“Anyone else get hurt?” I asked him after he brought me a pair of shoes. The temperature had dropped again outside. Winter would come earlier than we anticipated. He answered me as I pulled the shoes on and we started to walk.
“Jac’s not really hurt, she’s just exhausted,” he said, sliding his arm around my shoulders again. I glanced at his injured hand and was happy to see that the skin had knit and the stitches had been clipped. The scar did look like I-75, though. “Kellin hasn’t been awake, but J.T. said she’s fine. Rory’s up and around.”
“Something happened to Rory?”
Matt blinked at me and nodded. He gave me the brief version of what I’d missed during the fight. I must have gotten some kind of horrified look on my face when he mentioned Tala joining the fight, because he frowned at me.
“What’s the matter? She’s fine. She clotheslined a few of them.” Matt grinned. “I was impressed, honestly. I’ve never seen her fight.”
I shook my head a little, mouth dry. She’s going to have to tell someone about being pregnant—someone other than me—sooner rather than later. I could understand why she’d run in, though. The rest of us had been in trouble by then, it sounded like, and she wasn’t the type to stand by when her friends were in trouble. “I’m okay,” I lied, shaking my head a little. “Just a little surprised. Greg got into it, too?”
Matt grinned. “Yeah, it was pretty epic. If it hadn’t been life or death, it could’ve been a movie.” He squeezed me, the grin fading. “Everyone’s okay. Everyone that was in the fight, anyway. J.T.’s still got Thom tied down, though.”
“Tied down?” I arched a brow, looking up at my brother.
“Well, limiting his mobility, anyway. To hear J.T. talk about it, it sounds like Thom undid almost three weeks worth of healing in the space of about five minutes, trying to get to you after the thing threw you.”
I winced. “But he’s okay?”
“He’s about the same as usual,” Matt said. “Worried as hell about you. The first day or two wasn’t bad, trying to keep him in one spot, because he didn’t want to leave you. Then Rory and I convinced him that he needed to be helping Davon coordinate all this digging and construction, so he’s been out here all day.” Matt pointed ahead of us. I could see J.T. leaning over Thom, who was sprawled in a chair with his ankle propped up on a box.
“J.T. didn’t tell him I was all right?” I asked as my heart started to beat a little faster.
“Telling and knowing are two entirely different things, Mar.” Matt grinned and squeezed me, then let go. “Go make his day, I’ve got to get back to work. Trying to solder together some more pipes to lay into those trenches. Heating conduits.”
I nodded, smiling back. “Thanks, Matt.”
“Anytime.” He pecked me on the cheek and headed off in another direction.
Then I realized something. Leah. He didn’t say when she came back. “Matt?”
He turned, cocking his head to one side. “What is it?”
“When did Leah come back? After the fight, I’m guessing.”
He looked momentarily startled by the question, then frowned, shaking his head slightly. “No, she didn’t come back. After we got you guys settled, Drew and I went back out to look. We found her sprawled near the wards. Not a mark on her. She didn’t remember a damn thing that happened that day after she woke up.”
“Oh,” was all I could say. I nodded a little.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said, forcing a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. I was just curious, that’s all.”
Matt nodded. “It’s a good thing she was out there, though. Can you imagine what that would’ve turned out like, if they’d hit us completely unawares with all of us clustered together?”
My stomach fluttered. “Yeah, that would have been bad.” I swallowed and waved a hand. “Go on, get back to work. You’ve got stuff that needs to get done.”
“Pretty sure you will, too, soon.” Matt winked at me, waved, and headed back to work.
I turned and started walking toward J.T. and Thom, trying to shake the feeling that at the end of the day, there was something about the whole situation that didn’t add up.
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