The Law of Nines

Alex pulled her boot the rest of the way off, then helped her lie down. He pulled the covers up over her. “I paid for two nights so that we wouldn’t have to worry about checkout time in the morning. I hung the ‘Do not disturb’ sign on the doorknob. We can get up and leave whenever we want. You need to rest.”

“But . . .”

He knelt beside the bed, gazing into her half-closed brown eyes. “I need you, Jax. I need you well and alert. You need rest. Do this for me?”

She reached out and cupped the side of his face. “Thank you, Alex—for everything. You need sleep, too.”

“I know. I think we’ll be safe here. Sleep and get strong for me.”

“I don’t want to stop looking at you,” she whispered. “I’m so relieved that you’re safe. I was so afraid for you. . . .”

Alex smoothed her hair back as he smiled at her.

And then he leaned in and gently kissed her. Her lips felt better than he had ever imagined. Her hand came around to lightly hold the back of his head for a moment as she returned the gentle kiss. It was a simple act of quiet joy, saying more than words ever could have how relieved they were to have each other safe.

As he got up to get into the other bed, she softly called his name. He turned back and knelt again beside her bed.

“What is it?”

“Alex . . . I was so afraid there, at that place.”

“I know. I was terrified for you.”

“I thought I was going to die alone, like so many others Vendis has gotten his hands on. I thought my life was at its end.” Her eyes welled up with tears. “I was so afraid. It hurt so much and I was so afraid. I’m so far from home. I don’t know if I will ever see home again. I feel so alone.”

Alex gently squeezed her hand. “I know.”

When he started to get up, she pulled him back down by his hand. “Alex, would you lie close to me so that I don’t feel alone tonight? Just lie by me so that I’m not alone?”

Alex smiled. “Sure.”

He kicked off his shoes, turned off the light, and lay down on his back beside her. He pulled the bedspread up over them both. Jax nestled close to him.

“Hold me? Please? Just hold me?”

Alex didn’t say anything, fearing to test his voice. He would have given anything, paid any price, just to hold her.

As he slipped his arm around her, she laid her head on his shoulder. With his other hand he gently smoothed her hair.

If she noticed how fast his heart was beating, she didn’t say so. Alex kissed the top of her head. “Sleep well.”

Her breathing slowed and evened out almost immediately. She was asleep in mere moments.

Alex stared at the ceiling in the near darkness, not wanting to go to sleep lest he miss a moment of the simple bliss of holding her in his arms.

But he didn’t last long before he drifted off, the whole time thinking of the precious woman so close to him, safe, for the moment.

44.

WITH A FINGER, ALEX OPENED the curtains just a crack to peek out, looking for anything out of place. It was a heavily overcast, gray day, but it wasn’t raining. The Cherokee was parked right outside their room. He didn’t see anyone out in the parking lot who looked suspicious. He reminded himself that Dr. Hoffmann, the nurses, and the orderlies at Mother of Roses had never looked suspicious to him.

They didn’t all look like pirates.

Alex felt wide awake, truly awake, for the first time in what seemed like days and days. He was foggy on exactly how many days it had been, but he knew that the whole ordeal at Mother of Roses hadn’t been more than a few days. Some of the things that had happened didn’t seem real. The reality of how many people had died—how many people he had killed—was hard to wrap his mind around. It felt like he was coming out of a long, dark dream filled with endless terror.

He felt a profound empathy for his mother’s years of being lost in that living limbo. He was saddened that she had never been able to escape that private, lonely hell, that she never had a chance to live her life. He was heartbroken and angry that people from another world had come here and done that to her—stolen her life—and in the end had murdered her.

The worst part of that entire nightmare, though, had been seeing Jax hanging helpless in the shower at Mother of Roses, seeing her struggle to breathe, fearing what horrific torture they would subject her to, dreading that she would eventually suffocate as she hung there all alone, like so many others that Vendis had had in his clutches.

Now, after twelve hours of sleep, the drugs had largely worn off. He had escaped the nightmare, some of it, anyway. Jax, too, for the most part looked like she was almost back to normal. He had no words for how relieved he was to see her eyes so bright and alive again. She was sore and bruised, but she was alive. That was what mattered.

He heard the tub finish draining, and in a few minutes she came out dressed in fresh jeans and a red top. The color looked stunning with her blond hair, even if her hair wasn’t dry. She rubbed it with a towel, drying it as best she could.