Thirty-six – 04

“Jac, wait.” Neve lurched to her feet and stumbled after the healer. “You can’t go alone.”

“I’ll be fine,” Jacqueline said over her shoulder. “Just stay here and keep an eye on Phelan.”

“Cameron can do that. I’m coming with you.” One look at Cameron confirmed that he’d do what she wanted him to do–no matter how much he might not like doing it.

Thanks be to the gods.

For a moment, it looked like Jacqueline might continue the fight, but she apparently thought better of it and sighed instead. “All right. Just…stay out of the way?”

“I’ll only help,” Neve said, hobbling gingerly after Jacqueline. The other woman took pity on her a moment later and offered her shoulder to lean on. “I don’t want to screw this up for anyone. I want him back as much as you do.”

“Are you sure about that?” Jacqueline muttered. Neve choked on a quiet laugh.

“Well, maybe not quite as much. It didn’t take long, did it?”

“There’s something about him,” Jacqueline said softly as they made their way toward the tent and the world beyond. “I can’t even tell you what it is. It’s not that he needed something even though I know that he really, really did. I just—it just felt right. Being with him feels right. He just pisses me off.”

“He pisses everyone off,” Neve said with a faint smile. “It’s part of who he is. He finds his way into the worst sorts of trouble and then somehow finds his way out again.”

“He’s not going to find his way out of this one without help,” Jacqueline whispered. “You know that, right?”

“I’m abundantly aware of that,” Neve said, then sighed. “That sort of thing doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s a doozy. This is a doozy to top them all.”

Jacqueline paused, biting her lip. “Neve, what am I going to do if she can’t tell us what she did, what’s wrong with him?”

“She’ll tell us,” Neve said. “She doesn’t have a choice.”

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