Page 117 of Life To My Flight

Torren.

Tunnel.

It was the beat of my heart that alerted them that I was awake.

The steady beep, beep, beep became an erratic tattoo, going from an even 80 beats per minute to a steady 110 in less than thirty seconds.

Silas was the one to jump up and come to me.

He leaned over until his beard touched my chest. “You’re okay, girl.”

“Cleo,” I croaked.

My voice sounded raw and edgy, nothing smoky about it.

Silas smiled. “He’s fine. They have him down in X-ray checking out his lungs. That’s why you have so many of us in your room.

I blinked stupidly at him. “His lungs?”

He turned his head slightly and leaned back before sitting down on the edge of my bed.

His leg came up to rest at my side.

“There was a fire,” he started.

I nodded. I’d remembered that. But they weren’t supposed to be there.

And speaking of, how had I gotten out?

Then I knew. Cleo had come. Just like I’d known he would.

“Everyone okay?” I rasped.

Silas face went from somber to sorrowful, and I knew instantly that something terrible had happened.

“What?” I asked.

Someone from the other side of the bed took my hand, and I turned to see that Cord had it. Then something touched my foot, and I saw that Loki’s hand rested at the top of the footboard. His scarred hand that spoke of tons of fights, held on to my toes through the blanket.

“Please,” I said as I turned back to Silas.

He swallowed, causing his beard to bob with the effort.

“Tunnel died. Complications from smoke inhalation,” he murmured softly.

My heart sank, and a sob got caught in my throat, causing my raw voice to come out even grittier. “No.”

The wail of denial came from down deep as I let all the pain and fury pour out of me in just that one word.

He nodded sorrowfully. “I’m sorry, girl. He died. It wasn’t from anything you did, though.”

“I testified,” I wailed. “If I hadn’t, he’d have still been alive.”

My voice sounded ghastly, but I couldn’t keep the words in. They just poured out.

“Vanessa said not to testify. I should’ve listened. I should’ve listened,” I shook my head frantically.

“He knew the risks,” a soft-spoken voice said from the doorway. “It was his idea, after all.”

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