Page 53 of Theirs to Ruin

The sentiments behind the crystals—healing and protection—were obvious, but I couldn’t help wondering if Dante had chosen crystals on opposite sides of the color spectrum as a nod to us. How two things so different from one another could work in harmony together.

Opening the box containing the donut, I picked it up and saw the note that had been hidden beneath it.

I was wrong. Our kiss wasn’t a mistake. Call me anytime.

Beneath it was a phone number.

Chapter 22

Dante

After I left Camille’s room, I called the morgue. The person who answered said Kage was still there, so I headed that way. I didn’t want to intrude on his grief, but I needed to see for myself that he wasn’t going to be a threat to Camille. If he was, I’d kill him without hesitation.

I’d do anything for her.

She’d looked as fragile as glass lying in that hospital bed, and when Bianca had tried to stop me from seeing her, I’d feared that for the first time in my life, I’d hurt a girl. Instead, I’d relived it all over again, that moment I’d first seen her lying on the ground by the river. I’d thought she was dead, and I swear my heart stopped. My grief and rage had been instantaneous, familiar feelings since I’d felt the same way when Rhianna died.

I forgot everything I’d learned in the past few years about practicing self-acceptance, letting go of past mistakes, and understanding that life is a journey of experiences rather than a series of actions I’d be judged for.

I could only think one thing: my past, my present, every horrible thing I’d ever done in my life had led me to this moment.

Punishment.

I was being punished, first with Rhianna’s death.

And now Camille’s.

The knowledge literally brought me to my knees.

Until I saw Camille move.

It was like drinking water after wandering the desert for years. I jumped to my feet and ran to her. I’d sworn to myself that if she survived, I was done staying away from her. I had tried to warn her I wasn’t a good guy, that she didn’t really know me, but she wouldn’t listen. If she still felt that way after she woke up, I would take whatever she was willing to give me.

So yeah, I’d kill Kage if he was any kind of threat to Camille.

My gut, though, told me he wouldn’t be.

He’d been caught in her snare just like I had, and I knew it was impossible to escape.

Five minutes later, I reached the morgue. I identified myself as Kage’s counselor. The attendant nodded and said Ava’s body had been moved, but that Kage was still in one of the viewing rooms. When a phone rang, he walked to pick it up, gesturing toward an open doorway. “You’ll find him through there.”

I walked through the door and down a hallway, noting an extreme drop in temperature. My skin prickled. The silence was almost deafening, a testament to the space holding so many bodies yet no life.

My boots slapped against the cement floor as I walked toward the viewing rooms.

Then I heard it. Pounding.

The first two viewing rooms I checked were empty. As I neared the third room, the sound of pounding got louder. I pushed open the door to find Kage standing next to a stainless-steel table, his bloodied fists bashing against the concrete wall again and again. By the look of things he’d been at it for a while.

“Kage,” I said.

He flashed me a dark and angry look that was mixed with so much loss and grief I winced. He started punching the wall even harder.

“You’re going to hurt yourself,” I said, taking a step toward him.

“Back the fuck off, Morillo,” Kage growled. “You’re not needed here.”

“I’m sorry about Ava,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “Losing someone so close to you is a difficult?—”

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