“Don’t you fucking die on me, Maddox. You don’t get to fucking do that—make me fall in love with you and then leave me.”
Dr. Landry cocks his eyebrow at me, as if he can’t believe that’s how I’m going to leave it.
An unbidden growl rumbles from my chest before I scold him, “Stop looking at me. Don’t. Let him. Die.”
With that distressed command still bitter on my tongue, they rip Maddox away from me. I crumple to the floor, and I scream. Seconds bleed into senseless minutes. Somehow, I end up in a chair, a blanket draped around my shivering body. They’re sewing up my head wound, and I’m finally feeling less fuzzy. And slightly less angry.
Words catch in my brain again, like an echo under water.Stitches. Agitated. Shock. Needs to stay calm.
“We’ve got her from here.” That’s Axel’s voice. It hooks into me like an anchor.
My chin snaps up, and I find him with Ryker and Jax. An odd sense of tranquility cocoons me, so I stand, and before I can even throw myself at them, they envelop me. And my silent sobs are liberated. I shake and mumble nonsensical worries, and they kiss my hair and hug me and assure me everything will be okay.
They don’t know that.
Ryker palms my head. “Gentry is taking Remy, and then Mercy will be here soon. You need to rest.”
“I can’t rest,” I mutter, running my tongue over a crack in my swollen lip. “I want updates on what’s happening with him. They didn’t tell me much, or they did, and I couldn’t process it. My head was spinning.”
“The surgery will take at least a couple of hours. Maybe more.” Axel swallows, as if he’s choking down vomit too. “His lung collapsed. They need to repair internal bleeding and explore a deep stab wound they believe may have caused some organ damage. I’m headed back there now to see if they have anything for us.”
“I’ve got her,” Jax says, knowing exactly what I need to hear. “We’ll listen to music—Mad’s favorites—outside the OR, so we don’t miss anything.”
“Hang on.” Axel waits until my eyes connect to his intense sapphires. “Your parents are on their way down.”
“I don’t want my mother here,” I snap with a sandpaper delivery. “That’s the last thing Maddox needs.”
My outburst doesn’t appear to bother him. He’s as controlled as ever, albeit plainly distraught about his brother.
“Maddox insisted that if anything were to happen to him, I was to facilitate things between you and your family. You are injured. They’re staying here. They needed to be notified. And Derek and John needed to be taken for questioning, so …”
I almost forgot about all the revelations that came to light before the chaos. “You apprehended them?”
“Kane did as soon as he got you and Maddox safely here. I called your father to explain what was happening.” When a guard motions to him, he nods and turns back to me. “They’re waiting in the passageway, desperate to know you’re okay. Ryker and Jax can take you to see them while I get an update on Maddox’s condition.”
The remembrance of the conversation we had before we crashed has my desires flipping upside down just as vehemently as our Escalade did. I squirm out of Jax’s hold and storm toward the hall. Ryker grunts behind me, and Jax huffs a light chuckle, both of them staying in stride with me.
When I swing open the door, my father’s face falls, relief and despair bending his features. He immediately steps toward me, planting a gentle kiss on my cheek before giving me the space that I clearly crave.
Eden and Violet are here too. Red-rimmed eyes and despondent frowns.
“Oh Lord, honey,” my mother gasps when her gaze sails over me, arms open and rushing for me.
Throwing up a reproachful hand, I step back, even though part of me wants to let her hold me. It’s too late for that. Instead, I launch the first of many questions. “Did you know?”
The sight of my family gathered in the secret tunnels of La Lune Noire, surrounded by brick and history, nostalgia and codes, has possessiveness wringing my veins. My skin itches to cast them away from here. This is Maddox’s domain. And mine. They don’t get any part of it.
Eden swipes at the droplets of anguish on her cheek. “It’s more complicated than you realize. Or maybe you do. Look at you.”
My hand rises to the stitches along my hairline of its own accord. To my broken lip and swollen cheek. Then my vision snags on the purple bruises on my arms and the smattering of blood. I look to Ryker with a silent question.
His forehead scrunches with worry. “You’re pretty banged up, Tess.”
“She didn’t know she was hurt?” my father asks in confusion.
“Like Axel mentioned, she was in a car accident. She has a severe concussion and has been experiencing a lot of disorientation. My brother is in bad shape, so she was also in shock. But even with all of that, your daughter managed to save his life.”
I’m frustrated that they’re discussing me as though I’m not present, but I don’t think I fully am. Part of me is on that gurney with Maddox, watching his lungs fight for breath and a bullet swim in his bloodstream. His enigmatic grays vacant.
