Page 13 of Dark Embrace

“Look, Rune.” Ric starts, wiping his hand down his face. “The bad has already happened. K couldn’t handle it and ran off. We haven’t been able to find him for six hours.”

“Did Lily come for Calista?” Swallowing the lump in my throat, I look at the ceiling to try and tamp down my emotions.

“You remember that?” Silas questions, looking between Doc and Ric before his gaze lands on me.

“I remember everything.” I tell him, my voice cracking as I speak. “I have this horrible feeling in my stomach.”

“He’ll come back when he’s ready.” Ric nods, his face a blank mask, but his icy gray eyes give away his emotions. “He said something to you as they loaded you into the ambulance. Do you remember what it was?”

“He told me to come for him whenever I'm ready.” I say, and a light bulb clicks in my head. I know just where to find him.

Chapter 13

Rune

“Who was that lady?” Alaric asks, sitting in the chair in the corner of my hospital room. It’s no surprise he’s the first one to show back up this morning.

“Nobody.” I shake my head, “Is someone bringing my car today? Doc says I'll be free after breakfast.”

“I can give you a lift home. You probably shouldn’t be driving.” He says, pulling his phone from his pocket.

“No, I want my car, I'm going to stay at the cabin for a while.” I tell him, but I know my brother, so I know that he’s not going to make this easy on me.

“Rune, I was born at night, but it wasn’t last night.” He stands from the chair, placing his coffee cup on the table before approaching me, putting his hand on my shoulder. “I know how much you loved her.”

“Love.” I correct him, already becoming annoyed with the conversation. “I love her.”

“I know.” He says, his face dropping as he takes a deep breath in. “But I'm not going to allow you to hurt yourself. Doc isreleasing you into my care. I already have the nurse set up at home.”

“Yeah, whatever.” I turn as far away from him as I can, but the pain in my chest doesn’t let me go very far.

“Lily is done, she’s on her way back here now.” Silas states as he enters the room. Alaric turns to look at him, blocking my view of Si. “We can have her funeral at 4.”

“What did you tell her parents?” I spit, the anger clear in my tone. Silas steps around Ric, placing his hand on my shoulder. I shake it off, glaring at him. Fuck these two and their goddamn shoulder grabs.

“Robbery gone wrong.” He says, his head drops as he speaks. “You know he can’t control it, Rune.”

“Spare me the fucking bullshit.” I yell, sitting up and pulling the blankets from my body. Alaric grabs my arm and pushes me back against the bed before I have the chance to stand up. “If the two of you don’t get the fuck away from me, Mom and Dad are going to bury all four of their sons this week.”

“You’re pissed, we get it-” Silas starts, but I cut him off by punching him in the face. His head reels back from the punch, but Si calmly wipes the blood from the corner of his mouth and smiles at me before walking to the door. He pauses with his hand on the knob and looks over his shoulder at me. “Maybe if she wasn’t drunk off her ass, none of this would be happening.”

“Silas, go.” Ric commands. Si gives me a look of disgust before leaving the room.

“What’s he talking about, Alaric?” I question as the door latches.

“She met the blonde whore at the bar. Si and Marley were leaving when Cali pulled up.” He sighs, running his hands through his short hair. “I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, but when Lily picked her up, she said she smelled like a brewery.”

Pain worse than I’ve ever felt blooms in my chest. We got into an argument and she drove away from me, right back to her friends. The pain quickly turns to anger as my mind grasps the situation. She drove to the cabin so I wouldn’t know she was drinking. My head feels like it’s going to explode, so many emotions are at war within my brain. Pain because my fiancee is dead, anger because my brother is the one that killed her, more anger that she fucking lied to me, and last of all, regret because I couldn’t just give her what she wanted. She was only asking for one little thing, and I couldn’t even do that for her.

“How did you guys know she was there?” I ask abruptly, startling Ric.

“She called me from the cabin’s landline,” he says flatly. “Si had just got back from dropping Marley off at home and we were on our way to get food.”

Fuck, my head is reeling trying to understand how the hell this all happened. “Let me be alone for a while, I want to get some sleep before Doc lets me go.” He hesitates for a minute, looking into my eyes. “I’m not going to do anything Ric, I just want to rest. I’m sure one of these stupid fucking wires will let you know if I try anything stupid.” Gesturing to the machines I’m connected to, I give him a dramatic thumbs up. He nods his head and leaves the room. The moment the door latches, tears stream down my face. I hate crying, I hate showing any signs of weakness, but right now, I could care less. I want to scream and smash shit, but I know if I act up in this hospital, they won’t release me today.

“Good morning, Mr. Wicklow.” Someone says and I jump, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“All good doc, am I free to go?” I ask, wiping my eyes and sitting up. I must have fallen asleep, because the clock on the wall shows it’s been over an hour since Ric left the room.

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