“Shh, chaplain.”
I cleaned the injection site and worked fast to get the drugs into him. He did not flinch. I wiped the speck of blood away and eased him onto his side, beckoning Cam closer. My work was done. The role of comforter was his.
Cam came to the bed and stretched out beside Embry, close enough to rub his shoulders. The chaplain was the smallest of the brothers, his frame athletic but slender compared to Cam. In this moment, he looked very young, and I saw my thoughts reflected in Cam’s face as he coaxed his brother to lean on him. His embrace was fraternal and beautiful and why I loved him so much. I had never met a soul with the capacity to care like this man did.
I retreated from the bed.
Cam’s gaze flared wide. “Don’t leave.”
“I said I would not. You need to tell me what you brought me upstairs for in the first place.”
“That can wait.”
“Can it? Or would it help for your chaplain to hear it too?”
Embry raised his head. Cam slid a pillow beneath it to prop him up. “I feel really fucking weird, but I’m listening.”
“You will remember too. The drugs will make you drowsy, but your thoughts will be clear.”
“Were you a doctor in your old life?”
“No, I was a sex slave, but I educated myself when I became something else. It seemed judicious that if I wanted to end life, I knew how to save it too.”
“In case you changed your mind?”
“Something like that.” I watched Embry relax further into Cam’s side. “I am not a doctor, though. Not even close. If this gets worse, you will need help. You understand this, yes?”
It annoyed me that his answer mattered. These people were taking up too much space in my mind—space I’d committed to Cam and then Saint. I did not know how to care, and it confused me that I did. That Embry’s tired smile and low murmur of thanks made me feel good.
I returned my attention to Cam. “Tell me.”
Cam sighed, a shudder passing through him.
Embry brought his hand to Cam’s arm and gave it a clumsy rub. “It’s bad?”
Horrific. Cam didn’t need to say it. I saw it in his face as he glanced at me. “You’ll hear anyone coming?”
“Of course.”
“Because you’re superhuman?”
“Deflecting won’t make it better,” Embry murmured. “Leave Alexei alone and speak.”
Okay. I liked this brother too. It was only the road captain I’d yet to spend enough time with to tell why Cam loved him so much.
Cam took a tremulous inhale, bringing me back to the moment. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but I have to, or I’m going to fucking explode.”
“Take another breath,” Embry counselled. “It’ll be okay.”
“You’resaying that? After the month we’ve just had?”
“Yup. Fight me.”
“No.” Cam fixed his gaze on me instead. “The scar on Saint’s neck. When I was with him today, he told me how he got it.”
My heart stilled. I had not slept much since the night Saint’s scar had etched itself into my conscience, but I had seen it in my dreams when I had. Dreams that had woken me and driven me to seek comfort in Cam’s warmth beside me. “Who did it?”
I will kill them. I will flay them alive.