Knock Down, Drag Out / Book One

Chapter Nine

"This place is huge," Darcy breathed, in awe of the cabin sitting in front of them. Four stories high and dark cherry wood with a wrap around porch and balconies overlooking the lake made it seem more like something out of a fairytale than a weekend hunting cabin.

Lylah turned her wide eyes towards her twin and nodded her agreement. They hadn't been expecting much when Maddox mentioned the cabin, and this blew them away.

"Landon's partner, Jaxon, has a big family. They come up here every winter and he gave us permission to use it whenever we liked. It's a good place to hide away." Maddox pulled his key ring out of his pocket and found the correct one, unlocking the front door and allowing Elijah to enter with Landon first. The morphine was wearing off and he was still in a good deal of pain.

"Girls, why don't you wrap up Landon's ribs again? The boys can bring in the groceries and clothes. I'll start dinner and everyone can go get cleaned up." Darcy nodded her head at Ruby, taking the doctor's kit from her hand. Elijah set Landon down on the couch and backed out of the way.

"Alright, tiny tot, this is gonna fucking hurt," Lylah warned, holding up Landon's shirt so Darcy could wrap his ribs. They had to get it tight enough that it didn't hurt him when he moved but not so tight that caused any further damage.

Landon ground his teeth together and grabbed the edge of the couch cushion with both hands so he wouldn't reach out and knock Darcy away. He knew she was trying to help, but holy fuck; it felt like she was taking a sledge hammer to his rib cage.

She was done quickly, not done quickly enough for Landon if the way he had his jaw clenched was anything to go by, and he offered her a shaky smile. She patted his thigh before rummaging in the kit for more pain killers, something with less kick than the morphine but enough to give him relief. She found a small bottle of Oxycodone and shook out two pills, handing them to Landon along with a bottle of water so he could wash them down.

"We'll help you up to a room, you're gonna feel sleepy in about forty five minutes so it'll be best to get you settled before then. Your mom can warm up your can of soup and help you eat it before making dinner."

Landon nodded his head at Darcy and allowed the two women to help him up off of the couch. He would have killed to have Elijah just pick him up like a child again but he was busy bringing in bags of groceries like his mom had asked.

The trip up the stairs was a slow one, Landon breaking out into a sweat before they even reached the top of it. Darcy and Lylah were kind enough to shove their way into the closest room to them and help him lay down on the bed, taking his shoes off along with his jeans. It probably should have been embarrassing for the woman who was sleeping with his brother to see him in his boxers, but they moved with such practiced ease that he had no doubt they had done this a million times together and didn't care about anything other than making him comfortable.

Darcy threw a soft blanket over his body and bent down, brushing a kiss over his forehead. Lylah did the same and he sent them a tired grin. "Get some sleep after your soup, Landon. It'll only get worse tomorrow."

Darcy closed the door behind her on her way out of the room and Lylah hooked their arms together, leading her down the hallway. "Wanna bunk together? Or do you wanna bunk with Maddox?" Lylah asked, a wicked gleam coming into her eyes when she saw that Darcy was blushing.

"Nothing against you, I know you'd kill someone to protect me. But I feel safe when I sleep with Maddox. And after all that's happened today, I need that like you wouldn't believe."

Lylah untangled their arms and slapped her twin upside the head. "You're a dingus. You don't have to explain anything to me. Now, pick a room and go shower. You need to relax a little bit, you look like you're about to snap in half. I'll bring you some clothes up."