Page 217 of Never Die for a Sinner
It’s like my body’s buried in snow—paralyzed under a sheet of ice, my nerves frozen, my voice lost in the cold.
But I know that smell.
His scent wraps around me like a blanket—familiar and warm, and sohimit makes something in my chest crack wide open.
We’re alive . . . At least I think so.
I push against the weight pinning me down. I just want to see him. Just one look. Just one glance to prove he’s real, and okay.But my eyes stay closed, and the voices begin to drift, like I’m being pulled away again.
No—wait—please . . .
My consciousness frays at the edges, slipping from my grasp like sand through trembling fingers. And in the final moment, when everything else fades, a calloused hand closes gently over mine, and a rough voice breaks in my ear.
A single word. Cracked. Desperate.
“Please.”
A while later, I jerk from sleep, the nightmare still hanging on the far reaches of my mind.
“You’re safe.”
My heart jumps in my chest, hammering when I spot the dark figure in the chair beside my bed.
Levi’s watching me, his shoulders slumped and his eyes distant. He looks . . . broken. A man robbed of life.
Neither of us moves for a long time. Somehow, I know he’s been by my side the entire time I’ve been unconscious. Silently watching over me like he has so many times before.
The swell in my chest steals my breath away. A mixture of agony, love, and desperation that feels too good to be healthy.
He loves me. I love him.
—But we are going to destroy each other.
“How long have I been asleep?” I ask, my voice gravely with sleep.
Levi hands me a glass of water that sits on the hospital tray beside him.
“Twenty-two hours,” Levi says emotionlessly, as if he’s been counting down the exact time.
I swallow down the water, grateful as it wets my dry mouth. Looking around the room, there are flowers, cards, and stuffed animals, but not another soul in sight.
“It’s late,” Levi says, glancing at the flowers beside him. “I sent everyone home.”
“Who are these from?” I ask, confused. I’m not sure I even know this many people.
“Your family,” he answers finally, his expression dark. Troubled.
“You mean your family,” I say, halfheartedly. There’s no use trying to lighten the mood, but that doesn’t stop me.
A hush falls over the room, the only sound the whir of machines and the distant hum of someone else’s television.
“So . . . what happened to Donovan?”
Levi lets out a deep sigh, rubbing a hand over his eyes. I can see he’s tired, like he hasn’t slept in weeks.
“No one knows.”
“And . . . Alex?”
