I just came to apologize, he signed, his eyes holding mine. His signing was sloppy, but I picked up on it. He juggled his cane, leaning into the chair to keep himself from falling over.For everything. Viktor’s. Halden’s.He swallowed.I’m sorry.
Trying to relieve your conscience before death?I asked.
He asked me to repeat the signs, and I did with reluctance. He tensed, understanding. He gripped his cane and lifted a shoulder in exhaustion. “Maybe,” he said. Then he signed,Thank you, Rafe, for helping get Florence. You know how long I’ve looked for her.
I swallowed and ran my thumb over Arden’s shoulder.How is she?I asked him.
His eyes turned glassy, and he looked away, coughing into his fist. I caught sight of blood speckling his index finger. He quickly wiped it off on his black shirt and tried to stand taller. He contemplated his answer for a moment. That, or more likely, he was trying to recall the correct sign. Finally, he managed,She’s a stranger, but she’s alive. It will have to be enough.Grief passed over him.
As much as I hated him in that moment, I couldn’t fucking imagine that pain and I never wanted to. Him and Florence were separated so long ago, that shewasa stranger, and with theway he looked, I knew he didn’t have much time to know her as anything else. It was a cruel fate, but he was a Creed, after all. Grim fates seemed to follow us like lost dogs nipping at our heels. We couldn’t escape them, no matter how hard we tried.
Was it Thorne?Alexander asked, jutting his chin toward Arden.
I nodded.I think so, but it could’ve been that room, too. Or Halden.My fingers shook as I signed.
Heath told me, he started then stopped, coughing again. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and shuddered in pain.Heath said facing her trauma might help her come back to us.Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a thumb drive. He set it gently on the bed across from Arden, looking sick—well, sicker.It was in Thorne’s pocket. He must’ve pulled the footage when he looped the cameras.
I picked up the thumb drive, gripping it tight.What’s on it?
I think…everything.Alexander rubbed the back of his neck.I couldn’t…I tried to watch, but…
Fuck.Everything?I signed.
He grimaced. “I really fucking hope so. What I saw was…It’s a miracle, Rafe, that she ever made it as long as she did,” he said, shaking his head as he stared at Arden. “I’m a bastard for ever sending her back to that place. She told me, but hearing it and seeing it are…” He covered his mouth.
On that we could at least agree.At least you didn’t have to live it, I told him, and I meant it. Even on my worst enemy, I wouldn’t wish what happened to us.
We fell silent for a long time, both of us just watching Arden breathe. She alternated between staring off into space and actually sleeping, her eyes finally shut. After awhile, Alexander spoke again, waving a hand to catch my attention.
I’m gonna go now, I think, he said, fidgeting his cane.But I just wanted to say that I never meant to hurt you. Any of you.
I released a heavy breath.I know. Then I hesitated before asking,Ravens. Is that because of me?
His lips thinned into a tight, pained smile. “It’s because of us,” he said, “and the hope we gave each other those couple of years. Without it, I’m not sure I ever would’ve made it this far.” Then he signed,Take care of her, Rafe. She loves you, you know. You—you’re it for her. Guard her heart, if she’ll let you.
Then he limped away.
I will, I promised, signing toward his back, something in me wishing he’d come back. I still don’t really understand what possessed me to do so, but I lurched off the bed and hurried after him. I wrapped my arms around him from behind, my ear pressing between his shoulder blades as his body went rigid. I breathed heavily, tears burning in my eyes when his hand reached up and gripped mine against his chest. He squeezed it, never once turning around, before he tugged out of my hold and left me standing in that doorway, angrily wiping tears from my cheeks. Then I returned to my girl and buried my face in her hair, breathing her in as the pain inside me burned relentlessly.
A few hours later, Florence came in, and I just…I knew. She signed,Hey, and I lifted a hand in acknowledgment as she rolled an IV bag on a stand next to her. She was in sweats that swamped her, likely her brother’s, and she collapsed into the same chair Alexander had. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair buzzed away, and her cheeks were wet from crying. She lookedcompletely distraught as she stared at Arden.I can’t do this, she signed after awhile.I thought I could be the one to tell her, but I…She covered her mouth and bolted from the room, dragging the IV rack behind her. The rest of the Ravens arrived next, Florence in tow.
But one of them was missing.
Alexander.Alex. His absence was a gaping, festering wound, and I don’t know if it was the tension in the room, the quiet sobbing, or the simple fact that death was attracted to flame, but Arden blinked up at me then, her lips trembling as she reached a hand up and touched my face. “Rafe?” she asked, and I craved so desperately to hear her voice, to know for certain I wasn’t hallucinating her coming back to life. “What happened?” Then her eyes darkened, and she saw the others crying at her door, and I watched it happen unable to do anything to stop it.
3 days. 72 shitty little hours. And two Creed were dead.
Her light. It just…switched off. There one second. Gone the next. She slipped back into herself, breaking my heart further as I caught the soft murmur of her lips forming, “Not now, Viktor,” before she was too far away to reach again.
I pulled out my cellphone and found Kane’s contact, typing the message quickly before I lost my resolve.We need you. Please.
Almost immediately, he replied.I did something bad, Rafe.
My fingers shook.Where are you?
A pinned location sent through with another text.I think I hear sirens.
Run, fucker.I pressed a trembling kiss to Arden’s temple and wrenched off the bed, massaging my jaw.
