Juniper was gone, and I bounced between rage at myself for failing her so badly and terrified that she was dead and everyone was hiding it from us.
I barely ate, slept, or thought of anything but Juniper.
I haveneverfelt so lost in my life, and I know that whatever I felt, she felt it three times as badly. I lost one mate. She lost three.
“I’ll be back,” I say, walking out of the apartment and closing the door behind me.
Going to see her isn’t wise. She doesn’t know we’re, at least some of the time, living a few doors away, but I need to see her myself.
I walk to her door and knock.
Five minutes pass before I hear movement from the other side of the door, the soft creak of floorboards, and her door swings open.
One look at her exhausted face, and it’s clear Archer was right. This isn’t tiredness from work. This is a person forcing themselves to stand through sheer willpower alone.
“Can we talk?” I ask her.
She stares at me for a second too long, and her gaze is evasive. She knows what I want to talk about, and she’d rather avoid it. “Can we do it another time? I’m tired, and I need to sleep.”
“I know why you’re tired.” If this weren’t literally a matter of life or death, I’d give her what she wants, but this conversation is too important to walk away from, even for her.
Her fingers tighten around the edge of the door, and she lets out a quiet sigh.
Stepping aside, she holds the door open. “Just to talk, then I want you to leave.”
I walk inside.
Her apartment is warmer courtesy of the more efficient AC unit the contractors installed in the basement. It won’t truly be warm until we’ve replaced the windows, but it’s better. A lot better.
Starting next week, we’ll replace all the furniture and kitchen appliances. Archer spoke to my building manager about new doors with sturdier chains, and those go in at the same time. And not just for Juniper.
I thought Juniper’s apartment had been poorly maintained. I had no idea how bad the other units were until the generalmanager I hired came to me with all the problems he found with the building. It was a three-hour meeting that ended with a raging headache and a pathological desire to punch the old super in the face.
As soon as the building was mine, I fired the super. I’d already seen how poorly maintained the building was before I bought it. Learning that two apartments didn’t even have properly working AC and hadn’t for the last three winters had been rage-inducing. The old owner had been a slumlord, and the super had been just as bad.
Everyone in this building deserves better.
The door clicks as Juniper shuts it, and I turn to face her. She has her back to me with her hand flat on the door.
“Juniper?”
She doesn’t respond.
Concerned, I take a step toward her. “Juniper?”
She drops, and she dropsfast. I only catch her because I was already on my way toward her. “Juniper!”
Chapter 32
Callum
Igive Juniper a gentle shake in my arms.
Her head flops from side to side, but she doesn’t respond. She’s out cold. Her face is paler than when she opened the door to me seconds before, and she feels so light in my arms.Toolight.
Fear is a leaden weight in my chest as I tuck her against my pounding heart and yank her door open. “Archer? Torin? Help. She needs the hospital.”
Our apartment door flies open, and Archer and Torin burst out, eyes wide. They slide gazes from me to Juniper, and Archer closes the door as Torin announces, “I’ll drive.”
