Page 131 of Reaper

The corner of her lips lifts up into a strained smile, concern evident on her face. “Rest, Babe. You look like you need it.”

Nodding, I relax further against Anthony and close my eyes.

Someone gently shakes my shoulder and I groan, not wanting to wake up.

“Sorry, Darlin’, but you need to wake up for a while.”

I blink, trying to push away the fog of sleep and then moan when I smell coffee. “Mmm. Coffee.”

Anthony and someone else chuckle and I force myself to wake up. Looking around, I’m surprised that it’s just Anthony and Loki here. Then, I groan as my bladder makes its demands.

“Coffee in a moment.”

I go to slide off Anthony’s lap, but his grip tightens on me and I know he’s about to get up and carry me himself. Glancing up at him, I cock my eyebrow at him. “Hercules, I have a mild concussion and a goose egg. I’m not made of glass. I can walk to the bathroom just fine.”

A haunted look comes over him and I pause.

“I know, Darlin’. But please, humor me in this for a bit.”

Something in his voice has me really looking at him and I can tell he’s still low-key freaking out. Did something happen that I don’t know about? Slowly, I nod and a look of relief comes over him.

His arms tighten around me as he scoots forward on the couch before getting up with me still in his arms. He carries me through the kitchen and down the hallway before slowly lowering me to the ground. I hang onto him for a moment to steady myself and then cock an eyebrow at him when he doesn’t move so I can close the door.

“You are not staying in here while I pee, Anthony.”

He frowns as he looks down at me. “Fine, but you holler if you feel lightheaded or if you need me for something.” Then turns and leans against the wall opposite the door.

I hesitate but then nod.

Shutting the door behind me, I do my business and then wash my hands. Taking a steadying breath, I force myself to look in the mirror.

Fuck.

The bruising on my face is worse than before. A spot of purple peaks out from the collar of my polo and I unbutton the three buttons and pull it aside, wincing when I see a bruise in the shape of my seatbelt along my shoulder and down my chest. Untucking my shirt, I groan when I also see a bruise along my waist from the seatbelt as well.

“Lark?”

I jump a little at hearing Anthony’s voice so close to the door.

“C-Coming.”

Hastily, I tuck in my polo and refasten the buttons. Opening the door, I give him an apologetic look when he cocks his eyebrow at me in question.

“Sorry—I saw the bruises from the seatbelt for the first time.”

His face softens and he gently pulls me into his arms. After a few moments, he kisses the top of my head.

“Let’s head back into the living room, Darlin’. Loki said he wanted to talk to us.”

Our conversation from the hospital room comes back to me, and I nod, not trusting my voice as worry knots my stomach.

Loki follows us into the living room and after I sit back down on the couch, he hands me a mug of coffee as Anthony sits down beside me.

Having a feeling that I’m going to need the caffeine, I take a sip of the coffee. Anthony reaches over and gently squeezes my thigh reassuringly.

“Reaper, some of this you know already and other parts… The only other one that knows more than you is Punisher, which you know why, and even what he knows isn’t all of it. Lark…” Loki starts as he sits on the couch opposite us and breathes out a harsh breath. He shakes his head and looks out the window.

“I’m not really even sure how to broach this, so I’m just going to spit it out. My family is from New Orleans. I’m one of the few in my family that’s moved away, and I’ll tell you why in a bit, but normally, us Cajuns prefer to stay in one location close to our family. I told you thatma mère(my mom) sells a bunch of the spices she grows and dries… But there’s more to it than that…”