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“For fuck’s sake, Jack.You know I wouldn’t tell your woman anything.Do you think I want Delaney to know what I’m capable of?Hell no.But what I saw, you weren’t you.I’m the one everyone freaks out over, but you’re the scariest motherfucker I’ve ever seen when it’s time to get dirty.You should have been the one the uncles called to get the answers they wanted.I wasn’t even needed for this trip, except for backup.”
“I was me,” I argued, voicing the truth aloud for the very first time.“I was more me than I ever let anyone else see.At least, anyone who is still alive.I just fight it so it won’t bleed over into the rest of my life.”
But I didn’t have to fight the darkness with Nishia, a voice in the back of my head reminded me.She kept it back, so only the light would touch her.
And she hadn’t fucking called me.
I pulled into Max’s driveway.Seeing Ronan playing in the front yard, I waved at the boy when he ran to meet his dad.“Hi, Uncle Jack!”
“Where’s your mom, Ronan?”Max asked, looking longingly at the front door to his house.
“She’s at Sanctuary.Grandma asked her to help out today.Aunt Gracie was upset, and Grandma had to go over there last night with Uncle Ben.Something about the new girl being sick.”
Max’s blue eyes caught mine through the cab of the truck just as the boy’s words clicked in my head.One hand tightened around the steering wheel, the other already shifting into reverse, but I needed more information.
“Did she get that bug that’s going around?”Max asked his son.
“No.Something about too much medicine.I don’t know.”Ronan waved to me again before running over to where he’d been playing.“Bye, Uncle Jack!”
“I’m going to shower,” Max called over to me.“If my wife isn’t home by the time I get out, I’ll be over to pick her up.”
I nodded, the vehicle already moving as I backed out of the driveway.
Had Nishia not called me because she was sick?My heart started jackhammering in my chest as I drove through town, doing triple the speed limit, my knuckles white from clenching the steering wheel to keep them from fucking shaking.Ben would pull me over for sure if he caught me, but one of his deputies wouldn’t dare stop me.
Hitting the button on my rearview mirror to open the gates, I drove through and sped up the long driveway to the main house.A few more vehicles were parked out front than usual, one of them my aunt Raven’s SUV.Not bothering to put the truck in the garage, I left the door open in my rush to get inside to check on Nishia.
“Mr.Jack!”Molly greeted me as soon as I stepped over the threshold into the foyer.“Nishia is still in bed.Mommy says she’s got a tummy ache.”
I rubbed the top of her head but didn’t stop to ask the kid what was going on.She wouldn’t know any important details, and I was in too big of a hurry to get to Nishia to put together the riddle of whatever the little girl had overheard because she wouldn’t have possibly understood what it really meant.
Sprinting, I made it to Nishia’s door, and I didn’t pause to knock before I burst into her apartment.
Mom was seated on the love seat in the sitting area with Aunt Raven, and they both lifted their heads with a frown until they realized it was me.Ignoring both women, I shifted my gaze and saw Nishia was in bed.A saline bag hung from a machine beside her, the line attached to the back of her hand.
“Jack—”
I shook my head at my mother and hurried into the bedroom.Nishia’s eyes opened before I could reach her.“You’re back.”
“What happened?”I asked, sounding out of breath.My heart was still beating erratically, my mind racing as my eyes took in every inch of her I could see.She didn’t look sick.I didn’t see much difference in her appearance from when I’d left her early the day before.
“Jack, I can explain.”Mom walked in behind me.I glanced at her for only a second before my eyes were drawn back to Nishia.“Let’s talk in my office.”
“I’m not leaving this room,” I bit out.“I want to know what the fuck happened.I was only gone overnight.Barely thirty-six hours.”
I hadn’t slept, hadn’t even taken the time to stop to eat during that time.Max had been in just as much of a rush to get back as me, disliking being away from his wife and kid.My dad was supposed to be taking care of security while I was gone, so I could focus on the task I’d needed to tend to without worrying.
Nishia was supposed to be safe, damn it.
“There was a situation,” Mom hedged.“A miscalculation of Nishia’s anti-inflammatory medication injection.She’s fine now, though.”
“You should have called me.”
“I didn’t want to distract you,” she said calmly.
Nishia’s eyes shifted back and forth between us, and I could feel her tension.“I’m fine now.Really.”
Crouching down beside her, I took her hand and kissed beside the IV site.The feel of her skin beneath my fingers helped quiet the noise in my head, the chaos bubbling in my veins.Pressing my lips against her knuckles, I closed my eyes and let the peace of her presence push back the darkness, fighting the evil that wanted to be unleashed on whoever had made the mistake…
