Page 44 of Caught in the Crossfire

“How are your pain levels?”

“Fine.” The painkillers were kicking in, but we both knew she wasn’t exactly asking about that.

“Do you want anything stronger?” she asked. “I could give you a sleeping pill like before, when you were at my clinic with Cas.”

I’d spent three days at Cas’s bedside after we were attacked at the airport in Philly. Nightmares about Max had kept me up, along with my original plans to seek the Shadows for help. The pill had helped me relax enough to catch some sleep. We’d come a long way since then.

“No, thank you,” I responded. “I’ll be okay.”

I knew I’d pass out as soon as I lay down with my men. Ryuji’s big bed waited in the living room.

I could sleep for days. Exhaustion pulled at my limbs, but I wasn’t ready to go out there.

I wasn’t ready to face the questions.

She eyed me. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

She sighed, the sound carrying the weight of mutual understanding. Willow was no stranger to pain and suffering. “I don’t blame you.”

We were quiet for a few more moments. “Will you talk to them about it?”

I shrugged. “Probably.”

“When you’re ready?”

“Yeah,” I lied. “I just need some time.” I doubted I’d ever be ready to revisit those days, and that was fine with me. I didn’t need to. We were home now, and once we dealt with the Vokshi Clan, it would be like it never happened at all. The more time between me and that ship, the better.

She sighed like she could see right through me before she pulled her phone from her pocket. “I’ve been meaning to do this since our girls’ night, but I kept forgetting.” She tapped the screen a few times. “There.”

“What is it?” I leaned over to see an open message on the display, her cursor blinking in the text box. “I don’t even know where my phone is.”

“When you find it, we’re now in a group chat. You, me, Fallon, Zoya.”

She typed a message that said “girls group” and sent it.

I watched over her shoulder while Fallon texted back fifteen exclamation points, and I smirked. “Looks like Fallon is happy with that idea.”

She smiled. “Now she can bother you all day just like she bothers me.”

Despite myself, I chuckled. I’d have to ask Ciel if he knew where my phone was or if he could get me another. It would be fun to have a group chat.

“Now, if you need anything, you can talk to your girls,” she said while she nudged my shoulder.

My girls. I choked down emotion and nodded. “The only things I need are stupid jokes and memes.”

Her mouth pulled up at one corner. “Watch this,” Willow said as she renamed the group chat to “The Queens” plus the crown emoji.

Fallon responded with “that’s fucking perfect” and five fire emojis.

Zoya then chimed in with a GIF of someone sighing dramatically, and I burst out laughing. She quickly followed it up with hearting all the other messages and sending a star-eyes emoji.

“What does Fallon even text about?”

Willow rolled her eyes. “She mostly sends me food pictures and GIFs.” She shuddered. “She also tells me far more about her sex life than I care to know, so be prepared for that.”

Just as she finished talking, a picture came through of Fallon laying in bed with a man’s arm slung strategically across her chest. The face was out of the frame, so we couldn’t tell who it was. She followed it with, “so what are you all doing?”