Page 92 of The Two Last Moments

Then I spot the smudges on her neck. The beginnings of finger-shaped bruises on her fair skin. And I nearly snap. Red paints my vision.

If I find him, I’m going to kill him.

“I’m okay,” Lark says. “What about Nina? Please tell me she’s all right.”

My rage settles when I see the fear in Lark’s eyes. I pull her close and slot her as tightly as I can against me. “She’s getting there. It was bad. But she’s pulling through.”

Nina was in terrible pain last night. While I was gone with Lark, my grandmother was inpain, and Jess was trying to help. She gave Nina a hefty dose of morphine. Ryan gave Nina more meds this morning, and it turned out to be too much. Not enough to paralyze her lungs and stop her breathing entirely, thank God. But too much.

The morphine is wearing off now, and we’re not going to give her any more for a while. I’ll make sure she doesn’t get that high a dose again. But I’ve known all along that this kind of thing can happen. Pain management isn’t an easy calculus. I have no reason to think Jess or Ryan did anything wrong. But everything went to hell this morning all at once, and I wasn’t ready for it. Not even close.

And somehow, Lark’s stepbrother managed to strike at the very moment we were most vulnerable. Like he’d been waiting for it.

“Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

Lark nods. But I see a flicker in her eyes. There’s more she’s not telling me. Maybe she can’t say it in front of Matteo, who’s standing off to the side, watching us with a fierce frown.

I kiss Lark’s forehead. “Why don’t you go inside, and I’ll be there in a second?”

“Okay. I’ll check on Nina.”

“Sure. She’s not awake, but Ryan’s with her.”

Lark goes inside. I hold my breath until the door closes again. Then I turn to my friend.

“I tried to get Lark to wait inside when you ran off,” Matteo says, “but it was all I could do to keep her here on the porch.”

“Thanks, man. You’ve done a lot for me today.”

He reaches out to squeeze my shoulder. “I’d do it all again. Just ask. I feel like shit for not realizing Lark had left the house before. I was answering a call from Angela.”

If blame is going around, it’ll fall squarely on my shoulders. Not my best friend’s. “We’re all doing our best.” Even if that’s nowhere near enough. “Is Angela all right?”

“Yeah, some Braxton-Hicks contractions. They’re no big deal, but it’s not pleasant.”

“Do you need to get home?”

“Nah, she’s at work for now. You know Angela. Not much can drag her away from her cases. I’ll stay here a few more hours. Make sure everything’s kosher.”

We both go inside. “Could you let me know when West Oaks PD arrives?” I ask. I’ll have to check our cameras as well to see if they caught anything.

“Sure thing.”

“Thank you.”

I make a quick detour to the bathroom to wash the blood from my scraped knuckles and slap a bandage over them. I find Lark hovering in Nina’s doorway. Nina’s still unconscious, and Ryan is monitoring her vitals closely. He handled the crisis well, actually. He was already giving Nina oxygen when I stormed in earlier. I don’t know him as well as Jess or Starla, but I’m glad I can count on him. Too bad I can’t clone myself so I can be everywhere I need to be at once.

“Hey,” I whisper to Lark. “Can we talk?”

She leads the way to her bedroom. It’s dark in here, but Lark doesn’t bother to turn the light on. Her bed is made, but there are a few items of clothing out. Must’ve been from packing for our night out.

Lark tugs the curtain closed, blocking off the view of the backyard that she loves so much and pulling us further into shadow.

She sinks onto the edge of the mattress, and I sit beside her, turning to face her. “I’m sorry,” I say. “This is on me.”

Last night, I let down my guard, focusing on how much I wanted Lark instead of the danger that’s constantly surrounding us. As if I could banish Z and every other threat just by wishing it. I should’ve known better. Idoknow better. I fucked up.

But my words manage to make things worse. Because Lark’s face crumples. “No,I’msorry.”

---