Page 87 of Ruined Wolfsbane

Bastian pulls back gradually, giving me a few small kisses before his lips leave mine. He leans his forehead against mine. “Please don’t do that ever again, sweet girl. I can’t lose you,” Bastian pleads, voice breaking. “I need you. We need you. So don’t go getting yourself kidnapped by a nutjob again, okay?”

“I’ll try,” I tell him with a sad smile. He knows as well as I do that I can’t make any promises while Patrick’s still out there.

“That’s all I ask.” Bastian gives me one last lingering kiss before stepping back. He looks pointedly at Xander, who’s shoving his hands roughly through his golden hair.

When his moss green eyes lock on mine, he mutters to himself, “I’m not strong enough for this.”

Xander yanks his hand out of his hair and strides determinedly toward me. When he reaches me, he plants one palm next to my face. He cradles the back of my head with his other. Out of nowhere, Xander slams his lips onto mine. His kiss is angry and almost punishing. I won’t be surprised if my lips are bruised from the force of his kiss. He bites down on my bottom lip. Hard. I gasp in surprise and pain. Xander’s tongue spears into my parted mouth, dueling with mine.

After what feels simultaneously like an eternity and the blink of an eye, he pulls back from our clashing lips, sucking on my lower lip, cleaning up the blood from his bite. He uses his warm thumb to pull my lip down before releasing it. With his startling jade eyes fixed on mine, he growls, “You don’t get to fucking die on me.”

He wrenches himself away from me before storming to the door. Throwing it open, he slams the door into the wall with a loud bang. Xander leaves without a single glance back.

Tears prick my eyes at his sudden departure. I curse both him and myself for my reaction. “Did I do something wrong?” I ask, trying and failing to sound unbothered. My voice comes out sad and unsure.

“No, baby girl, you didn’t do anything wrong.” Malachi grabs my hand and squeezes it in reassurance.

“Xander has his issues, pretty girl. Some days, I think he’s more fucked-up than I am.” Bastian walks to the opposite side of the bed from Malachi as he talks. “Scoot over.”

I do as he asks, moving until I’m pressed against the other rail.

Bastian hops into the narrow hospital bed with me. He stretches out his long, denim-clad legs and wraps one muscular arm around me. Dragging me until my head rests on his chest, he nestles me securely against his side. “It doesn’t excuse Xander being an absolute dick, though.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Malachi’s eyes burn with indignation on my behalf. Behind the anger is also worry for his brother. “I’m going to go after him.”

“He won’t talk to you,” Bastian murmurs into my hair. I soak up his warmth and the comfort of his steady heartbeat under my cheek. My eyes get heavier the longer I lie on him.

Even though his voice is muffled, Malachi has no trouble hearing Bastian. “He won’t fucking talk to anyone,” Malachi gripes as he scrubs a hand over his face in exasperation, “but I have to try because he doesn’t get to hurt her like this.”

“Fair enough, bro,” Bastian whispers, doing his best not to disturb me as I fight off the sleep that’s trying to drag me under.

“Sleep, baby girl,” Malachi orders softly as he brushes the hair off my forehead. With one last lingering look at me, he strides out of the room.

CHAPTER 36

BRIAR

“You sure this is the right place?” I ask as I step out of the car. I slam the door shut behind me and push my sunglasses to the top of my head. The aviators I jacked from Malachi hold my windswept hair out of my face.

With my hands on my hips, I stare at the nondescript brick façade of Los Altos Vault & Safe Deposit. I don’t know what I expected from the place, but it wasn’t an unassuming two-story Georgian-style building.

It’s been a week since I woke up. I was fully healed within a day or two, but the Wyldharts demanded that I rest longer before coming here.

Uncle Vale figured out that the address in my mom’s locket led to a safe-deposit place. She’d given him a key less than a week before Patrick killed her. We think the key will open a box she rented.

“Well, it says Los Altos Vault & Safe Deposit on the front, so yeah,” Xander dryly remarks. He shoves his blonde hair out of his face with a rough jerk of his hand. Smoothing down the front of his gray button-down, he leans against the hood of the car.

I’ve hardly seen Xander this past week. He clearly regrets kissing me.

I wish I could say I regretted it, but I don’t. Our kiss was perfect for us. It was raw, messy, painful, and a little bloody. It felt like someone punched their fist through my rib cage, pulled my heart out of my chest, and then put the mangled organ back into my body, expecting me to be able to survive like that.

That’s how it always feels interacting with Xander. Even though I know I’ll just get hurt, I can’t stay away from him. I crave being close to him, just like I do with Malachi and Bastian.

“You ready to go in, pretty girl?” Bastian asks as he walks over to stand next to me. He yanks at the throat of his green button-down like it’s strangling him.

I hold in my laugh at how uncomfortable he looks in dressy clothes. Not wanting to stand out, we all dressed up to visit the vault. The guys are wearing slacks and button-ups, while I’m dressed in a white floral blouse tucked into black jeans. I refused to wear a dress. I’m sick of spending all my time in skirts.

I bite my lip before answering. “I guess.” While I need answers to whether my mom erased my memories, I’m terrified that we’re not going to find anything. Once we go in, I’ll know for sure whether this is a dead end. I’m not sure I can handle it if it is.

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