Page 117 of The Rut in the Road

There had been a fairly loud fight about it at Beyond the Veil the day before, because Jackson had desperately tried to convince Mason to let him come along—but he’d had to go with his mother, along with Zane and Grace.

Cheer up, sunshine, Sylvia cajoled. I looked over at her from where I was leaning against the wall, trying to stay standing more or less through sheer willpower.

I’m too tired,I complained to her.And my arm hurts.

My poor little sunshine, she cooed.

I rolled my eyes, but it made me smile a little as I leaned my head back against the wall.

“There you are.”

I lifted my head to see Raj in front of me.

He’d refused to let me work this gig without him. I’d been too tired to fight with him about it—since he apparently was willing to take two personal days to come with me in the middle of a major case.

I couldn’t decide if that was endearing or irritating.

I was too tired to make up my mind.

At that precise moment, I was grateful, because he was holding out a large iced pumpkin spice latte and a big cookie in a little cardboard tray. It had been Raj’s turn to do the coffee run—Mason said he was welcome to come along if he made himself useful, and while I’d been frustrated that he had to watch over me, I wasn’t going to complain about one more set of handsto move things around and help set things up. Especially since Ward was struggling with a loaner wheelchair and I only had one usable arm.

“Mason’s got a tray of enchiladas for you back at the table,” he said, studying me.

I nodded, taking a long drink of the cold coffee.

Sunshine,Sylvia interrupted.You have to tell him what you need. You can’t just expect him to know.

I kept leaning against the wall and didn’t bother looking at her.I’d have to know what I need for that, I told her.And I’m so tired I can’t think.

Take the time to think, sunshine, she told me.And then talk to him, yes?

After I sleep, I told her, although now I was annoyed at Sylvia, too. And a little at Ward, because although he hadn’t said anything more about my relationship with Raj after the night in the hospital, I kept catching him watching us, and I didn’t much like the idea that other people were judging our relationship, whether alive or dead.

Big, warm fingers gently gripped my uninjured elbow. “Are you okay?” Raj asked me softly.

I looked up at him and had to suppress the urge to burst into tears. “Just tired,” I answered, my voice tight.

“Tired?” he repeated, sounding skeptical.

“Exhausted, okay?” I snapped, since the only option I had other than tears was anger, and Raj looked startled.

I saw him take a breath, his lips opening to say something, probably something that I wasn’t going to like, and then he closed them again. “Come on,” he said gently. “Let’s get some food into you. It will help.”

I wasn’t sure it would, but I couldn’t actually remember the last thing I’d eaten, so I probably did need to have something. I nodded, allowing Raj to tug me away from the wall. I wonderedbriefly if he was going to keep escorting me like a prisoner, but he moved his hand from my elbow to my hip, his arm behind my back.

“Lean into me, if you want,” he murmured, and I had to blink back tears, although I accepted the offer.

I was mildlyannoyed to discover that food did help, as did the twenty-minute nap I took in the back of Raj’s Subaru. Apparently, he’d suggested to Mason that we all needed sleep after the past several days, and they’d worked out a rolling schedule of naps so that by the time I’d eaten, napped, and then eaten a little more, I almost felt like I might have enough energy to make it through the next eight hours.

Unfortunately, there were about sixteen to go.

Hart showedup at dawn following what I was fairly certain might have been the longest day of my life, but I might have been wrong about that, considering that I didn’t actually know for certain when days begun and ended when I’d been in Tranquil Brook. Some of those might have been longer, but I’d never know.

“Okay, people, pack it the fuck up,” the elf said, somewhat ruining the gruff impression by hugging Taavi, who’d been there not working with us, but who had come over to help us with tear-down and cleanup. “I need Raj back, and the rest of you all need to go home and go the fuck to bed.”

I couldn’t have agreed more.

“Is the MFM still out there?” Raj asked him.