Page 54 of Defiant Beta

Ever’s hand squeezes mine as she whispers. “Oh, no.”

Mom should have still been sleeping unless she woke to use the bathroom and found us gone. I know what that means. Big trouble.

Everleigh stays home. That has always been the most important rule.

And I broke it deliberately.

I squeeze her hand back. Not in fear, but determination. “Did you have fun tonight?”

She turns to me, forehead furrowed as she chews her lip. “Yeah, but?—”

“Then that’s all that matters. Mom can scream at me for five hours, and it won’t matter.” I squeeze her hand again. “Come on.”

The door swings open as we approach, as if she were standing on the other side of it, peering out through the peephole.

But no one is there—just a vast black hole that pulls me inside.

I fall, screaming, my hand ripping from Everleigh’s as pain tears me apart.

Chapter 18

Vincent

Outside the hospitalwaiting room window, the sky is dark, yet the sun is slowly rising on the distant horizon.

I don’t know how long we’ve been here, but my eyes feel gritty, my mouth tastes of bitter coffee, and my back aches from my hard plastic chair.

“She’s safe now, so there’s no need for us to stay,” I say.

Xavier and Levi look at me.

I don’t know who I’m trying to convince—them or me.

On a low, hard plastic table, paper cups half-filled with the worst coffee in the world sit neglected. None of us could finish a single cup.

The last time I stretched my legs in the hallway, Everleigh was sleeping in a chair beside Della’s bed. Pack Ashe had parked themselves beside the door and nodded at me as I passed them.

Della has her family with her. She doesn’t need us hanging around.

“Someone whipped her with a belt.” Levi has his black boots on a chair, his arms folded. His expression is blank. Under the surface, I know what’s brewing.

I share a glance with Xavier.

He looks worried. I’m a little better at hiding my concern.

Neither of us asks how he can be so sure what caused the red, painful welts crisscrossing her back. We know.

“She won’t want us anywhere near her when she wakes up,” Xavier says, looking out of the open door.

It’s the middle of the night, or early, and I can’t remember the last time I saw a nurse or a doctor go by.

“We should stay and keep watch over her.” Levi has barely looked away from the wall for the last few hours. “It’s the least we could do.”

“And Aly?” I remind him. “Do we drop everything when we’re so close?” No one responds. “We have to remember what’s important.” I get to my feet and fish my car keys from my pocket.

“They’re going to kill you,” Levi softly calls out. “You know that, right? You might be content to ignore your vibrating phone and let the city burn for Aly, but theywillkill you. Maybe before we find out who killed her.”

I’ve fought, lied, cheated, and killed to become the head of the Council.

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