Page 82 of Vicious Desire (Fallen Royals 4)

My eyes burn.

This isn’t the brother I know. The one who defended me at a party once. Who wiped away too many tears last year and the one prior. Who held my hand during every one of Mom’s procedures.

We get home fast, and it takes Dad and me to get Noah into the house.

Mom opens the door, and we let Noah drop onto the couch.

“Where did you find him?” Mom asks.

“A drug house,” Dad says.

They exchange a look.

My chest tightens. Their faces say: We’ve talked about this.

“I already called them.” Mom perches on the coffee table and brushes the hair out of Noah’s eyes. “They’ll be here in fifteen minutes.”

“Who?”

My question goes unanswered.

“Mom. Who’s coming?”

Dad slides his hand into mine, squeezing gently. “People who can help him.”

I nod slowly.

EMTs arrive sooner than fifteen minutes and assess him. Mom backs away while they check his vitals, and then another one brings in a stretcher.

Another van pulls up.

Three men in mint-green scrubs enter the house. They confer with my parents, then the EMTs, and I crouch beside Noah. I take his hand.

His palm is hot and dry, and mine is clammy. Any other time, he’d probably yank it away. But he just reels me in, holding it tight to his chest.

“They’re going to take me away,” he mumbles. He meets my gaze. “They don’t know how to fix me.”

“What?”

“Dad kept Mom at the hospital because he didn’t think he could handle it. He didn’t want a hospital bed in his living room. What do you think he’ll do to me?”

“They can’t—”

“Riley,” Mom calls.

I glance up.

“Honey, you’ve got to step back.”

“No.” I struggle to take a breath. He can’t be right—he’s high out of his mind. Paranoid. Hallucinating. “He can’t leave.”

“He’s going to an excellent facility,” Mom says. She takes my free hand and helps me stand.

As hard as I try to hold on to Noah, I can’t.

He releases me first.

Remember that, Riley. He let go first.

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