Page 37 of A Token of Blood and Betrayal (Kennedy Rain #4)

I woke up angry.

Blake had warned me what would happen when the pack stopped patrolling the territory around The Rain.

A few wolves had already shown up on our doorstep, demanding rooms. I’d allowed them to stay, and word of that likely spread.

Since Lehr did absolutely nothing to discourage it, any malicious or deranged werewolf could run around with no restrictions.

Lehr was responsible for this.

The thought gave me the power to open my eyes.

It took some time to focus, to realize I was in the master bedroom but in my own bed, not my parents.

Someone had cleaned away the blood and grime from my skin and undoubtedly changed my clothes because what I wore felt soft, not stiff and uncomfortable.

A bandage encircled my right arm from wrist to elbow.

The bite still throbbed but nothing compared to how much it had hurt before.

“You’re awake.”

I turned my head toward Astrid’s voice. She was curled up in an oversized armchair in the corner.

“How long was I asleep?” I rasped.

She set aside the notebook that had been in her lap. “Three days. Two outside the Null. We brought you in last night. Your arm isn’t healed, but it’s getting better. We’re pretty sure you’re not going to die.”

“Or turn into a werewolf,” another voice said.

I blinked hard, then spotted Phedre. The Valkyrie sat on the edge of my dresser, toned arms crossed and a scowl on her face. Obviously unhappy, most likely because she’d missed the—

The fight.

“Thordis!” I pushed myself upright much too quickly. Had to wait for the room to stop spinning.

“I’m Phedre,” Phedre said. “You can tell because I’m competent.”

“Is she okay? Is Eli?”

“Eli is fine.”

It took effort to keep myself sitting up. “Thordis—”

“She’s fine too.” Astrid threw an annoyed look Phedre’s way. “Phedre is just pissed she let you get hurt.”

My next breath came a little easier. “She didn’t let this happen.”

“Her orders were to protect you,” Phedre said. “She didn’t.”

“She went after another wolf.”

“She was led away.”

Her tone and the lethal look in her eyes reminded me of Thordis when Eli had said her name. What had he said afterward? That he had no quarrel with her or reason to speak to her kind? And Thordis had claimed she wasn’t a staff member. She’d said Phedre had ordered her to follow me.

Whatever hierarchy the Valkyrie followed, Phedre outranked Thordis.

Something to dig into later.

I pushed away my blanket and carefully swiveled to sit on the edge of the bed. It went better than I expected, no dizziness or sudden onset of nausea.

“Where’s Blake?” I regretted the question as soon as I asked it. It was an admission that I noticed his absence, that I felt it, and wanted him there.

“He’s handling something,” Astrid said, making air quotes around the last two words. “He gets growly when you interrogate him.”

“I don’t recommend interrogation.” Really, it was better he wasn’t here. He wasn’t going to like what I was about to do.

I placed my bare feet on the carpet and experimented with standing. That, too, went much better than expected.

“You must have upped your poultice magic,” I said. My body felt heavy and a little more wobbly than usual, but I could handle this.

“It helps to have a coven.” She unfolded her legs from the chair and stood too.

“The coven’s here?” I asked, although I vaguely felt like I already knew that.

“I called them in as soon as I saw how bad your arm was. They were on standby for the”—she glanced at Phedre—“project, so they were able to get here quickly. They’re going to want to return home soon though, so if you’re cool with it, we can get everything ready for tomorrow night.”

“She doesn’t need to worry about that right now,” Garion said from the bedroom door.

“Garion.” I don’t know why I was relieved to see him, why I felt the need to apologize. Maybe because I hadn’t helped him yet? Because I’d risked leaving the Null more than once? “You’re okay?”

He scowled. “You’re alive and human.”

Was that a yes? I knew he was worried about my dad’s wish to be “free from The Rain.” He was probably blaming himself for the wolf attack.

“You look better now,” he said, his voice losing the rough edge. “You’re not as pale.”

“Duh.” Phedre hopped off my dresser. “She was almost turned into a werewolf, not a vampire.”

He and Astrid stared at the Valkyrie. Her eyes widened innocently. “What? Too soon?”

I couldn’t help it. I smiled.

She gave Astrid a smug grin. “Kennedy thinks I’m funny.”

“Kennedy lost a few billion brain cells this week.”

“Hey,” I said. “That’s too soon.”

Phedre snickered.

I clung to that moment of normalcy for one more second, then opened my sock drawer. Laughing helped. But it didn’t change what I needed to do next.

“Any catastrophes happen while I was out?” I sat in the chair Astrid had vacated, then bent over to slip on my socks. That hurt.

