Page 157 of A Wild Darkness

“Mm-hmm?”

I smile. “I know you killed Silas.”

“I did.” Trepidation transforms her delicate features. “I should feel some sort of remorse, but I don’t.”

“Because your insides are as black as mine.”

“I guess so,” she says. “I mean, I killed another human being, but he was a horrible monster. And I think in some ways I’m accepting this new thought that I can do this. I can bring justice.”

Her words.

Her admission.

Her acceptance of the darkness does nothing but make me even more infatuated with her.

“I have found my dark princess,” I say.

“My dark prince,” she mutters, her lips grazing mine.

“Sebastian!” River calls out as he tore into the room.

Stevie and I both startle.

My head whips toward my cousin. “When did you get back?”

River pulls me in for a hug. “When I found out you got shot, Lux and I were on the plane immediately.” He pulls back and crosses his arms over his chest. “Always have to be so dramatic, don’t you?”

“Fuck you,” I spit out. “When am I going to get an update on what happened after I passed out?”

“I’ll let Christian and Hayden know you’re awake, and we can all meet,” he says.

From the corner of my eye, I catch Dr. Charles entering the room. “Welcome back to the land of the living,” he greets me cheerfully approaching the bedside.

River steps away.

Stevie lifts off the hospital bed, making room for Dr. Charles.

“I thought I heard your voice.” He lowers his seeing glasses down his nose, glancing at the machines at my side. “Glad to see you’re up.”

I blow out a weighted breath, then grimace, lifting up my arm to put it back into place after Stevie left. “Yeah, well, I’m alive.”

Dr. Charles leans over to check the bandages on my shoulder. “So, you want the good news first? Or the news you won’t like?”

“I don’t care,” I say. “Whatever you want, Doc.”

He shoves his hands into the pockets of his coat. “Well, obviously the bullet missed your heart and a major artery, so that’s fantastic. I expect you’ll make a complete recovery, but it’ll take some time.”

I can’t help but glance at Stevie standing off to the right. Her pink lips pursed, and she’s nodding like she’s already heard this before.

I nod.

He continues. “Where we go from here is that you’ll need to keep the wound clean to prevent infection, and we’ll work on keeping the swelling down. In the meantime, you will remain on the pain meds.”

“Okay,” I reply.

River walks back over toward us. He must have gotten a hold of Christian and Hayden.

Dr. Charles clears his throat and continues. “Initial recovery will only be a few weeks, but you’ll need a couple of months of intensive physical therapy to gain a full range of motion again.”