Page 13 of Petrified

I lean forward and rest my forearms on my thighs. “We came here to find out why I wasn’t fully recovered. We know now. My organs were damaged, they’re healing, and whatever Lev did kept that damage from being worse.”

Gerald’s eyes move to me. “Understanding how he did that could matter the next time one of you is injured.”

“It could.” I keep my voice even. “That doesn’t mean he owes you a demonstration.”

Amand stands beside me, bringing the conversation to a natural end without needing to say anything else. Lev gets up too, already irritated enough that keeping him in the room longer isn’t going to help anybody.

Gerald closes the notebook. “I’m not asking for a demonstration today. Rowan needs to recover first, and Lev needs time to think about what happened.”

“That part I can agree with,” Lev says as I stand more carefully than I would have before the scan. He notices the way I move but doesn’t comment, only catches my hand again once I’m upright.

Amand heads for the door while Gerald reminds me to follow the healer’s instructions. Lev starts listing them before we even make it into the hallway, apparently determined to prove he memorized every word.

I hook an arm around his shoulders and pull him against my side. “You’re going to make the next few days unbearable.”

“You almost became a statue because you couldn’t follow one sentence. I’ve earned unbearable.”

Amand looks back at us as he opens the door. “He has a point.”

Lev immediately points at him. “See? Growth. He’s finally learning.”

I tighten my arm around Lev before he can start another argument and guide him into the hallway. Amand falls into step on his other side, and when the office door shuts behind us, he catches my eye over Lev’s head.

Neither of us says anything.

We don’t need to yet.

Chapter 6

AMAND

Two days later, Rowan’s breathing is finally normal again, which he has apparently decided means every other instruction the healer gave him has expired. He makes it exactly six minutes after we get home before reaching for the case bag we left by the door, and Lev catches him with one hand already around the strap while I’m still taking off my shoes.

“What are you doing?” Lev steps between Rowan and the bag before Rowan can lift it, looking from his hand to his face with the kind of disbelief usually reserved for people who lick electrical outlets. Rowan tells him he’s moving it, which only makes Lev plant both palms against his chest and push him back a step. “With the lungs that were partially stone three days ago? The healer said nothing strenuous, not see how quickly you can fuck yourself up again.”

Rowan catches Lev’s wrists before he can shove him twice. “It weighs ten pounds.”

“That’s not the fucking point.” Lev tugs once against his grip, gets nowhere, and glares harder. “You nearly stopped breathing because you touched something after I told you not to. Can you make it through recovery before you start making terrible decisions again?”

That takes some of the amusement out of Rowan’s face, although not enough to stop him from drawing Lev closer by the wrists. I finish taking off my shoes and lean against the wall, watching the two of them while Lev stays planted in front of Rowan.

I laugh before I can stop myself, and Lev turns his head toward me while Rowan’s mouth finally gives in to a smile. “Don’t encourage him. He already thinks surviving his own stupidity means he won.”

“I’m not encouraging him.” I step away from the wall and take the case bag out of Rowan’s hand before he remembers why this started. “I’m removing the excuse so the two of you can stop arguing about ten pounds of evidence.”

Rowan lets me take it without protest. Lev catches that too, his eyes narrowing briefly before he looks back at Rowan. “See? Even Amand thinks you should sit down.”

“I think the bag needed moving.”

“You are both exhausting.”

Rowan still has Lev by the wrists, and instead of releasing him, he turns them slightly and brings Lev flush against him. Lev’s mouth closes for a second, irritation shifting beneath something warmer before he manages to recover enough to glare again.

“Let go of me.”

Rowan doesn’t. “You’ve been touching me all day.”

“That is completely unrelated to you manhandling me in the foyer.”