Page 13 of Retribution

Not an institution. Just a normal hospital.

‘I thought…’ I trail off.

The sudden relief that floods me makes me shudder, and I begin to cry hard, great sobs that make my chest hurt and my head pound.

‘It’s okay. It’s okay,’ Shade says, sounding concerned and clearly having no idea what’s going on in my head. ‘You’re safe. The Doc said you’re going to be fine. You just need to rest.’

I nod, gripping the hand tighter as I try to get myself under control. I take deep breaths and focus on the fact that I’m just in a normal hospital room. I can leave when I’mdischarged, when I’m better. I’m not a prisoner here. Not really.

‘What happened at the club?’ I ask, trying to figure out the events that led to me being here. ‘The last thing I remember was going into the lab. There was an explosion?’

I crack my eyes open when none of them answer and I see them all giving each other looks again. I huff loudly.

‘What happened to no secrets?’

Shade sighs. ‘The official story is that it was a gas leak. Even my father thinks that.’

‘But it wasn’t.’

Shade shakes his head.

Mav leans closer and speaks quietly. ‘It was a bomb, Daisy. Someone was trying to kill you, or us. Maybe even all of us. We don’t know.’

‘The stalker?’ I ask.

‘That seems most likely,’ Shade allows. ‘Unless you think it could have been one of the Bandervilles.’

I think for a moment and then shake my head. ‘Joe and his father seem to want the marriage to happen, and Marcus is all in too.’

‘Marcus?’ Blake snarls. ‘What does he care one way or another?’

I shrug as well as I can while still lying on the bed. ‘I think Joe has promised him that he can…’Have a turn with me?I break off, not sure how to say it.

A low snarl is all I hear from Blake, but the others are quiet. They look very angry, though. I guess they get it.

‘Is there a way to sit up?’ I ask.

A remote with large, flat buttons and a cord attached to it is placed in my hand and I press one of the arrows. The top of the bed moves slowly until I’m sitting upright.

I search their eyes, trying to glean anything I can, but it’snot much. I can tell they’re upset and tired, but not much else. ‘Is the club destroyed?’

‘We don’t know,’ Shade says gravely. ‘But the cellar is inaccessible. Even the tunnels seemed like they were unstable when I was walking through them.’

‘The lab,’ I say softly. ‘Envy. What are we going to do?’

‘You saved all the pills you made,’ Shade says very softly. ‘In the tunnel, you kept giving me the bag. I didn’t even know what was in it until the ambulance ride here.’

‘Thank God,’ I say. ‘Actually, thank past me. Remaking them would have taken forever, especially without a lab.’

‘You shouldn’t have wasted time getting the pills,’ Shade mutters. ‘You shouldn’t have taken a risk like that. Daisy, it was stupid.’

I bristle at being called stupid. ‘If they’d been in thesafe, well, the clue is in the name.’

I shrug and find it easier now that I’m sitting up.

‘They were probably out on the table,’ I reason. ‘I don’t remember. Maybe I was counting them, or something. I would have left them if they’d been in the safe. They would probably have been fine in there until we could get them so long as I closed the lab door and the fire didn’t burn too hot.’

I sigh, closing my eyes. ‘Anyway, that means we have seven batches, I think. Enough for Sauvage’s next drop-off. But what are we going to do after that?’