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I can't let him drag Coda into this. He can say whatever he wants about me—do what he wants to be—but Coda is off-limits.
"Stay out of my life!" I scream over my shoulder, my voice cracking as I jog down the steps.
"Karina!" He stumbles out onto the porch behind me, his form blurred by tears.
My hand shakes as I fumble with the car keys, desperate to get out of here. I never should have come in the first place. Whoever this man is…he isn't the person who raised me. That man was flawed and imperfect, but he wasn't a monster. This one is a monster.
When did he start the slow descent? Or was he always on that path and I just never realized it until now? I don't know. But I know what the dark looks like now.
It isn't the man who kisses me as if I command his soul.
It's my father. That's darkness.
Coda is everything right in this world.
I slide into the driver's seat of my Camry and jam the key into the ignition. The engine growls to life. Gravel crunches beneath the tires as I reverse out of the driveway with too much speed and too little caution, desperate to put this house and my father behind me.
"You didn't deserve her!" I spit out the window, a last act of defiance toward the man whose love comes wrapped in barbed wire.
He's a blurry figure in the rearview mirror as I race away, his head hanging as if regret rests heavy on his shoulders. But it's too late for him and too late for us. I'm done.
He won't ever speak to me like that again.
The streets are a blur, houses streaking by in a kaleidoscope as I race back to Coda's. I need him. I need his arms around me. I need him holding me together. I just need him.
My breaths come in pained gasps, hot tears streaming down my face.
I see the flash of blue dart into the intersection ahead a second too late. My light is green, and I'm going too fast to stop.
Time stretches. For an instant, everything is painfully clear—the bright sky, the horrified look on the face of the other driver, the realization that there's no stopping this.
I slam into his car.
Metal screeches.
Glass shatters.
The world spins.
My body lurches forward, held back by the seatbelt biting painfully into my chest. Pain explodes in my head, bright and fierce, and then there's nothing but darkness clawing its way in, threatening to swallow me whole.
"Coda…" His name is a whisper on my lips, a plea for salvation as the dark takes hold, pulling me under.
Chapter Seven
Coda
The fluorescent lights of the emergency room buzz overhead, casting a sterile glow over the waxed floor. Sick people huddle in chairs all over the waiting room, mindlessly waiting to be called.
I stride past them, heading for the door to the back.
A middle-aged nurse at the reception desk looks up at me, opens her mouth, and quickly snaps it closed.
Good.
I don't have time for bullshit.
I shove the door open so hard it slams against the wall, announcing my arrival like a raging wind. My breath is ragged, my heart slamming against my ribs as if it's trying to escape my chest. It's been pounding the same way since the fucking doctor called, telling me that Karina was here, asking for me.
