Page 69 of Born Reckless

"He threatened you," I hiss. "He went to the Godfrey Tower and was trying to use you to find me."

"You're so stupid!" Elena says, her voice beginning to grow frantic.

"Juliet is alive," Sigrid says in that calm way of hers. "That is what is important. For now, we need to focus on tracking down her attacker."

"For now, we need to get Juliet some medical attention," Sebastian says. He grips the chains that wrap around my wrists and with one sharp yank, they snap and fall to the ground. "I'm taking you to the hospital."

Gently, he grabs for me. When my head spins and my knees nearly give out, Sebastian scoops me into his arms.

"Wait, where is Mason?" I ask as I press a hand into my forehead. But that hurts even more. Everywhere hurts right now.

"When I told Elena and Mason what happened, Elena shoved Mason at Roman and told him not to let him follow us," Warren explains. He looks scared, nearly frantic. Maybe he realizes that he should have handled the situation differently. "Mason kind of… lost it. But Roman locked him in a room. Roman and his team are out searching the city."

The others follow as Sebastian carries me up the stairs. We enter the lobby of a slightly rundown looking apartment complex. We walk out the front doors, and Sebastian heads off in the direction of the hospital.

"How did you guys find me?" I ask. I close my eyes and try not to focus on the motion of Sebastian's gait. My stomach rolls.

"Tagged, remember?" Elena says.

I look back at Sigrid, and for the first time, I am grateful for those flowers and vines tattooed on my forearm. "Thank you."

"Of course, my darling," Sigrid says. "I just wish it hadn't taken so long for everyone to realize you were missing and then think to tell me."

"My bad," Warren pipes up. "I should have known I should have just stood on the platform and announced to the entire gala that Juliet had run off to go attack the man who had sworn to kill her."

"That was stupid," Sebastian says in a low voice as he looks down at me. "But I have to admire your guts. Not too many newborn vampires would have your level of confidence."

Sebastian might be right. I'm not sure that I like him. But his words pull a smile from me.

“Stupid is my middle name,” I brush it off, even as my entire body throbs. “How long was it, Warren?”

“Not quite three hours,” he answers.

Shit. It felt like an eternity.

I've never been to Sebastian's hospital before. My eyes widen as he walks up to a set of enormous doors.

It stretches eight stories tall. It looks brand-new, and it's beautifully modern with tons of glass and shiny stainless-steel surfaces. He doesn't go through the emergency room doors. He walks straight through the main doors, and nobody questions him as he carries me through the lobby and down the hall. He pushes his way through a door that has his name on it. Once inside, I realize that this is his office. But it's not just an office. There are medical supplies neatly organized and put away.

Gently, Sebastian sets me on my feet and nods for me to sit in the chair in the corner.

But just as I'm about to sit down, I catch a glimpse of myself in the full-length mirror on the wall.

I look like I just walked out of an explosion. Cuts and bruises cover my face. There is blood stretching over at least half of my exposed skin. My dress is ripped and stained with blood. I almost look like the main girl in that scary movie, Carrie.

I've been hit before. I wish I could say it was the first time a grown man has struck me. But it's not.

Somehow, I always get back up. I always get back on my feet.

I always swallow it all down. Every emotion. Every bit of anger and hurt and resentment. I stuff it all into a little box and I bury it with sarcasm and cynical humor.

But for some reason it's kind of hard to breathe right now. It's hard to look in that mirror and see the physical evidence of what was done to me.

I think this is what I would look like if all of the emotional trauma that I’ve been through was visible on my skin.

"Can you all give me a minute with Juliet?" Sebastian asks softly. "She's going to need a few stitches until her body heals on its own. I just need a minute to do a quick evaluation."

Nobody fights him. Each of them nods and steps out into the hall without a fight. Sebastian closes the door after them and turns back around to face me.