Page 108 of The Syndicater (Dark Verse 6)

Lyla saw her brother's jaw tighten, his entire body shaking with rage. "Fucker."

Dainn ignored him—angering her brother even more in his extra emotional state—and came straight to her.

He raised his arms, loosening her chains and unshackling her. Her arms felt numb as she fell into his body, and he pulled her into his arms, breathing in her scent.

A loud scream had them both stiffening and immediately turning as Morana's arms came down, her eyes red with pain. Her brother immediately held her, holding her by the neck andstaring into her eyes, looking so deep like he would examine her pain. "Where?"

"Left arm," Morana grit out, clenching her teeth.

Tristan picked her up in his arms, not behaving like he had a stab wound of his own, and headed to the stairs. Dainn turned to her, doing the same. "You okay?"

Lyla nodded. She was okay. She would be okay.

And for the first time, they stepped out into the light.

***

Lyla didn't know hospital rooms could be like this, so spacious and warm and well-furnished. The kinds she'd seen in the movies had always been so clinical and cold.

She lay in bed, just being kept overnight for a checkup. Thankfully, the scratches on her face were going to heal, and so was the pain in her shoulders. Not for Morana, though. She'd already had nerve damage from her shooting, bad enough that she should have immediately had it checked, but it was too late now. Her left shoulder, the entirety of her left arm, was disabled. She still had it, since the damage was localized to it, but aside from some very minor movements for just a few minutes, she had no sensations in her arm.

Morana had broken down when the doctors had told her, sobbing so hard it had drawn Lyla from the next room to go check on her. She'd halted at the door, looking at the woman she was bonded to for life, clutching onto her shirtless, scarred, bandaged brother and blubbering something about a tie. Lyla had stood outside, watching her brother kiss her softly on the head, over and over, making sure she lay down as he sat by her side.

And then, wordlessly, he had picked up her left hand, the one she couldn't feel anything in, and slid a ring onto her finger, pressing a kiss onto it, keeping his eyes on her.

Lyla had cried standing outside, never having seen such a beautiful declaration of love, such a profound proposal of a partnership, in sickness and in health, for life.

She had left them alone then, giving them privacy as she went back to her room.

Alpha and Zephyr landed in Los Fortis and got her mother out on bail. Zephyr had to be rushed to the hospital because of the stress, causing her to have early contractions. Thankfully, their baby was safe, but they hadn't heard any more news about her father, and if she wanted to have a healthy baby, she couldn't take any more stress.

Dante and Amara had been the rocks for everyone through the whole ordeal, taking care of everything, making sure everyone was looked after, and coordinating the crisis and death that had fallen upon them.

Lyla lay staring at her ceiling, so bone tired, so homesick. She missed the open glass ceiling of her bedroom, sleeping under the stars. She was tired of looking at ceilings that closed her in, no matter how pretty they were, reminding her of times she wanted to move forward from.

Suddenly, she felt a presence at the door and swiveled her eyes, her breath catching as it set on the young boy standing there, right in front of the man she loved.

Xander.

Her baby boy.

So close to her for the first time.

Her throat clogged up as she watched him enter, his eyes taking her in curiously before setting on the machines around her. "Hi."

He had such a beautiful voice. She had heard it before but it was the first time she heard it directed at herself.

She swallowed, nervous, her gaze going to Dainn before returning to Xander. "Hi."

He looked at her briefly, before his eyes skittered away again. "D told me about you."

D.

Dainn.

She knew he'd had a relationship with Xander but she had no idea what. He'd never talked to her about it, but clearly, they knew each other better than she'd expected.

"What did he tell you?" she asked, curiosity evident in her tone.

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