heat of his skin, she sensed their connection—the Chosen bond. It wrapped around her like a blanket. Still, anxiety niggled at her subconscious.He feels different. Closed off. His emotions an icy wasteland.Why was Liam so lackluster and remote?

Liam’s footsteps slowed, and she cringed when he laid her on a bed. Her aching shoulder pushed all traces of sleep from her mind, reality slapping her in the face.

Wait. Liam was injured and unconscious, so who…?

Her eyes shot open. “Jericho?”

She scooted backward, the short blue gown making for an awkward retreat. Jericho’s gaze slid over her exposed limbs. Something sparked in his eyes that she failed to interpret. Then, his countenance darkened, and he flipped the blanket over her.

With her good hand, she dragged the covering up to her neck. “What are you doing here? I thought you were… Uh, never mind.” Her brain turned to mush, and her mouth went dry. Had he always been this tall?

Seconds ago, she’d been cuddled against that broad, muscular chest. The way he’d carried her had almost been…gentle. There was a moment before she fully woke when she’d felt safe in his arms. Funny how fast that sense of security had vanished.

“Are you here to check on Liam?” she asked, battling the pharmaceutical fog in her head.

“Actually, I stopped to check onyou, onlyyouwere missing,” he said, his tone approaching a growl.

Checking on her in a friendly way orin a“did she swipe the silverware”way? She offered him a shaky smile on the off-chance it was the former. “I didn’t mean to worry anyone. I just needed to see him.”

Jericho folded his arms, pinning her with a stern look.

Apparently, it was the latter. Her hackles rose. Not even her own father had ever looked at her like that.

“You shouldn’t have left your room.”

After everything she’d been through, the last thing she needed was to be lectured like a child. “Well, I wouldn’t have gone alone if Doc had simply taken me to Liam.”

Jericho narrowed his eyes. “You’re weak and injured. You disobeyed Doc Randall, putting your health and safety at risk. From now on, you’ll do as the doctor orders.”

The stern command straightened her spine. Sure, he was Liam’s friend, but that didn’t give him the right to tell her what to do. “Not if he tries to keep me from Liam,” she said without breaking eye contact, though her heart did double time in her chest.

“Alex…” Her name left his lips in the form of a warning.

She poked her finger at him. “Look, there is no way I’m going to lie here when Liam needs me. You havenoidea what that man has done for me. I’d risk anything for him.”Anything.

This wasn’t a time for keeping secrets. Perhaps if he understood, Jericho would help.

Or not.

Liam warned her about revealing what she was to Jericho, saying he was a male of great honor, devoted to upholding the Council law. However, since she’d bled all over Liam’s sofa, odds were good Jericho already knew.

“I’m not human. I’m faerie,” she blurted in a rush, bracing for the part where he looked at her as though she were an abomination.

He arched a brow, his shielded expression revealing little. “You’d tell me this, knowing the law requires me to report you to the Council?”