51

“I feel shaky, but I’d like to go downstairs.”

I stood, sliding my arms under her legs, picking her up. “I’ll take you.”

She trembled in my arms, her head falling to my shoulder. “Are you cold?”

“No. I’m . . . tired.”

“You can eat, and we’ll go to bed. We all will. Everyone needs to sleep.”

“Can I stay with you?”

I hated hearing her sound vulnerable. She was always so strong.

“Always.”

We descended the stairs and joined our friends. I sat beside her, encouraging her to eat the scrambled eggs and toast Andrew had made. The rest of us ate the sandwiches. For the first time since everything started, I was hungry and wolfed down the food in front of me. I noticed it was the same for Maddox and Aiden. We cleared the enormous pile in minutes.

I tensed when Cami looked up and asked Emmy. “Did you fight?”

I started to object, but Emmy placed her hand on my arm. “I tried.” She sighed. “When I realized what was going on, I prepared myself. I knew the car would stop and they would have to open t