Page 32 of Splintered Memories
My dreams had been worse since Emersyn had been shot at. I woke every night covered in sweat, but I could handle it.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I muttered.
Fox leveled me with a look. “Do you need to talk to someone about it?”
I shrugged a shoulder. I’d been in communication with my therapist, but I hadn’t had time to see him in person. “It’s the stress, but I’ll be fine.”
Fox’s chest deflated with a long breath. He knew the expression on my face. I wasn’t in the mood for this discussion.
“Just know I’m here for you, if you need to talk.” He patted me on my good shoulder.
I nodded. “I know,” I said. “But you’re doing more than enough right now. If you weren’t taking care of Hearthstone, I don’t know what I’d do.”
Fox’s mouth found a small smile. “I know, you’d be lost without me.” He winked. “I’ve always been the best twin.”
I swatted him on the arm, some of my beer sloshing onto my shirt as he dodged me. He laughed, and I sighed.
“Get out of here.” I gestured toward the living room. “Go bother one of our other brothers while I change my damn shirt.”
Fox grinned, but he obliged. Even with beer spilled down my shirt, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Growing up, having four brothers was overwhelming sometimes. But now that we were adults, I couldn’t imagine my life without them. I’d do anything for them, and I knew, without a shadow of doubt, that they would do the same for me.
Thenextmorning,Iwas halfway through my bowl of cereal (cereal I had bought myself) when I noticed the time. It was after nine in the morning. I frowned.
My eyes caught on the staircase, ears straining for the slightest indication someone was moving upstairs. Silence.
Emersyn seemed to be a creature of habit. She had gotten out of bed every day this week to pick up her first cup of coffee at 8:30, on the dot. From there, she worked in her studio until the afternoon, when she’d finally eat her first meal of the day, along with another cup of coffee.
I picked up my phone, hesitating before sending her a text. It was still early, and she’d had a long day yesterday. Maybe she needed a little more sleep.
Putting my phone down, I returned to my cereal, but a knot of worry lingered in my gut. She had seemed fine when she slunk upstairs right before midnight, long after my brothers had gone home.
I busied myself with emails after breakfast, sipping my coffee as time ticked by. It was almost noon when I finally decided to check up on Emersyn. I’d sent her a text an hour ago and she hadn’t replied.
Standing from the kitchen table where I’d been working on my computer, I rolled my shoulder. I headed for the stairs, but decided to check the rest of the house before I went to her room.
She wasn’t anywhere.
The studio was empty and quiet and a bit of a mess with all the merch that had overflowed from the desk and onto the floor.
I even checked the garage to make sure her car was still here. It was exactly where I’d parked it yesterday.
My jaw popped as I clenched my back teeth. That knot of worry grew into a tangled ball of nerves in my stomach. I ascended the stairs up to her room two at a time. Emersyn’s room was down the hall from the one I was sleeping in. As I approached the door, there was no noise. No sign that anyone else was in the house. I tried to ignore the fear spiking through me.
I pulled in a breath, standing before her bedroom door. She was in there; she had to be. Maybe she was entirely more exhausted than I’d realized. I gave the door three hard raps, loud enough to wake her if she’d been sleeping.
I waited, but there was no reply.
My chest seized. “Emersyn?” I called her name, knocking on the door again.
Still nothing but silence.
I grabbed the door handle, the worry turning to full-blown anxiety. “Emersyn, I’m coming in,” I warned before cracking the door and peeking in.
I didn’t see her.
I flung it all the way open and strode inside, gazing around for any sign of her.
She wasn’t there.
