Page 83 of Shadowed Vows: Ghost
The matching watches—symbols of our brotherhood, of everything we built together.
Roman teaching me to trust again after years in foster care, showing me that family can be chosen, can be built from broken pieces.
Roman standing beside me at my first team member's funeral, his hand steady on my shoulder as I fought back tears.
"Ghost." Damian's voice yanks me back to the present. "Police scanners picked up activity. Harbor patrol's doing a sweep in twenty minutes. We need to move."
"We can't just leave him," I snarl, my hand still gripping Roman's wrist. I can't feel a pulse, but his skin is still warm. Too warm.
He's only been dead a short time. If we'd been faster, if I'd been smarter...
"We have to," Remy says quietly. "And the body's too damaged for proper field identification, Ghost. We need our equipment, proper lighting, time we don't have right now."
The world tilts dangerously as I stare down at what remains of my friend. My mentor. My brother. Blood soaks through the knees of my pants where I kneel, sticky and warm.His blood.The thought sends a wave of nausea through me.
"Dammit, Roman," I whisper, too low for the others to hear. "Who did this to you?"
Asher appears at my side, his normally cold demeanor softened by something dangerously close to sympathy.
"Ghost," he says firmly. "We need to go. Now."
I shake my head, unable or unwilling to process his words. My fingers tighten around Roman's wrist.
"Kade." Asher uses my real name, something he hasn't done in years. The shock of it almost clears my head. "You're too close to this. You need to go home, get your head straight."
"I'm fine," I snarl, not meeting his eyes, focusing instead on the blood beneath my fingers.
"No, you're not," he snaps, his usual calm precision fractured by urgency. "None of us are, but you were closest to him. Let us handle this part."
I rise to my feet so quickly that black spots dance before my eyes, towering over Asher. "You think I can't do my job?"
"I think you're about to fall apart," Asher says bluntly. "And we need you whole."
My hands curl into fists, rage boiling up from somewhere deep and primal. Asher doesn't back down, but I see the team tensing around us, ready to intervene. They've never seen me like this—on the edge, control slipping.
"Ghost," Asher says quietly. "Please."
The word stops me cold. Asher doesn't say please. Ever.
He turns to Alina, his eyes conveying a silent plea. "Talk some sense into him. You're the only one he might listen to right now."
Alina steps forward, her eyes meeting mine.
"Ghost," she says softly, using my name like a lifeline. "Let's go. Let them handle this. I'll stay with you."
Something in her voice cuts through the storm inside me. I look down at Roman's body once more, at the silverwatch gleaming dully in the flashlight's beam. My hands are covered in his blood, tacky and cooling rapidly.
I reach for Roman's wrist. The watch face is smeared with crimson, his blood tacky against my fingertips as I unfasten the clasp.
"I'll find them," I promise, my voice breaking as I pocket the blood-covered timepiece. "Whoever did this to you won't fucking live to see another sunrise once I do."
I force myself to stand, to turn away.
"Frost, coordinate with Reaper on extraction and cleanup. Blade, start working on the cover story. I want regular updates, every thirty minutes."
I move mechanically toward one of the CPG sedans, my body operating on autopilot while my mind reels. Alina follows close behind. She reaches for the driver's side door, but I shake my head.
"I need to drive," I say, my voice unrecognizable even to my own ears. "I need... I need to feel in control of something right now."
