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I felt like such a failure. We were outnumbered, but I should have been able to do something. Anything. We just needed our guys to arrive, and everything would be okay. I kept waiting for the right opportunity, but Zach had the knife. He would have hurt me, possibly even killed me, if it meant Harper would submit. Then she would have been alone facing them.

“That house was a fortress.” Eli leans next to the door. His gaze never leaves Harper. “We couldn’t see in. There was no way to know if we’d be helping or hurting by infiltrating. We were getting ready to head in when the tracker picked her up.”

Caden crosses and sits on the bed behind her, resting his hand on her hip. For a second, we’re quiet. All lost in our own thoughts.

“Did they...” Caden’s eyes meet mine and there’s real fear and regret in his. I want to say absolutely not, but even I can’t be sure what they did to us when we were both out.

“I was out when they took us, but I listened to them talk, and it sounded like Zach wanted to wait.” Swallowing the lump in my throat, I hope that wasn’t for my benefit. “She was still clothed.”

The door opens and we all turn to watch Jennifer enter. She looks at each of us. Her hand comes out and squeezes my arm as she closes the door behind her.

“How are you?” she asks quietly. Her dark eyes are so like Harper’s.

“I’ll live.” I give her a wry smile.

She releases my arm and looks around at all of us until her gaze settles on Harper’s sleeping form. She drags in a breath.

“The bloodwork came back.” Jennifer crosses her arms. “The cocktail Zach gave her was a mix of a bunch of drugs that could have put her into a coma or led to her death if she hadn’t been brought in.”

Dead? My knees almost give out. Harper did it to save me and the others. She almost died to keep us from that fate.

“Fuck.” Eli bends at the waist like someone punched him in the gut.

I feel sick to my stomach.

“Is she still at risk?” Nico clutches the arm of the wheelchair so tight his knuckles are white.

“She should be fine. We put her on medication for the potential overdose based on the symptoms she was having.” Jennifer blows out a breath. Her eyes are a little teary. “They want to keep her overnight for observation, but I’m not leaving her in this hospital.”

“We could take her back to my place,” Caden says. His hand remains on Harper’s hip, like he can’t let her go.

I don’t blame him. Now that my arms are free, I want to hold her and make sure she’s never hurt again.

I still want to hold her. We all do. It’s unreasonable, but fuck, tonight was a lot. Having her within reach overnight would be good, but I don’t know if Jennifer will go for that.

But do I deserve to be the one to hold her? Was there something I could have done differently to keep him from putting that poison in her veins? If anyone else had been with her, would she have been taken at all?

“She kicked a couple of guys’ asses before Zach pulled a knife on me.” I touch the bandages on my neck. He didn’t cut deep enough to leave a scar, but they stung and bled. I could see the fear in Harper’s eyes for me, knew the moment she would do anything to make him stop. “We might have escaped at that point if it hadn’t been for the knife. You should have seen her fight though. She was glorious. And then Tanner brought out Penny.”

I want to say how my hands were tied and there was nothing I could do. There wasn’t. I know that rationally, but if it had been any of them, could they have done it better? Could they have protected Harper and kept her from letting that fucker stick that needle in her that could have killed her?

“You’re not to blame, Jack.” Jennifer steps up and puts her hands on my jaw, making me look at her. “You are just as much a victim as Harper is.”

“I could have⁠—”

“Gotten yourself killed?” Caden shakes his head. “You did what you could. And I’m confident you did everything you could. Harper got out of that messed up place because you and Penny gave her the chance. Harper did what she thought was the right thing to do. That’s what she always does.”

I look into Jennifer’s eyes, so like Harper’s. “She was so fucking brave. Every step of the way. She didn’t cave once.”

“That’s our girl.” Eli’s smile is wistful as he looks at Harper.

“There are no signs of sexual assault.” Jennifer drops her hand and turns to the others. “None of the girls had signs of sexual assault. Whatever evil plan those assholes had, they didn’t accomplish that.”

Some of the weight lifts off me. I would have been prepared to help Harper through it. We all would have. That’s what love means.

“That doesn’t mean she won’t have trauma to deal with.” Jennifer lowers into one of the chairs. “Physically, her feet are pretty torn up. She has bruises and scratches on her arms and legs and face. Emotionally, what you all went through tonight isn’t something you can just get over. We have a good counselor. I recommend you either go individually or as a group, but they’ll help you process this.”

I don’t know if these guys will be open to talking to someone outside of us, but when I meet Caden’s eyes, he nods.