Page 60 of Blood in the Water

“¿Eres un ángel?” he murmured, still staring at me. Wynn kicked the door open, and we stumbled through it.

“Ciel never talks this much.” Wynn grunted. “Never. He’s usually so quiet.”

“How can I be quiet in the presence of such a woman?” Ciel gasped, blinking rapidly as he began to suck in fresh air. I had to focusso hardon not laughing, so I didn’t drop him.

“Where’s your van, you idiot?” Wynn grumbled as we limped down the sidewalk. He kept his head on a swivel, but thankfully, no other guards got in our way.

“That way,” Ciel laughed as he pointed down an alley. “Three blocks. It’s just cocaine, Wynn, relax.”

Cocaine?

“Come on,” Wynn said, ignoring him. “We’ll come back for my bike.”

I nodded, completely out of breath. God, I needed to work out more.

Finally, Wynn caught sight of Ciel’s van, and we dragged Ciel’s now almost entirely limp body to it. Wynn placed his thumb on some biometric reader on the lock at the back. A whirring sounded, and the doors popped open.

We dumped Ciel inside, and Wynn pulled him the rest of the way in, making sure to close the doors behind us. There was another whirring sound before a click.

Ciel rolled around on the floor of the van, the heels of his palms pressing into his eyes with a huge groan. “My fucking h-head… My fucking headhurts. I don’t want to get gangrene.”

“Is he going to be okay?” I asked, still trying to catch my breath. “What’s he mean, gangrene?”

“I’m not sure, but I think he’ll be fine,” Wynn said while leaning against the side of the van. Computer stuff waseverywhere. Huge monitors covered one side of the van, and I maneuvered around a large desk attached to the wall. I sat in a rolling desk chair that looked like it could click into a stopper on the ground to keep it from moving. A smile broke on Wynn’s face. “He’s going to be so embarrassed. I can’t wait.”

I laughed as the adrenaline slowly began to wear off. I helped save aShadowfrom a burning building. Jesus Christ. Cas was going to be pissed.

“Now what?” I asked as Ciel groaned on the floor. “Does he need medical care?”

Wynn dug through Ciel’s pockets, much to his protesting, until he found a set of keys. “Our home is not too far from here. Let’s go there until Ciel can come down from his high. He needs water, and we have medical supplies there if he needs anything. We can also call my sister to help if we need to.”

“Your sister?” He mentioned earlier that his sister had a place with the Irish. Was she in New York?

Wynn climbed into the driver’s seat while I crouched on the ground next to Ciel. “Yeah, she’s a doctor.”

A doctor with the Irish? Platinum hair that lookedsurprisinglyfamiliar? An ethereal beauty? “Is her name Willow?”

He glanced over his shoulder and huffed a laugh. “Ah. I knew Caspian was shot and treated under the care of the Irish, but I didn’t realize Wil had helped him.”

Wil. That was the person Wynn called to help the victims of the trafficking ring. I smiled. Those women were in good hands with Doctor Willow.

“She saved our lives,” I said while Wynn started the van and pulled away from Ciel’s hiding spot.

“She’s a good person.”

Ciel groaned again, a sheen of sweat across his head. He didn’t look good. I sat down next to him and hesitated momentarily before grabbing his hand. His fingers squeezed against mine.

Now that I had a moment of calm, I could look at him. My heart constricted at another one of thosefeelings. It was the same thing I felt when I first locked eyes with Wynn. Ofcourse, he was incredibly handsome. Brown skin, dark hair. And his eyes? The lightest, iciest blue eyes I had ever seen. He had crinkles around them like he laughed often—or squinted. With all the computer equipment around, maybe it was both. Where his fingers were clinging to mine, I feltwarm. Safe. Confident.

Like I had found another piece of myself I didn’t realize I was missing. Like there was meant to be a connection between us.

Why did these two men make me feel like this?

“Hold my hand, angel,” Ciel whispered as he rolled toward me, one hand still clinging to mine and the other coming up to wrap around my leg. His breaths finally evened out as he slipped into sleep. I couldn’t help but stare at the curve of his jaw and fluffy brown hair. Gently, I ran my fingers through it.

“He’s out.”

Wynn watched through the rearview mirror, lingering where Ciel had latched onto me. But I didn’t mind. It felt… nice.