“You were the catastrophe,” Garion said.

He was still stuck in grim mode. Maybe he’d ease up if, no when, Astrid nulled the token. It would give him his freedom, and I’d have more bandwidth to focus on The Rain and my enemies.

The ache in my arm flared, but I didn’t let it stop me. I pulled on the socks, then grabbed my shoes, which someone had placed beside the chair. By some miracle, there wasn’t a single splatter of blood on them.

“You’re not going somewhere.” Garion’s tone wavered between a question and a statement.

“There’s something I have to do.” I stood, then walked to the bathroom to look for a hairbrush and a hair tie. The person who had moved my furniture had done a thorough job. My makeup and toiletries were put away and organized, and the closet…

My parents’ belongings were packed in moving boxes that were stacked three high against the right wall. That should have been my job, but when would I have found time for it? When would I have found the energy?

I looked back at Astrid. “You moved me in?”

“Me and Melissa,” she said. “With help from Joash and Thad.”

“Thanks. This…” I drew in a breath. “This helps.”

Astrid smiled. “It was Melissa’s idea. Thank her.” Her expression turned serious. “You shouldn’t leave The Rain.”

I turned back to the mirror and met the eyes of Astrid’s reflection. “I need you to get the coven prepped for tomorrow. Phedre, you and Thordis are in charge of The Rain’s security.” She started to say something. “She did nothing wrong. Don’t make her feel like shit for what happened. And Garion—”

“You aren’t leaving,” he fired at me.

I pressed my lips together. The three of them might physically prevent me from leaving.

This required a switch in tactics.

I faced the trio. “Garion, talk to Sullens. I assume I have more than a hundred emails from paranorms wanting to book rooms. We need to vet them. Ask him to schedule a time to meet. I’ll figure out if we’ll need more help than just the two of us.”

“So you’re not planning to leave?” Astrid sounded skeptical.

“Lehr’s on my shit list,” I said. “He’s not protecting me or The Rain, and I don’t want him to. I’m cutting him out of everything. I’m weakening him. He won’t like it. We need to be prepared.”

Phedre immediately pepped up. “We’ve totally got security covered. Thordis is forgiven.” She pivoted, headed toward the door, then threw over her shoulder, “We’ll get ready for war!”

“Um.” Astrid watched the Valkyrie disappear. “Maybe you should rethink your head of security?”

I let out a short but genuine laugh. “See how easy it was to get them to make up?”

“Brilliant,” she deadpanned. Then she perked up too. “I’ll talk to the coven. We’ve got this.”

She left, leaving me alone with Garion.

“Delegating,” he said. I couldn’t interpret his tone. Was he still suspicious? Was he worried?

“I’m getting better at it.” I faced the mirror again, then finger-combed my hair into a ponytail.

“I need your promise.” His reflection looked solemn. “If the spell doesn’t work, you give the fey my token. If he shows up between now and then, you give him the token.”

“That’s two promises,” I said.

“This burden isn’t yours to carry, Kennedy. You have enough on your shoulders. You will not risk yourself. Promise me.”

“This is going to work, but fine. I promise.” I reached for my toothbrush. “I want to change clothes. Meet me downstairs?”

His face was tombstone hard, but he nodded. “Five minutes.”

Five minutes and I’d bet he’d spent every second watching the stairs to make sure I didn’t slip out.

As soon as the main door clicked shut behind him, I went to the back of the closet, pressed my hand against a spot high up in the back corner, then entered The Rain’s secret corridors.

Five minutes later, I was turning out of The Rain’s parking lot.

It wasn’t as discreet—or quiet—an exit as I’d wanted.

My car’s hood and front bumper were caved in, courtesy of the brick wall I’d rammed.

Someone had moved the car to a parking spot.

It looked like they might have tried pounding out the worst of the damage, but it would take a lot more bodywork, and more money than the car was worth, to beat out its new soundtrack of squeaks and clanks.

My insurance had skyrocketed after totaling my first car, thanks to Melissa and an extremely resilient tree.

I had liability coverage only now and wouldn’t be able to fix or replace it unless my plans for The Rain worked out.

By that time, the noise from the front end might compete with Blake’s truck in the cacophony category.

The moment I thought his name, my stomach flipped.

He’d been exactly what I needed when I stood at the edge of the Null.

I couldn’t have crossed the threshold without him.

He’d been supportive and honest and, in a way, he’d been as vulnerable as me.

His wolf had tried to take advantage of his worry and rage, had almost taken over until I’d reined in my panic.

In the end, we’d kept each other balanced.