Chapter 49

Sienna’s POV

Lucius took that bullet for me.

If he hadn’t, I’d be dead right now. Shot right in the head.

But what if Lucius is dead now, in my place?

I didn’t want to think about that.

Instead of Asher running to my aid — my husband, might I remind you — I saw him clinging to a bloody, terrified Mia across the room. I’d noticed they were both absent at the last half of my speech, and it made my blood boil.

Asher and I managed to get Lucius outside, where a huge number of medics had already arrived and were taking people away on stretchers.

I wondered how many people were left in there, lying dead. Buried under rubble, or their throats slit.

What about the orphans? Had they escaped? Or did they join their parents?

If I kept thinking about it, I was going to crumble.

Lucius was quickly put on a stretcher, the image of him taking the bullet for me replaying over and over in my mind.

He could be dead because of me.

“Have you seen Julian?” I asked Asher as Lucius was rolled away, taken to the infirmary a mile or so from the event.

“Not at all,” Asher sighed, looking very shaken up. Mia had disappeared from the invisible leash she’d been on with him, and I was so thankful for that.

Both of us were silent for a moment, thinking the same thing about Julian.

Had he been killed in the explosion?

He had been sitting closer to the explosion — just like I would have been if I wasn’t on the stage.

I had no idea of the fate’s of so many of the people in attendance. I was absolutely sick to my stomach.

“You need to go to the infirmary too. You’re covered in blood.” Asher tenderly touched my arm, clearly worried now about my injuries.

“It’s not like you were worried about that before.” I couldn’t help myself, it just came out of me.

“Sienna…” Asher winced, quite obviously feeling really bad about everything that happened in there.

“I could have died.” My voice was hoarse, the trauma of what just happened starting to settle like an anvil on my shoulders.

“I know,” he whispered, pain in his voice. He regretted it, didn’t he? “But you didn’t.”

“Thanks to Lucius.” I held back a sob, the image of Lucius’ pale face stuck in my mind. “Who might now be dead.”

“He’s strong,” Asher said softly, a sadness in his voice. Of course he was sad — Lucius was one of his best friends, if not his absolute best.

“I’m going to go to the infirmary,” I said weakly, my muscles starting to ache, the pain from the cuts and bruises all over me finally kicking in.

“I’ll come.” Asher took a step towards me, but I shook my head.

“Stay here. Help however you can. You don’t need to be sitting with me doing nothing.”

He studied me for a moment, not bothering to fight against me.

I hail down a medic, who looks me over, sending me on my way to the infirmary with a crowd of others. I definitely need a good cleaning up, because any of my cuts could get infected.

A few of them were pretty deep, too. They were stinging bad.

As soon as I reached the infirmary, the metallic scent of blood attacked me. I almost gagged, having become accustomed to the smell of blood on myself — now it was fresh, and recent.

It wasn’t just blood I smelled — it was death, too.

The tent I entered seemed to be for people who were able to stand but still injured, not anyone who was in dire condition. It seemed like most of the serious injuries had gone into the main building, and tents had been put up outside for the rest of us.

I scanned the room, seeing no familiar faces. I wasn’t sure if that was a relief or if it made me worry even more.

The commotion outside was unmissable as people in critical condition were rolled into the main hospital, some hauntingly quiet while others screamed in pain.

The knot in my stomach was growing tighter.

When another medic finally came over to my gurney, they cleaned up my hands, bandaging all my cuts, even needing to stitch one that had opened up above my eyebrow.

It took a while to clean me up, but I was cleared, feeling a lot better. When I stood up, I noticed Mia on the other side of the tent, Asher next to her.

Are you kidding me right now? It couldn’t have been more than an hour since I last saw Asher, and I really hoped he’d have stayed in the aftermath to help.

But no, of course, he was here with Mia.

I let out a sharp sigh, slipping out of the infirmary and making my way into the main hospital building.

I had to see Lucius — or find out anything I could about him and how he was doing.

The receptionist at the desk looked stressed — rightfully so, with everything going on — and she told me where Lucius was without hesitation, like she just wanted to get rid of me.

Lucius had already been operated on, considering he’d been in total critical condition, and I found him on his bed, looking more beaten up than I’d ever seen him.

“Lucius,” I exhaled in relief, so thankful to hear the repetitive beeping of his heart monitor.

He was alive. He survived.

I wasn’t the reason he was dead.

“Hi,” he mumbled, a weak smile on his chapped lips.

“I can’t believe you took that bullet for me.” I rushed to his bedside, sitting carefully, afraid I’d hurt him.

His abdomen was bandaged up, the light stain of his blood seeping through.

“I don’t understand how it happened,” he whispered, the disappointment evident on his face. “My security is the strongest of any packs.”

He was struggling to speak, and I knew he probably needed rest, rather than worrying about why the attack happened.

“We’ll get to that later, okay?” I sighed, giving him a somewhat reassuring smile. It was the best I could do. “I think right now, you need to rest.”

“Everything hurts,” he groaned, his eyes fluttering shut.

“I just had to make sure you were okay,” I whispered, very gently resting my bandaged hand over his still pale one. “I’ll check on you again soon okay?”

He was already knocked out by the time I stood up, probably dosed up on morphine to stop the pain. He’d most definitely had a very close brush with death tonight.

All for me.

I stared at him, sound asleep, for at least a minute, my throat tight. I was so relieved he was okay, though I couldn’t shake the horrible feeling of guilt that hovered over me.

After a few more minutes of watching him, I turned away, knowing it was time to go and find Asher and have a real talk.

I paused at the door, looking back at Lucius, so frail, bandaged and damaged, and whispered, “I am so glad you’re okay.”

The door clicked shut behind me, and I let out the huge breath I’d been holding since I first walked in the hospital.