He doesn’t say it back, but he squeezes my hand and fills my head with so much affection I almost start to cry again.
I swallow past the lump in my throat, my eyes stinging, as the elevator doors open, and I check left and right to make sure no one is around. I feel like my heart is in my neck, pounding aggressively through my skin. But thankfully, no one’s around. We’re safe for now.
I tug Cielo down the hall until we arrive at Eissa’s door, and my breath catches in my chest. But before I can knock, it flies open, and I’m yanked inside by very human hands.
Luca, I think for a very brief moment. But it’s not him. Everest groans as he hugs me tightly.
“We’ve been waiting forever, dude. Why are you so slow!”
I shove him back and manage something like a smile, but I don’t have time for him. My gaze finds Eissa across the room, standing beside a very large dining table. “Where is he?”
Eissa’s eyes cut to the short hallway, then he lets out a soft humming breath. “Follow me. Everyone else, wait here. Dante is going to need a moment.”
This does not bode well, but whatever state he’s in, whatever condition, I’m ready. I need to know my brother is not only safe, but is going to live.
In that moment, the room feels empty, save for the other Vyastil. I don’t even notice the decorations or the furniture. I can barely feel my face.
“Come,” Eissa says, his eyes drawn, his mouth pulled into a worried frown as he beckons me along to the hallway.
Not even Cielo follows us, and I’m thankful he’s giving me this time. If I’m about to face my dying brother, I will need a moment to myself.
Eissa stops at the second room down a short corridor, and his hand grips the knob. My heart’s hammering in my chest as he pushes it open, and I blink against a low light on a nightstand.
It takes me a moment to see him.
Luca’s in the middle of the bed, sheet drawn up to his chest, and he’s awake. He’s got one arm in a sling, and his face is battered to hell. His lip is fat, one eye is swollen shut, and there’s a sunset of bruising cascading down his jaw and chest.
But he’s alive and not on his deathbed like I was afraid of. His one uninjured eye is fixed on me with an awareness I wasn’t expecting.
“Zitha,” I murmur quietly despite the fact that Luca can’t hear me.
“I have given it to him, but with his level of injury, he is taking a while to heal.”
I interpret all this without thinking—old habits that I never want to die. Luca makes a soft noise of pain and jerks his head to the side before wincing as he beckons me over.
It takes another moment for reality to hit that he’s fine, but when it does, my knees give out. Luckily, I’m already at the bed and collapse onto the mattress, letting out an almost violent sob of relief.
I cover my face as Luca passes his uninjured hand up and down my spine, making a low noise of what I know is meant to be comfort.
‘Asshole,’ I sign.
When I glance over, he’s grinning a little, which looks ridiculous over his massively swollen lips. ‘I know. I’m sorry. Did you get my video?’
I shake my head, then look over to find that Eissa is gone.
‘He’ll be back,’ Luca tells me.
I wonder how the fuck he knows that, but whatever. It doesn’t matter. The only thing keeping me from flinging myself into his arms once more is that he is in a ton of pain.
‘What happened?’
‘Zane,’ he signs.
My eyes go wide. ‘What? Zane? He hurt you?’
Luca huffs a frustrated sigh, then snags his phone from the bedside table. It’s bashed up, but the cracks on the screen are only at the top, and it seems functional.
He flicks the screen on, then opens up his photos before waving at me for my attention. ‘You know my lipreading is good.’
