Still alive.
Tears continued to spill, and Asher kissed them away, one by one.
“He’s okay,” I whispered, knowing Ash would understand. “He’s still with us. I can feel him.”
“Yeah. Me too,” he said. “When we… finished… Something about it brought them all in. I even thought of Liam’s spooky ass.” Asher laughed. “Does that sound fucking crazy or what?”
“It’s our bond,” I said. “Being together like this brings us all closer. I think it’s only going to get stronger now. Not just with you and me, but with all of us. Did you really feel Emilio, too?”
“Not as clear as the other guys, but yeah.” He finally set me down, still holding me as I regained my footing on the slippery tub. The jeans I’d cast off earlier were balled up in a wet heap in the corner, still bloody. I’d be throwing those out the first chance I got.
“I know it was bad,” I continued, toeing the filthy jeans. A stream of red water ran out beneath them. “But if Emilio…” I swallowed hard, unable to say the d-word out loud.Died.“I would feel it, if he did.”
Iwouldfeel it. I knew that for a fact. Believed it with such unshakeable faith that even when Darius knocked on the door fifteen minutes later to tell us a car had just pulled in, even when I opened the front door and saw Elena’s shocked, vacant eyes, even when Ronan met my gaze and shook his head, wordless, his whole body covered in wolf’s blood, I still believed Emilio was okay. That any minute he’d walk in behind Ronan and Elena, naked, grinning his wolf’s grin, cracking some joke about how he’d lost all his clothes during the shift that’d miraculously healed his body.
As we stood in the entryway, the door wide open, Asher’s arm came around my waist, holding me up. Our bodies were still warm from the shower, hair dripping into our eyes, and even when I felt his own gasp of shock at Ronan and Elena’s obvious despair, I kept looking past them, looking out into the darkness, searching for my wolf.
When was he coming back? Had he driven separately? Had he decided to stop for supplies? Did he have to file a report at the station?
My mind served up all kinds of logistical questions, because despite the painfully obvious evidence laid out before me, some part of mestillbelieved that my thoughts, my intentions, my imagination, my heart, my bond with him, my hope, my faith, my magic… that all of those things were stronger than Death.
Stupid girl.
“We couldn’t save him,” Ronan finally said, his voice cracking, his face as pale as the moon. “Emilio is dead.”
Six
GRAY
“He isn’t,” I insisted. It was that simple. Emilio wasn’t dead.
Which meant that Ronan and Elena had left him in that warehouse somewhere, bleeding and probably unconscious.
I was wearing only a thin robe I’d found hanging on the back of the bathroom door, but I didn’t care. Ignoring Ronan’s desolate stare, I pulled open the hall closet and grabbed the first jacket I saw, already shoving my bare feet into a pair of old boots.
“Let’s go. We need to find him and bring him back here. He needs medical attention.”
No one made a move.
“Why are you guys standing around? Let’s go!” Now it was my voice that was breaking, a tiny crack on the first word that’d turned into a fissure by the last, huge enough for all the doubts and fears to seep in.
My knees buckled, and I felt a pair of strong arms come around my waist from behind, catching me before I hit the floor.
“He’s gone, baby. He’s gone.” Asher’s voice, which only moments ago had been a source of pure pleasure, was like rusty nails on a china plate now. I wrenched free of his hold, still refusing to accept that Emilio—strong, powerful, beautiful Emilio—was dead.
I could still feel his presence. His essence. Why were they all looking at me like I’d lost my mind?
I stepped toward Ronan, leaning in as close as I dared. My skin and hair were still damp from the shower, and here in Ronan’s forbidden presence, steam rose from my body in iridescent swirls.
I searched his eyes, seeking the lie. The loophole that would let our wolf be okay.
But Ronan was a shell. His eyes were empty. It felt like his whole body was about to turn into dust and blow away.
I looked to Elena instead. She hadn’t uttered a word since they’d walked in—just stood beside Ronan, her mouth opening and closing as if she couldn’t suck in enough air, her hands coated in dark, dried blood.
“You’dneverleave his body behind,” I said to both of them. “So, if he’s really dead, where’s his body?”
No response.
