Page 91 of The Hate We Breathe
Mads’ voice cuts off, her desperation evaporating into silence. “Mads?” I say. “Mads!” I don’t care anymore if someone hears me in this hallway. I need her to fucking answer me.
There’s a brief moment of static, the sound of wind rushing. Then, a deep baritone answers—flat and monotone like a robotic recording. “The roof.”
The line goes dead.
34
JULIET
There are moments in life where I’ve wondered if we’re not all living in some sort of fucked-up simulation. Like when you set something down for two seconds, blink, and it’s gone—vanished—only to reappear weeks later in a place you’re sure you never put it. Except in my case, it’s not car keys or lipstick. It’s people or memories. Whole chunks of my sanity.
And right now, everything feels like it’s glitching as I stare down at the phone screen. The dropped call message flashes on my screen for a few more seconds before it disappears completely. A familiar sense of dread creeps into my bones. For a heartbeat, everything is silent. No one says a word. No one moves. No one even seems to breathe.
Then, I turn and head for the same door we came through. A hand snaps out and wraps around my biceps, stopping me before I get more than a few feet away.
“Hold up,” Nolan barks.
I whirl on him and shove at his chest. “Mads is in trouble,” I snap. “I have to go get her.”
The one fucking friend I still have and she needs me. Fuck whoever is stalking me. They can goddamn wait.
“Baby…” Lex’s voice trails off and I glance in his direction to see him looking between me and Nolan with indecision on his face. It’s clear he wants to listen to Nolan, but he also doesn’t want to deny me. Any other time, I would find it endearing, perhaps even amusing, but right now is not that time.
I tug against Nolan’s iron grip once more. “Let go.”
“No.” His voice is deep, tone final. A low growl erupts from me and I pull harder. He might be a piece of my ugly, corrupted heart, but there’s no fucking way in hell I’ll let him tell me what to do.
“Nolan.” His name is a warning on my tongue.
“Just…” He blows out a breath. “Give me a second to think.” He releases me to shove a hand through his hair as his brow furrows.
“What if it’s the stalker?” I ask. “What if she’s in trouble because of me?”
“That seems… convenient,” Gio murmurs stiffly.
I twist to face him, anger making my movements sharp and jerky. “Is it?” I demand. “Because it seems to me this motherfucker has been after me, but not once have they done anything directly to me. They’ve killed and it’s obvious they didn’t know the truth behind my relationship with Morpheus. Maybe Morpheus’ murder was meant to hurt me. It’s only because I fucking hate him that it didn’t, but Mads?—”
“Jules.” Nolan brushes against my arm this time versus grabbing ahold of it. My name is soft on his tongue, understanding. I close my eyes, my hands clenching into fists at my sides.
“I want this to be done,” I tell them. “I want all of this to be over.” Heat blossoms behind my closed eyelids and I know if I open them now, the world will be a murky, watery mess.
Seconds pass like hours, stretching out into infinity. When I finally open my eyes, I suck in a deep breath and turn to the group of men that I trust more than anyone else.
Gio’s face is rock hard, a mixture of anger and concern etched into each feature. Lex’s brow is low over his eyes and he stares at me so intensely that if gazes could dig, his would be beneath my skin. Nolan is the closest, his fingers barely grazing my arm as he gives me a sympathetic look.
I don’t want to see that.
I want acceptance for what I have to do. I want help. IneedMads to be okay.
“You’re not going up there alone,” Lex says, voice low, deadly.
I shake my head, clutching my phone so tightly that the edges feel like they’re bruising my palm. “She needs?—”
“He didn’t say you couldn’t go,” Nolan interrupts. “Just that you can’t go alone.”
“Are you fucking serious?” Gio gapes at Nolan like he’s lost his mind. “Thiscould be a trap!”
He’s right. It could be. But that doesn’t erase the fact that I will walk into hell itself for the people I actually care about. Trap or not, Mads is not going to be left alone when she needs me.
