Payable On Death: A Jax Rhodes Novel, Book One (The Jax Rhodes Series 1) (21 page)

"Your ass." I could tell by the look on his face there were other options. He'd just selected this one to give me a hard time.

"Actually, it'll be your ass."

"Is that anyway for an angel to behave?"

He pulled a pair of generic sea green scrubs out from under the covers, smoothing the blankets back after tossing me the clothes. Without wasting another second, I went back into the bathroom and changed, opting for commando since the rust and dirt penetrated my clothes. After throwing my hair in a quick knot, I went back across the hall, listening at the door for the little bully nurse who'd developed a crush on my boyfriend. If she only knew what we did for a living, she might go back to chasing surgeons in the cafeteria. After deeming it all clear, I went in, only to find little Miss Bedside Manner sitting in the chair next to Dane's bed holding his hand while he slept.

One of two things were about to happen. And both of them involved her requiring her own room and several casts.

Clearing my throat to get her attention, I gave her a look that had her releasing Dane's hand and vacating the chair in one swift movement. She was out of the room before I reached the side of the bed. Dane's hand felt clammy and warm from the fever ravaging his body. His eyes opened as soon as my hand wrapped around his, recognizing me from just a touch.

"You made it out." The words scratched their way out of his throat.

"Shhssh." Grabbing the styrofoam cup off the tray, I placed the straw in his mouth, reassuring him that I was fine and telling him not to talk as he drank the water.

"I thought it was the Spear. I thought I was going to lose you." Dane ignored my plea to spare his voice.

"I don't want to lose you, either. And jumping in front of a spear is pretty much a guarantee that will happen. He figured it out, Dane. How much you mean to me. And he won't stop. He'll just keep coming for you to hurt me."

"I know what you're thinking and you can forget it. If you were laying here instead of me, would you walk away?" He watched me mull that over for a moment, confident he knew what my answer would be.

So of course I didn't answer. I figured it was really one of those rhetorical questions anyway. Dane scooted over, his back pressed against the bed rail, a bead of sweat on his brow from the effort to make room on the bed for me. Lowering the safety rail on my side, I crawled in beside him, careful to keep my weight off his chest.

"I'm not going anywhere, Jax. So you're just going to have to get used to having me around all the time and not being alone."

"You mean ever?"

He pinched my arm for teasing him and gave me a soft peck on the cheek. The thing was, as much as I loved the idea of having him around all the time, and I couldn't imagine my life without him, I was terrified. I'd never been so attached to another person, so comfortable and secure. Willing to risk it all, even my heart, for him. It was easy to make promises, for both of us, however there was no way to know what the future held. Except, of course, for more fighting. And more demons.

My heart pumped erratically. The beeps and whirs of the machines were a reminder of how fragile we were, even with the semi-indestructible gifts we'd been given. A spear to the heart was still a spear to the heart. He could have died. Because of me.

"Stop it. Stop thinking. I know what's going on inside that head of yours, Jax." He wrapped an arm around me, his fevered skin hot against me even through the scrubs, and placed his hand on my heart. "I know you're afraid. So am I, just try to remember we're in this together."

The evil nurse returned with the doctor in tow, making one last round before shift change before my irrational fears caused me to say or do something we'd both regret. Like end things before the demons killed him. The doctor drilled me with a stare, ordering me out of the bed without saying a word. Dane winced as I pushed myself out of the bed.

My guilty conscious got the better of me as I watched the doctor remove the bandage and examine his stitches. The doctor shifted his gaze to me for a moment, a question poised on his lips. Questions I couldn't answer, that he probably wouldn't believe even if I did.

"I'm going to go find Tobias. I'll be right back." I looked back before slipping out into the hall, half-expecting to see bloody hand prints on the sheets. He was there because of me after all—his blood was literally on my hands.

"He'll be fine. Joseph felt it best to bring him to a hospital for the sutures in the left ventricle, despite my protests that we could have tended to his wounds at home." The angel sat in a chair in the hall two doors down from Dane's room, looking up when he heard the door click closed behind me. He'd studied my expression and body language as I walked toward him. "It's a setback, certainly, but it’s nothing we can't handle."

"Dane almost dying is more than a setback. They'll try again, he's walking around with a target on his back. Because of me."

"Because he chooses to be with you. Because he believes you're worth it and believes stopping the Watchers from being released is worth it. Whatever the cost. He's more durable than you think. You don't live as long as he has by being weak. You need him. As much as he needs you. Don't let misplaced guilt or fear convince you otherwise."

"I hate hospitals."

"He'll be home before you know it."

The doctor, finished with his examination, left the room. The nurse lagged behind so I decided to give her some much needed motivation. Tobias was right. So was Dane. I forced back my fears and went back to his room. I ushered the smitten nurse out into the hall with a little more force than was probably necessary, but honestly, the woman couldn't take a hint. Dane's smile when I pulled the chair closer to the bed and sat down was all the reassurance I needed. He was worth the risk of losing my heart.

"You ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

It'd been a little over a month since Dane's release from the hospital. We'd spent every day working on regaining his strength and speed. With a century's worth of sin removed, he bounced back faster than expected, though I'd be willing to bet Tobias's rancid smelling salves and bitter teas had something to do with it as well.

The portals were still open and demons were slipping through every day, although thankfully not at the rate they were before Dane almost died. We weren't the only ones regrouping. The Devil reevaluated his plans, making adjustments for Dane's survival and my strengthened resolve. So he tried a new tactic.

There'd been an increase in violence, in a city that already had too much of it. Twenty shootings in twenty-four hours. He increased his ranks block by block, yet our assignment remained the same.

Take out the portals. Find the Spear. Prevent Tartarus from being unlocked and the Watchers from being unleashed.

No problem. All in a day’s work.