Chapter 6: GARRET

GARRET

I shouldn’t be up.

Not because I felt weak, or because I was still healing. I literally should not be able to stand right now, not with the injury I’d sustained. I’d nearly died; my body had suffered a massive amount of trauma that should have taken weeks, if not months, to fully heal. But last night, I’d woken up groggy and confused, and the air under the sheets had felt like a sauna. Without even thinking about it, I’d swung out of bed and slipped down the hall until I found a room with people in it. When I’d walked through the door, Wes had nearly fallen out of his chair, and Riley had uttered a very emphatic curse.

“Shit, St. George!” The rogue had given me an incredulous glare. “What the hell are you doing? You want to kill yourself? There is no way you should be up right now.”

I’d tried to clear my bleary thoughts. Only then had I realized I was shirtless, and my entire chest was wrapped in bandages and gauze. “How long have I been down?”

“More than a week.” Riley had stalked forward, gold eyes narrowed and appraising. “And truthfully, I have no idea how you’re even standing, unless you’re so delirious you don’t feel anything.”

Jade had appeared in the doorway, slender brows rising as our gazes met. I’d been surprised, as well; just how much had happened while I was out? “Well,” the Eastern dragon had commented in a wry voice. “According to Riley, I was not expecting to see you for quite some time. But it appears that you are not...what is the saying again? On death’s doorstep, after all.”

“Like hell he’s not.” It had been Wes’s turn to stalk forward, yank up a chair and grab a first-aid kit from a cabinet. “Sit down, you bloody stubborn bastard, before you tear yourself open. If you die now, that damn hatchling is going to kill something.”

I’d sunk wordlessly onto the chair as the hacker began cutting gauze from my back and chest. As he’d peeled back the wrappings, cool air had hit my skin, and the human had uttered a breathless curse.

“Bloody hell, are you kidding me?” I’d felt a cloth brush my skin, right over the wound, but it had barely stung. “Are you seeing this, Riley? Last week, there was a hole the size of a golf ball. Now, bloody nothing.” The rag had swiped my back, a little harder this time, sending a twinge through my side. “This looks like weeks of healing, not a bloody few days. Holy shit. Holy. Shit. Do you realize what this means?”