As much as I wanted to stay with her, I know this is something private. Isobel wouldn't want me to see her this way. So I leave, walking to the waiting room to get a cup of coffee.
I'm sitting down and stirring the coffee when Lucian barges in, Jace and Noah following closely behind him.
“How is she?” Lucian beelines towards me; this is the first time he looks like a distraught father.
His hair is disheveled, there's dirt and what I'm guessing is concrete or drywall on his shoulder.
And for the first time, the worry shows in his eyes. The fear for his daughter.
“The doctors checked her out and they did some scans. The nurses are cleaning her up right now. They've been giving her fluids, and they've started her on an NG tube. The doc said she's severely malnourished. But we already knew that.” I can't help the glare I throw Jace’s way.
He at least looks ashamed. Lucian takes a breath and crumples into one of the seats. Running his hand through his hair for probably the hundredth time.
“Did she say anything?” his voice wavers.
“No, she's been unconscious this whole time. The doctors say that's normal considering her condition. Her body needs energy and time to heal.” I take a longsip of my coffee.
“I saw the basement.” Noah sits next to me, “I don't think you went down there, but it was bad.”
“I didn't need to go down there to know it was bad.” I stare at Jace with rage flowing through my veins. “I saw all the evidence on Isobel. You didn't see her… she—” I swallow hard, meeting Lucian's eyes. “She barely looked alive.”
Jace wavers in the corner of my eye, then turns and walks out of the room.
Typical.
Lucian sighs.
“How are you okay with him being alive?” I genuinely don’t know.
Lucian lifts his head. His eyes, Isobel's eyes, have dark circles under them.
“Don't mistake my demeanor, Luca. I'm not forgiving or even remotely okay with what he did. But I've been doing this a long time. I’ve learned to compartmentalize what I'm feeling.”
“But now, Isobel’s back, and you haven't done anything to Jace.” I gesture toward the door, “He’s still walking around here, what if he's still Gideon's spy? And we're just letting him in?”
Lucian shakes his head while I talk. “I understand your concerns, Luca, but I know the difference in Jace's actions. Maybe one day you will too. Jace is committed to taking Gideon's empire down, and it needs to happen. We're already making moves to dismantle it with the information he provided as we speak. We're not just sitting back. Gideon will get what's coming to him, I promise you that.”
I see the familiar fire dancing in his eyes. My heart aches for the girl who’s consumed me, who’s possessed my every thought since the first day we met.
Jace had other plans then, and I was following them. But as soon as she opened her pretty mouth, I was done for.
I saw the way she looked at Tex, and I saw the shift when she finally accepted Jace, too. I just wanted her to be happy. I thought Jace was going to give her that. The way he looked at her, how he acted around her, she defrosted him.
I was willing to suffer in my pain as long as she had that smile on her face. But then… all of this.I'm never going to let him hurt her again. He’s had his chance.
Now, it’s mine.
26 WALKING CORPSE
“Fuck off!”
“No! She's my girlfriend!”
“She stopped beingyour girlthe second that needle touched her skin!”
My eyes feel heavy, but not like before. The voices are coming in clearer.
Where am I?
