Page 114 of Riot’s Revenge

Then Kate smiled warmly. “We’re safe here.”

Mason glanced around at the prospects stationed throughout the room. “Okay, there’s guards at the back doors, I’ll position someone on the stairs too.”

Kate nodded, then looked toward me. “I’ll settle him and come straight back.”

“You don’t have to.” I hated that they were all making a fuss of me when it was normally me hovering around and treating the injured.

“I know.” Her eyes softened. “I want to.” She carried Noah toward the stairs. I watched until they disappeared from view.

Lucy turned toward me. “Sit.”

“I’m fine.”

She raised one eyebrow. “You’ve said that so many times tonight it’s lost all meaning.”

“I’m a nurse.”

“And tonight, you’re the patient.”

“That seems deeply unfair.” I tried for a smile but couldn’t manage one.

Lucy guided me toward one of the stools near the bar. “Life is cruel.”

I sat carefully, trying not to show how much it hurt.

Lucy disappeared into the hallway out the back and returned carrying the first-aid box and a bowl of warm water. She placed them on the counter before pulling another stool in front of me.

“I can do it myself.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because you won’t.” She wasn’t wrong, looking after other people came naturally, but letting them look after me felt unbearable. Lucy dipped a clean cloth into the water and wrung it out before lifting it toward my forehead. “This might sting.”

“I’ve had worse.” The cloth touched the cut, and I flinched.

Lucy’s mouth twitched. She worked carefully, wiping away the dried blood at my hairline. Her movements were slower than mine would have been, but they were gentle and precise.

I watched her face as she concentrated. Her brow furrowed slightly while she cleaned the wound, and her lips pressed together whenever I winced. “You’re doing a good job,” I said.

A small smile appeared. “I had a good teacher.”

Warmth moved through my chest, easing some of the tightness that had been there since the crash. “Who?”

Lucy gave me an unimpressed look.

I smiled faintly. “Sorry.”

She rinsed the cloth and returned to the cut. “You taught me more than you realize.” The words made me look at her. She kept her attention on my forehead.

“When I first came into this world, I didn’t understand any of it,” she continued. “The violence. The rules. The way everybody could be laughing one minute and reaching for weapons the next.”

“That part never becomes normal.”

“No,” she agreed. “But you made it less frightening.”

I swallowed. “I don’t remember doing anything.”