Once again, I didn’t reach for my phone to play the recording. At some point, I must have drifted into a light, uneasy sleep, but I woke up suddenly.
My gaze darted around the room, sensing something, but my brain was too hazy and too tired to pinpoint what. I remained still for a second, trying to determine whether I was dreaming, but my heart was already racing. The air felt thick, almost suffocating.
Slowly, through the fog, a smell registered.
Rotten eggs. Sulfur.
Shit, it was gas.
Just in that moment, I heard movement outside my door and I sat up, clutching my sheets.
“Who’s there?” I called, my voice unsteady.
A low laugh—wild and so wrong—traveled through the air.
The smell grew stronger despite the open windows in my bedroom, and an unease crept over me.
I got out of bed without thinking and headed for the door. My hands trembled as I reached for the doorknob and opened it. The smell was much more potent here.No.
Worry for Lykos, Aria, and Dimitros overwhelmed me, extinguishing my fear, and I didn’t think. I ran for the door next to mine and pushed into the room.
The smell of gas hit me harder, filling my lungs and making me dizzy. The window was shut, but Lykos wasn’t there.
My mind whirled in a thousand different directions. Maybe he left. Maybe he was downstairs. Maybe…
No, I couldn’t think of him dead.
I bolted down the hallway, to the opposite side of the house where I knew the children’s bedrooms were.
I opened the first door and found Aria’s golden mane on the pillow. She lay there, so small beneath the covers.
I spotted Lykos sitting in the chair, motionless.
“Lykos! Aria!” I called out, but neither one of them moved.
I stumbled to the window and wrenched it open, the hinges screeching in protest. Cold air flooded the room and I dragged in a deep breath, then another, forcing myself to stay upright, to think.
“Lykos!” I called again, my voice cracking as it echoed uselessly off the walls. “Aria!”
I turned and rushed back to the father of my child, dropping to my knees in front of the chair. I grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard. “Wake up!”
Nothing.
A cold weight settled in my stomach. No, no, no, no.
My fingers fumbled against his neck, searching for a pulse point. For a moment, I felt nothing but the chill of his skin, and panic surged up so fast it stole the air from my lungs.
“Lykos, please… wake up,” I whispered, the words breaking apart as they left me. “Don’t do this,” I said, shaking him, fear spilling into every movement. “Lykos, wake up!”
I drew back and slapped him once. The sound cracked through the room.
Then his eyes opened, disoriented until they landed on me, and relief hit me so hard I thought I’d collapse.
“What…?” he murmured.
“Gas leak,” I said, my relief ballooning as he became more alert. “You weren’t waking up… We need to get the kids out of this house.” He pushed himself upright, swaying, and I caught his arm, bracing him. His weight leaned into me for half asecond before he steadied, jaw tightening as awareness snapped into place. “And Salvatore. Where is he?”
“He’s not here.” He stood up, his eyes darting around the room before landing on the bed where Aria slept. He was already moving as he rasped, “You get Aria, I’ll get Dimitros.”
