Page 133 of Shattered Veil

Liam called back, “The hell do you mean we don’t?!”

Colton continued to speak with his weighted inhales and exhales, but I didn’t hear him, for Luke ran across the landing to enter the bedroom on the right-hand side. He said nothing as he burst through the door, and I had no chance to question him before James appeared at the top of the stairs.

On his own two feet and anything but weary despite the wounds decorating his face, he rounded the corner, frantically racing down the steps. His eyes locked on me, he looked to be flooded with relief, and he embraced me so roughly that his wet shirt made a loud smack against me.

Arms enveloping me around my waist and shoulders, he was squeezing so tightly that my lungs strained for air. I craved the feel of him more than the oxygen, though, so I returned it—my head tucked into his shoulder and my fingers digging into his back.

“Fuck, Cassie,” James choked. “You crazy woman.” He leaned away from me first, just enough to allow our gazes to meet and his fingers to brush over my tear-stained cheeks. “Are you hurt at all?”

“No.” One of my hands left his back, skating up his shirt to land on the left side of his chest. Finding him tachycardic, I whispered, “Breathe, Jay.”

His expression twisted, and he pulled me back to him once again.

Tone stripped and welling with emotion, he murmured into my hair, “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you weren’t okay…”

As his words yanked at my insides, I opened my eyes to see Liam watching us carefully. He cleared his throat loudly, quickly shifting his focus back to Randy as if he hadn’t intended to see a damn thing, and the noise prompted James to abruptly release me, whipping around to turn his attention on Liam.

James muttered, “Oh, um…” as it was clear that though he was no longer looking our way, my brother had witnessed our dramatic embrace.

A bang erupted from upstairs, one much like the sound of the crashing furniture that had occurred earlier. Our heads all snapped to the stairway, and Luke could be heard from above:

“Oh, God—” High pitched whimpering cut him off, and he assured, “No, no-no-no, you’re okay, I’m—”

“GET AWAY FROM ME!”

The woman’s scream was terror-laced and shrill, turning my veins to ice.

James’ shoulders sagged as he uttered, “He found her.”

I questioned him, “Jay?”

“I’m here to help you,” Luke’s muffled voice comfortingly spoke. “Look—key—it’s for your cuffs. I can—”

It didn’t seem as though the woman heard a single word he spoke, for she shrieked, “NO!”

The vowel carried on for long enough that it turned into a pleading cry.

James somberly confessed, “I—fuck, I should have gone myself—come on.” He grabbed my wrist to lead me upstairs, and he told me in a rush, “She’ll probably calm down more with seeing you, too.”

“Who?”

“Sky.”

Chapter 24

James

Racing to leave Officer Dowler’s home was a necessity that we weren’t granted the ability to perform for there were too many questions.

Did the neighbors hear the commotion?

Will Randy have amnesia?

Did anyone nearby call for emergency services?

How much evidence, aside from Colton’s blood, would we be leaving behind?

Those were only a handful of the concerns swirling around us now that we had managed to get Skylar downstairs, and though we all felt as though we needed to run and never look back…we couldn’t. The metaphorical ice that we stood on was not only thin…it was already cracked beneath us—and if we weren’t careful, our next steps could plunge us all into the depths below.

---