Sam stared at the dark wood of the door in front of him, not really seeing it, focusing more on his breathing and the way his body felt lighter than it had in weeks. He felt his muscles untensing, his heartbeat reaching the slow and steady rhythm he hadn’t appreciated until he’d lost it. He felt more like himself than ever. The moment he had stepped inside this castle and known he was back with the rest of the group, he was whole again.
It had been so easy to handle the presence of Snitch Gravel’s men, to order them hunted down and expelled from the castle. Because he was finally where he was supposed to be, not lost in the grimy catacombs of Paris.
He had risen from the ground, a man reborn, the dirt only making him stronger, more sure of himself. A slight pang knocked his confidence down a notch. Because as self-confident as he felt, he was still silly Sam who failed to save Christine.
“Hey, you okay?”
A soft hand touched his shoulder and he turned to face Angie. “Yeah. Just being amazed by how comfortable I’m suddenly feeling.”
She let out a laugh. “Me too, honestly. As much as I played brave and ticked Mozarella off, life on the streets is not for me.”
Sam nodded. He wasn’t into it either and hoped he never had to do that again.
“Is Tom in there?” She nodded towards the door.
“Yeah. He, Jessie and Jerry are in there with Jimmy.”
Angie nodded and let herself in. Sam followed, checking his watch, wondering if it was time to sleep yet. He could do with some rest. It felt like the day would never end.
The room was large and spacious, dominated by a four-poster bed in which Jimmy lay unconscious. Jessie claimed he was sleeping now, though Sam couldn’t tell the difference. He was still knocked out. He hadn’t even been there to hear Tom recount their Paris adventures with flourish which Tom had taken as a personal insult.
Sam hadn’t minded. He’d taken up other activities, such as gathering up the rest of Snitch Gravel’s men from the castle in what very well resembled a medieval witch hunt. He, Kyle, Kay, Angie and Billy had managed to round them up in no time at all, and this mainly to Kyle’s excessively belligerent mood.
A tie-up and knock-out later, Kyle had stuffed them in the car and drove them to the safety of the middle of nowhere.
Once the castle was purged, Sam supposed they could stay in the castle for the night. Given Jimmy’s condition, they didn't have much of a choice. But even with Snitch Gravel’s men out of the way and with the cover of everyone thinking they weren’t stupid enough to linger there, he’d still assigned Kyle to guard duty. His brother had gone off without a peep of protest, actually seeming thrilled with losing a night’s sleep.
Maybe it was being relieved of his leader duties, or maybe it was the weird atmosphere in the group. Sam had no idea what had happened, but there was so much tension and awkwardness around him that he longed for the whole Tom-Angie-Mizrelle triangle. At least he knew what that was.
“I think we should all go to sleep,” Jerry said, his eyes on Jessie who sat by Jimmy’s bed. “It’s been a very long day and we’re all tired.”
Tom grinned. “I’ve really missed you bossing me around.”
“I can sense the sarcasm in your voice, but I’m too tired to care,” Jerry replied, stretching. He then turned to Jessie. “Come on.”
“Excuse me?” Jessie asked, her tone more belligerent then the situation called for.
Sam was too used to Jerry playing chaperone, so he wasn’t sure what about this situation had upset Jessie.
YOU ARE READING
Freeze (The Jewel Project #4)
Adventure"I know your weakness. You want to be fair, you want to do right, you want to be the good guy. I could give you a depression you'd never crawl out of." Sometimes, no matter the turmoil in our lives, it's the seemingly irrelevant, simple, normal thin...
