My phone vibrates violently on the bedside table, the ringtone slicing through the darkness.
What the fuck?
Chapter Twenty-Five
MERCS
The ringtone slices through the dark like a blade.
I jolt upright at the sharp noise, my heart already hammering before my brain catches up. Effa stirs against me, her head lifting from my chest as I twist and reach blindly toward the nightstand.
My fingers fumble for the phone.
The screen lights up.
Gran.
My stomach drops so hard it feels like it hits the floor.
It’s 6:00 a.m.
Why the hell is she calling me this early?
A cold wave washes over me before I even answer.
Effa rubs her eyes and squints at me, her voice still thick with sleep. “Who is it?”
“Gran…” The word scrapes out of my throat, cracking under the weight of what I already suspect.
Effa’s eyes snap fully open. “Quick. Answer it.”
I swivel back around, thumb swiping across the screen, and bring the phone to my ear as I sit up on the edge of the bed. My back faces Effa now, my legs hanging over the side, feet planted on the carpet as if bracing for impact. “Gran?” I manage, my voice low and already strained.
“Kaden, I hate to worry you, but I’ve been awake all night—”
“Is Kiera okay?” The question tears out of me before she can finish.
There’s a pause.
A sigh.
And my entire body locks up.
“No,” she says softly. “There are some serious issues. She’s not rejecting your stem cells, but she’s so weak. The doctors aren’t giving me a great prognosis right now, and it doesn’t look good. She is slipping in and out of consciousness. I honestly think you need to come home as soon as you can. She needs you…weneed you.”
Panic slams into me so violently, I’m on my feet before I even realize I’ve moved. I grab the first T-shirt I see off the floor and start stuffing it into my backpack, like movement alone can fix this.
Effa is beside me instantly, her hand warm and steady on my back.
“Fuck!” I bark, my chest tightening. “I’m packing right now. I’ll be on the band’s jet as soon as I can get authorization to leave. Tell her to hold on. Tell her I’ll be there as soon as I possibly can.”
Effa mouths,What’s wrong?
I can’t answer her.
Gran’s voice cuts through the line again, thinner now. “Kaden, hurry… please.” The desperation in her tone makes something inside me crack.
Gran doesn’t panic.
