Page 221 of Dare To Live

Voices wash over me, but all my focus is on the slender blonde who has never looked as fragile as she does now.

Images flash through my head.

Eli and Bella dancing at the prom. Her happy smile whenever she looked his way. The sparkle in her eyes whenever he challenged her. She never got to tell him she loved him.

My throat is thick with tears as I follow the medics as they carry her out. I feel sick to my stomach. Ivan watches me, but I ignore him.

In silence and shrouded in sorrow, I climb into the back of the ambulance to travel to the hospital with Arabella.

Chapter 127

Arabella

Consciousness tugs at the darkness cocooning me. I don’t want to open my eyes. It’s safe in the dark. Only pain awaits me in the light. But someone is insisting I wake up. A voice I recognize, and I struggle through the fog and force my lids to lift. The light above me is stark and bright. A dull pain throbs through my head, and I close my eyes again.

Where am I?

My hand moves restlessly on top of the blanket. Something warm covers it.

“Eli?” My voice is croaky. Why does my throat feel raw? Have I been shouting? Screaming?

“No, it’s me.”

Miles. But he sounds odd.

“Where am I?”

“The hospital. Do … do you remember what happened?”

Hands hold me down. I try to fight them. There’s a sting in my arm, and coldness washes through me.

My thoughts are jumbled, and my head aches. “Where’s Eli?”

Miles is silent.

Another memory stirs.

Blood. So much blood. I can smell it.

I don’t want to open my eyes. If I do, it’s going to make this real, and I’m not sure I can live with it if I do.

Tremors rock my body. “Miles, where is Eli?”

His hand squeezes mine. “I’m sorry, Bella. I’m so fucking sorry.”

Eli is on the floor, unmoving. He’s dead. Evan killed him.

Hands hold me down. I’m screaming and screaming. Voices try to soothe me, but they can’t break through my anguish. It’s eating me alive.

A hot tear rolls down my cheek. “Please tell me this is a bad dream.”

“I wish I could.”

My future without him looks bleak and empty. I can’t not have him in my life. He’s my Nasty Little Monster. My whisper in the dark. The man who has my heart.

Everything hurts. My head. My heart. My soul. A million different emotions clog my throat.

A door creaks open. “Miss Gray, you’re awake.”

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