Page 18 of Victorious, Part 2 (The LA Defiance MC #6)

“We could do the thing where you look at the stars and talk about deep philosophical questions,” I jest, he chuckles, knowing I am avoiding the elephant in the desert. The one where he practically made me climax, and then I ruined the moment with my stupid heart monitor.

But then it happens.

It starts with a strange sensation in my chest. A flutter, almost nerves, but sharper, more urgent.

My skin prickles with cold sweat, and the cold of the night does me no favors.

My coffee mug feels heavier than it did moments ago, and I feel as if my fingers have forgotten how to hold it. My breath catches, shallow. Unsteady.

Then a wave of dizziness crashes over me. My knees wobble, a strange buzzing fills my ears, and my watch screams to life.

Again.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

My limbs go light. My vision begins to tunnel, the edges of the desert bleeding into darkness.

I know what this is. I know my body. I’ve been here many times before.

But this time it’s not my heart.

Now that I think about it, the first alert mustn’t have been my heart either.

It was my twenty-minute warning.

I should have checked!

“No… not now,” I whisper to myself, trying to steady my breathing, but my voice is barely audible.

Phoenix hears it anyway, and he freezes, spinning around. “Clover?”

I try to sit down, lower to the ground before I fall, but my legs buckle too fast. The coffee mug slips from my hands and thuds into the sand, coffee spraying directly onto our fire.

“Low… glucose,” I manage, voice thin, breath jagged.

Phoenix drops everything. He’s on his knees beside me in a second, faster than I’ve ever seen him move, already tearing through his backpack, comparable to a man trained for war. “Talk to me. How bad?”

My fingers fumble with my cell to find my reading, but it’s too much. I’m shaking too hard. The world spins out of control, heat and color blurring. My hands won’t work the way I need them to.

He doesn’t hesitate. He grabs my cell from me and a juice box, ripping the straw wrapper with his teeth, stabbing it in.

“Here. Sip. Small sips.” He holds it to my lips when I can’t do it myself, and I take a slow pull, then another, the sugary liquid burning a trail down my throat.

It’s nauseating and warm, but life-saving, nonetheless.

As the sugar hits my system, the trembling gets worse before it gets better. My fingers twitch. My heartbeat pounds erratically against my ribs, and nausea rises in my throat.

Then, surprisingly, given the spotty reception, my phone begins to ring while Phoenix is checking through the app.

Phoenix swipes and wrangles with my cell with one hand while holding the juice with the other. “It’s Maverick. You’ve got an alert set up, right?”

I nod weakly, and he swipes to answer, “Hey, it’s Phoenix—”

“Her alert went off twenty minutes ago. And now she’s having a crash. Why weren’t you on top of this when the first alert came through?” Maverick growls down the line.

As I shake in Phoenix’s arms, he looks shocked, now realizing the same thing I already have. The alert came through during my orgasm, and we both palmed it off as my heart rate.

We should have checked.

“I missed it as her heart rate going up because we were trekking up the sand dunes—”

“I don’t give a shit about excuses, Phoenix. Just tell me she’s okay?”

Pulling my lips from the juice box, my body still shaking, I reach for my cell. “I’m fine. Stop being a dick. Phoenix had the juice box for me before I could even ask for it. He’s taking care of me, Mav.”

He scoffs down the line. “Yeah, by letting you fucking crash out.”

Phoenix scowls, and I can tell he is disappointed in himself. “I missed the warning. I won’t let it happen again, Mav. You have my word. I swear to you, I’m watching her like a damn hawk.”

Maverick hesitates, but then finally answers, “If she dies on your watch, I’ll dig you up just to kill you again. Understand?”

Phoenix huffs a breath that might have been a laugh if it weren’t laced with tension. “Understood.”

I manage a small, shaky smile. “Maverick?”

“Yeah, Clo?”

“I’ll finish my juice, get my numbers up, and then sleep under the stars. I’m gonna be fine. You have to stop worrying about me at some point.”

Maverick and Phoenix both scoff out a laugh, and I furrow my brows at Phoenix.

“I’ll never stop worrying about you, Clo.”

Sighing, I glance at Phoenix, who gently nods. “It’s what brothers do,” he sides with Maverick on this one.

And for the first time, I get it.

Maverick let’s out a small laugh down the line, followed by a contented sigh. “Sadie’s good, brother. For the record, she’s worried about you too.”

A small smile crosses Phoenix’s lips as he closes his eyes briefly, and when he opens them again, it’s as if he’s discovered newfound strength in himself. “Thanks, Mav. For taking such good care of my sister. Just know that I will do everything and anything to keep yours safe too.”

Glancing up at Phoenix as he talks to my brother, the worst of the symptoms begins to fade after a few more sips of my juice, though my skin is still clammy and my heart is thudding as though it wants out of my chest. Phoenix sits behind me, gently guiding me to lean my back against his chest, wrapping his arms around my torso to keep me steady.

I lean into him, knowing that his words are true.

Phoenix will do everything he can to keep me safe.

“All right,” Maverick simply states. “How are you feeling now, Clo?”

“Better. Like I said, I’m gonna be fine. Please don’t worry.”

Maverick exhales as Phoenix holds me tighter. “Well, I have to get going anyway. I know Alpha wants to run over some more details about the shit going on here. But Phoenix, you keep a closer eye on those alerts. Promise me!”

Phoenix rests his chin on my shoulder. “I swear. I won’t let either of you down again.”

Frowning, I turn my head to meet him before Maverick ends the call. “Good. Check in again soon. Have a good night,” he says, then ends the call.