Page 14 of The Syndicater (Dark Verse 6)

Concussion? Why would she have a concussion? Did she?

"Stay awake."

But her eyelids were heavy.

"Tell me about your sister."

A broken noise filled the car, and she realized it had come from her.

"Why?" she sobbed, wanting to understand.

"So you stay awake." His voice was almost clinical in the command. "Did she ever tell you about her past?"

"No. I didn't… know."

"Did she ever mention any friend?"

Zephyr blinked sluggishly, her mind breaking but not processing. "No."

There was silence for a beat. "Did she ever mention any man?"

Her head hurt. She raised her hand to touch it, but it was moving too slowly. "Stop."

She heard a breath. "Of course. I'm sorry for your loss."

Tears leaked down the side of her face, and suddenly, she realized she was alone in the backseat. Her heart began to beat frantically. "Where is she? Did you just leave her?"

"No," he said. "She's being transferred. You'll see her soon."

How? Who was doing it? The questions were making a sharp pain shoot inside her skull. She wanted to close her eyes and sleep.

"Why me?" she muttered softly. "Why did I… and she didn't?"

"She was a part of something much bigger," he told her. "It caught up to her. You're powerful now, Mrs. Villanova. If you want to use that power one day, I'll give you her file."

She didn't feel powerful. She felt helpless. "How will I find you?"

A beat of silence."You won't have to."

***

And that was all she remembered from that night before she had given in and fallen asleep.

Zephyr knew, thanks to her calls with the girls, everything that had happened in the meantime. It was odd being in the group with them, but Amara, the goddess that she was inside and out, insisted that the only way forward was for them to be together. Zephyr didn't disagree but her feelings for Morana were complicated, and she knew it was the same for the other woman. The ghost of her sister stood between them, impacting them both in a different way. It might have taken time for them to come to terms with everything, but Amara was hopeful, and her hope was contagious.

Her favorite person through it all, though, outside of her husband, was Dante. If Zephyr hadn't been in love and happily married, she would have gotten an insane crush on the man just for who he was. Not only had he constantly checked in on her and made sure she was okay, but he had stepped up and helped Alpha restructure and reorganize his empire after the hit of removing Hector and his stooges. Dante had gone as far as to send a bunch of his own trusted men to Los Fortis for a month to help train and hire new recruits, helping sustain the organization without feeling it too much. Zephyr couldn't imagine how much more stressful everything would have been for Alpha without his brother. And thankfully, that gesture had brought the two men closer. Though her husband still didn't trust people, especially now, Dante had made it on his list of people to call when needed.

And because of all that, she knew everyone was wary of the Shadow Man. And maybe she was being naive since she hadn't been a part of their dark world and maybe wasn't a good judge of character. But the two times she had met him, he had been kind to her, especially that night. That was etched in her memory, and she wanted to one day see him when she was conscious and thank him for saving her, possibly from being murdered that night, and ask why he couldn't have saved her sister sooner if he'd known so much about it.

"You have to move on, Zee."Zephyr could hear her sister speak as if she was right next to her."This isn't good for you. You know that."

"I know," Zephyr said out loud. "But it's rough."

Zen chuckled in her mind."You like it rough, Zee."

Zephyr felt a laugh bubble out of her before she blinked, seeing the blood all over her hands in her head, feeling the wet warmth, and knowing it was her sister's life seeping out; suddenly, she felt sick.

Jumping down from the lounge chair, she rushed to the side of the terrace, dry heaving over the railing, nothing coming out. She could hear the dogs scampering, their nails clicking on the wooden floorboards, barking around her in concern. Her jaw began to tremble, and her arms shook as she gripped the railing and dropped down to the floor. The dogs nudged at her, surrounding her, looking around as if to protect her from whatever had made her scatter.

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