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Prologue
Istare at the ambulance as the EMTs unload Chastity at the hospital loading dock. I rake my fingers through my hair, pulling on it. “How could this happen?” I rasp, shaking my head. “Things weren’t great for her here, but this…”
Levi shakes his head, blowing out a breath. Mother Superior is outside with Chastity, as they rush her inside, and we still don’t know how bad things are, or if she’s going to make it. He opens his car door and climbs out, before slamming it shut in frustration. We all pile out, following him into the waiting room.
It’s complete chaos; full of nurses running around, people crying, and monitors beeping.
We are led into a smaller family waiting room, and I’m about to lose my mind. Levi and Ash are arguing in the corner about how this could have happened. How didn’t we see any of the signs? She was so happy this morning while making us breakfast and laughing. Will I ever see her smile again?
“It doesn’t matter right now, but I swear we’ll find out. Someone needs to call Tempest,” Levi shouts before sighing. “You all ran her out of Holy Cross, and she lost her best friend on top of everything else. We need to make it right.”
Fuck… I feel even more like an asshole now. We were jealous she was involved with someone else—even if it was a girl—and made everything harder on her. We need to make so many amends.
Ash looks down at his feet, looking ashamed. “I’ll call her. I have her number, but then you assholes have to decide who will go get her,” he grumbles.
“Not it!” says Jonas loudly, and we glare at him. He claps his hands over his mouth, embarrassed.
“We’ll figure it out after Ash talks to her. Hush, children,” Levi commands.
I swear, he’s the only one who can keep this rowdy group on the straight and narrow, but even then we are still sinners.
Ash turns, annoyed. “She hates me, so I don’t want to go. Plus, I think she’s four hours from here, and I don’t want to be that far from Chastity.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m sure she won’t hate you when you tell her Chastity needs her.”
Levi grunts. “Ash, you’re calling already. Just go get her and bring her back. Stop wasting time. I need to go see if I can find anything out.”
Storming from the room, I watch his back as he walks over to where the information desk is.
“Ash, can you—” I begin, but he’s already growling under his breath, and connecting the call to Tempest on speaker.
“Hello?”Tempest answers, sounding tired and out of it.
It sounds as if she’s been having a rough couple of weeks too.
“We need you, Tempest,” Ash grunts, blunt and straight to the point. He is really swallowing his pride to talk to her, especially after everything that happened.
I can hear rustling on her side of the line, as if she’s getting out of bed.
“What’s wrong with her, Ash? What happened?”she whispers furtively. I want to interrupt and ask where she is, but Ash takes a gulping breath as he looks out at where Levi is now shouting at a nurse, losing his cool.
“It’s not good,” Ash says, his voice full of emotion. “I’ll come get you, no matter where you are, okay? She needs you. I think we all do.”
Chapter1
Driving to pick up Tempest, my mind’s a mess. There are so many things I did to put this into motion, and all I want is another chance to make things right. A chance to not be an ass to her, or make her life difficult. Maybe even say a kind word…
Slamming my fist on the steering wheel of Levi’s car, I snarl. I wanted to protect my best friends, my brothers, and in doing so, I threw our Eve to the wolves.
“I’m an idiot,” I mutter to myself as the motel sign comes up. I don’t know why she’s here, but I plan to get the details. I’ve failed Chastity, and I owe it to both of them to be kinder.
Pulling into the parking lot, I shut off the engine and yawn. I’m exhausted, but I won’t sleep until I have Tempest at the hospital with Chastity. Opening the car door, I climb out. I take a few seconds to stretch, then move over to the room number she gave me. This is a shitty motel, and I don’t expect the inside to be any better.
What is she running from?There aren’t many good reasons to be in a place like this.
Knocking on the door, I wait. My jaw drops when Tempest opens it. Her eyes are swollen, her hair’s different and tangled, and she looks as if she hasn’t slept in days. Just as I go to ask what happened, she leaps at me to hug me. Awkwardly, I hug her back as I walk her inside.
“What the hell happened?” Tempest cries, hiccuping out a breath. “I know her life wasn’t the best, and her grandmother is godawful, but how did she end up in a coma?”
