My King was scowling, also wearing some dirt as an accessory. “Luckily, there was a lagoon at the bottom of it.” A hand ran through his neon blue hair. “I was able to pull your body up from the water while Sin and Elder Merrick went down the ravine to retrieve you, but you’d already swallowed too much water, so Elder Merrick gave you mouth-to-mouth until Sin brought me down to get the water from your lungs. You woke up briefly then, but passed back out. By this point, the One had caught on something was amiss…” he trailed off glancing at Elder Farrar in the corner.
The Elder cleared his throat. “He raced like a damn bull through us, saw you down there with the three of them, and apparently, couldn’t reach you through your connection, and,” he waved his hand high, then plummeted it quickly, “he jumped off the damn ravine into the lagoon.”
I blinked slowly. “You’re all lying.” They had to be.
Elder Samson snorted. “No. They’re not.” A dirty expression. “I almost fell off when the One rammed us.”
My King rubbed his chin. “Next…came a bit of a…brawl, I guess you could say.”
“A brawl?”
“Mmm-hmm,” Brann hummed, appearing mighty amused. “From our angle up top, it appeared pretty brutal.”
Elder Farrar snorted, glancing at Sin. “You…are surprising.”
I glanced hurriedly to Sin, wondering…but, he only gave me a look, calming me. “So…” I rolled a finger, glancing at everyone’s clothes, Cain appearing the dirtiest, “what happened during the…brawl?”
King Collins ran a hand through his hair. “Sin, the One, and I, all believed we had dibs on you, our protective nature, and all that shit, since you weren’t conscious.” A shrugged shoulder.
“And?”
Elder Bridges lips were trembling where he propped the wall up. “None of them won the prize.” He flicked a finger to Cain, who was making me take another drink. “While they were fighting it out against one another, he pulled you from the fray, tossed you over his shoulder, and snuck around a boulder and started climbing up the ravine.”
My eyes shot wide as I drank, again glancing at Cain’s previously injured arms.
Sin cleared his throat next to me, rubbing my back. “I did notice what he was doing.”
Dry words from Elder Farrar. “Yes, I believe that was about the time you started to create a mini-avalanche from the side of the ravine until you noticed…they were on said ravine.”
“I stopped it,” Sin stated instantly, then rubbed at his jaw. “Took a punch, too, during it.”
My King cleared his throat. “Yes,” flicked finger, “not really one of my finer moments.”
Sin shrugged. “I buried you. We’re even.”
Elder Samson gestured to Cain. “Elder Merrick made it to the top quickly, and I healed the arm and leg you had broken, probably during your fall.”
“You’re lucky you didn’t break your damn neck,” Cain stated steadily, calmly, as he straightened, carrying the water glass with him, refilling it, and taking the pills King Zeller handed him, making me take those as he eyed me pointedly, navy blue eyes hard. “The next time you’re too ill to carry on, you need to say something, so cases like this don’t occur.”
My face fell a bit, feeling guilty and nauseous and tired. “I knew you all wanted to leave.” I jutted my chin up even though I was feeling none of it. “And I didn’t want to be a pain in the ass, as so many of you have complained about. I’m not weak, but I’m not fully recovered, either. It was hard going, but I managed. For all of you.” I drank the rest of my water, not glancing at anyone, handing it back to Cain. “I’m going to sleep now, so I’m ready for tomorrow.” I lay down grumpily, hiding my face from all of them by turning to face Sin. “Thank you for saving me today. And I’ll try to not let it happen again.” There was quiet for a long moment, no one moving or speaking, so I murmured, “Good night, everyone. Enjoy your night in your own rooms.” Hell, they’d probably all love some privacy.
My King cleared his throat. “This is actually our room.”
I blinked slowly, then lifted my head, peering about the room again. “No way.” It barely fit everyone standing, much less lying on the ground. “There’s not enough room for everyone.”
Elder Bridges sighed heavily, appearing pained. “There are only four rooms to the place, since we’re in the middle of nowhere, and all of them are taken with the rest of our group.”
My head flopped back on the pillow, groaning in frustration. “Sin and I can share the bed.”
My King hummed happily. “It does look soft.”
“It is,” Sin muttered grouchily as he helped me move to the center, grabbing the pillows, claiming the ones we had already started using, resituating them and the blanket. “Anyone who gets in this damn bed wears clothes.” ‘Cause some of the men slept in the buff, which I had unfortunately learned one morning, yanking the cover off Brann.
Then, it became a contest of who could speak fast enough…
“Dibs,” my King muttered hurriedly, jumping like a kid, and landing next to Sin.
“Shoes!” Sin and I both shouted at the same time, and I waggled a finger at my King’s dirty as hell boots. “Take those off!”
Even as King Collins started taking his boots off, King Zeller moved forward quickly, arching and popping his back, muttering swiftly, “I call dibs, too.” He pointed at his dirtless attire. “And I’m even clean.”
“Just take your damn boots off,” Sin muttered, lying down on his side, facing me, giving them room, since King Zeller was, apparently, going to sleep on the edge of the bed next to King Collins.
Cain mumbled quickly, “I could use a bed.” He bent, picking his duffle off the floor, tossing it next to me. “I call dibs, but I’m going to shower first.” He turned on his heal, and went into the bathroom.
Elder Farrar hopped forward on one foot, taking a boot off as he moved. “Dibs next to him.” He tossed the boot, and started hopping on the other foot, working on his other boot. “Fuck, my back’s killing me.”
The remaining three appeared all types of shell-shocked at the mad-dash-dibbing for the bed, all staring at the foot of it, the only place left for someone to sleep on a soft surface.
And…even as Brann and Elder Bridges started racing toward it…Elder Samson stood still, and just flicked a hand, both of them magically scooped up inside golden bubbles, and tossed out the front door that flew open as he sauntered over, muttering, “My ass is still numb from the damn ride, so I’m going to be sharing the bed with you six.” He appeared properly disgusted, dropping back on the bed below our feet, careful to keep his boots off the edge, but claiming his space just as Elder Bridges breezed back into the cabana, appearing peeved, Brann following behind him, growling softly, slamming the door closed. Elder Samson only raised his eyebrows. “You two are so predictable.”