Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 139186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
“What if my mind was fine, but I stayed a gargoyle? Would you have fucked a gargoyle?” He wiggled his eyebrows, and gave Vars another kiss. Vars rolled his eyes and let his head drop into the snow.
“Are you fucking with me or really asking?”
Jake nuzzled Vars’s cheek. “Just fucking with you. We should go. See if anyone needs help.”
Vars exhaled and rolled away, getting to his feet and quickly swiping the snow off his clothes. “But for the record... if you were you, nothing between us would have changed... although maybe I’d have to use different paddles to get through all that thick skin.”
Jake pushed at Vars’s chest, yet still instantly stepped closer for another kiss. “Thank you for believing in me. That you trusted my judgement. Gray was trapped under a beam. Rev couldn’t pull it up. They’d both be dead without my help.”
They entwined their fingers and made their way back to the house where a large team of firefighters was hard at work. Much of what the club had created would be lost, but at this point Jake didn’t care. Material things could be rebuilt and replaced, lives could not.
It was an eerie feeling to leave the shadow of the trees and enter the chaos of emergency workers and scared hangarounds, who stood in groups, covered with blankets. Some guests were already leaving, some were being picked up, but he was glad to see that those who needed help were receiving it from the staff of one of the two ambulances.
Far away, close to the front of the building, Beast towered over everyone else, his face lit by the fire, but at least he was safe from the flames this time, with Laurent tucked under his arms.
Nearby, Jake noticed Rev smoking a cigarette with a scowl. “Gray. How’s Gray?” he uttered, but before anyone could answer, Knight came out of nowhere and grabbed Jake so hard he picked him off the ground.
“Jesus Christ, Jake! You’re back!”
Jake stopped breathing when Knight’s arms tightened around his chest, but he still grinned at him once he was released. He didn’t even get to say anything smart before Elliot dove from behind Knight and gave him a quick hug.
“Blackstar told us what you did. She’d have died if it wasn’t for you!”
“Yes, yes, she was there. She’s fine too?”
He got another pat on the back from Beast, and a blanket from Knight, but Rev walked up to them. He had a bandage on his head but looked fine otherwise.
“Gray’s in the ambulance. His arm is wrecked, but he’s stable. They’re taking him in a sec, so if you wanna say a few words, go now.”
Jake gave Rev a nod and squeezed Vars’s hand before turning around and rushing to the emergency vehicle. The memory of cracking bone and tearing tendons came alive in his mind, but at least Gray was alive.
They were about to enter the ambulance when a paramedic jumped off its back. She sighed before making her way to a group of wounded. “Be quick.”
Jake nodded, suddenly afraid to look inside, but Vars grabbed his hand and walked into the tunnel-like space where on a stretcher Gray lay covered with a blanket all the way to his neck. His face had an ashen coloring under a breathing mask, and he seemed limp but his chest was moving, and that was enough to make Jake sag with relief.
He scooted close to Gray’s side. “Gray, look at me. It’s me, Jake. I’m fine. And you’ll be okay too.” He dared to smile, even though thinking about the mangled arm was making him sick. How would Gray function and do his job now? How was he to get the Pigeon Heart for Magpie when his arm got torn apart?
Vars’s support provided little comfort, but Jake’s heart picked up when Gray’s eyelids twitched, and then opened, revealing his pale yet bloodshot eyes above the mask. He blinked, noticing who stood by him, and tried to sit up despite Vars quickly telling him not to. The blanket slid from his arm, and Jake froze on the spot.
On his shoulder, right above the dressing, a large sigil was burned raw into Gray’s skin.
Jake’s stomach clenched in panic. “Gray? What did you do?”
Gray’s voice was distorted through the mask. “I couldn’t let you die either.”
Jake clenched his fingers on the blanket, helplessly looking between the distorted shape of Gray’s arm, and his tired eyes. “It was my choice to make! You had no right to take it on yourself to—”
“I had the right. So I did. You didn’t listen to me. I just returned the favor.” Gray’s voice was decisive, if weak, as he spoke with a slight frown, but then he fell back to the pillow. “I owed you my life, Jake. It was the right thing to do.”