After a little while, I could move my leg, bending the right and then the left.

Some time later, the door cracked open and Layla popped her head in. “You’re awake.”

“I...” Wincing, I cleared my throat. My voice was still hoarse. “I am.”

“Up for company?”

Not particularly, but we needed to talk. There was Gabriel and his batshit-crazy plans that someone had to deal with. And then there were my plans. “Where’s...Roth?”

“He’s here. Let me get him, and you something to drink.” She dipped out and returned a few minutes later with a large glass and the demon prince in tow.

As he came closer, I thought he looked different, as if he’d aged a decade. It was his eyes. A weariness was there that hadn’t been before. Peanut followed, lingering by the foot of the bed as he stared at the snake.

“I’m not getting any closer,” he said.

Bambi tilted her head toward him, wiggling her tongue in his direction. She could see him. Interesting.

Layla sat beside me. “This is ginger ale. I thought it would be good on your stomach.”

“Thanks.” I lifted my head and started to sit up, but Layla held the cup to my mouth, preventing too much movement. I drank greedily even though it burned the back of my throat.

“I see someone has been keeping you company.” Roth leaned against the wall, ankles crossed.

“Yeah, she has.” I let my head fall back against the pillow. “Is Cayman...okay?”

“He’s fine,” he answered.

“Good.” I cleared my throat. “We need...to talk about Gabriel.”

“We don’t have to.” Layla placed the glass on the nightstand, next to my mother’s book. “Not right now.”

“We do,” I said. Bambi nudged my hand, and I returned to petting her head. “Has anything happened?”

Layla shook her head as she started twisting the pale strands of her hair.

“I’ve been...patrolling.” Roth said the last word like it was a foreign language. “With everything that happened, I...”

He didn’t finish, but I thought I knew what he’d been about to say. That he needed to be doing something.

“Gabriel hasn’t been spotted. No Wardens have been killed,” Layla continued, staring at Roth. “We did manage to get the school closed.”

“How?”

“I went back the next night, started a small fire that might have done some intensive damage to the classrooms.” Roth grinned.

Smart idea, since all those ghosts were evil to their core. No human should step foot in that school. “What about Stacey and her diploma?”

“They’re finishing the rest of the summer classes at another school.” Layla looked at Bambi, who seemed to be purring. Like a cat. “She wanted to be here, but she’s...”

Layla didn’t need to finish. I already knew. Stacey was hurting. That I could understand.