Page 48 of Wicked Bite
I looked down into the dark hole and couldn’t imagine laying her there. How did anyone lay a loved one so deep and away? It felt like once I placed her there, she’d be gone from my sight forever. Dead was a way of life, but this couldn’t be it. Not for Piper. I held her tighter, fighting the urge to take her away and hold her forever.
Sav reached for her. “Let me lay her down.”
“No.” I shook my head.
“She will not rise, if she rises, until she is buried properly.” Sav held his arms out to me. “Give her to me. I will do this for you.”
“Out with you. I’ll do it.” I couldn’t just hand her over. Let her go? No. My stomach turned, and my body repelled at the thought.
With one bounce he hopped out of the hole. He stood over me waiting, not saying a word. I couldn’t move. My body was frozen in the moment in time where I just had to hold her for only a minute longer.
Sav placed his hand on my shoulder. “If you’re going to do it, it must be now.”
He was right. We only had so much time between when my blood was taken and when she could be buried. I reluctantly rose to my feet and stood at the edge of the hole. I couldn’t imagine putting her there, and yet I would. I would say goodbye and pray that I would see her again in her next life. There was no light, only darkness, and she deserved all the light in the world. I hopped down and laid her on the cold packed dirt. This wasn’t right. None of this was supposed to be. She was so pale against the dark dirt, her hair a matted mess and cuts riddling her body. My stomach rolled and I fought back the waves of nausea that wanted to take me.
I folded her hands over her stomach and straightened her hair. As gently as I could, I forced her legs back into place to lay straight and flat. The sound of her precious bones snapping forced a sob to escape my lips. Tears ran down my face and fell onto her as I brushed my finger on her cheek one last time. This has to work. Please, God, let it work.
“Grayson, we must.” Sav urged me up out of the grave.
With one last glance at her, I jumped out and landed next to him. I bent and grabbed a hand full of dirt and sprinkled it over her body. I couldn’t bear to see her like this. The life had left her face, and it was all my fault. I turned away and hunched over. My stomach rolled, and I fell to my knees trying to catch my breath. I grabbed two more handfuls of dirt and dropped them in. My vision blurred, but I had to keep going, had to cover her.
“Let me do this for you.” Sav stepped in front of me and grabbed the dirt.
“No.” I reached for more and kept on going.
Sav didn’t listen. He moved to the other side of the pile and began helping me, and I didn’t have the words to stop him. We worked in silence until I couldn’t see her anymore, until the hole was completely full. I dug both my hands into the fresh packed dirt and hunched over.
Let her come back. Please, just let her come back
CHAPTER NINETEEN
DICE
What the hell does proof of life actually mean? I ground my teeth together and slammed the bus bucket down on the end of the bar. The bottles within rattled and shook. I mean, how hard was it to just send a five-minute text. No Devil Dick was THAT distracting that she couldn’t take five minutes to be like “Hey, I’m not going to be home.” or “Hey can you cover my shift? I’m not going to show up.” But there was nothing from Piper. Not even a thumbs-up emoji after I sent her . . . I pulled out my phone to check it . . . twelve texts.
“Still no word?” The manager, Andrew, walked up next to me.
I shook my head. “No.”
“It’s really not like her not to show up. But I’m glad you could come in to cover the noon shift for her.” Andrew was a cute, simple guy. He was about our age but looked younger with short blond hair, light brown eyes, and a clean-shaven baby face.
Don’t remind me. I was worried enough as it was. “I know. I have to admit I’m kind of worried.”
It wasn’t like Piper to not text me or call. We were attached at the hip. More than two hours without communication, and we both would send the other a “You dead?” gif just to check in. But I hadn’t gotten anything. And the sinking feeling in my stomach wouldn’t stop until I heard from her.
Andrew gave me a solemn nod. “Do you know where she might be?”
I glanced out the window and down the street. “I think so.”
He glanced over his shoulder at the empty restaurant. “It’s pretty slow right now. Why don’t you just go at least check to see if she’s okay?”
“Really? Are you sure?” I was already behind the bar reaching into the cabinet for my coat. “I don’t want to make it difficult for you.”
He waved toward the door. “Dice, go. You two are the most reliable employees we have. Just go check and come back if it’s all good.”
I threw the strap of my purse over my head, making it a cross body bag. I ran around the bar and out the door. The only reason I said yes to covering her shift in the first place was because I thought she was okay, and I didn’t want either of us to get fired. We had rent to pay, after all. But the later it got, the more that heavy ball in my stomach turned to nervous knots. My mind whirled with thoughts of all the things that could possibly happen, and I instantly regretted my addiction to all things criminal. Serial killer documentaries were not my friend at the moment. Visions of dead bodies in ditches came to mind and I shook them away.
She was probably all curled up in a king size bed with her Sexy Brit while I was over here worrying like a mother hen. And I was no mother hen . . . but a shitty worrier. My mind went to all the things wrong: dead, in an accident, in a coma in the hospital with no one to identify her, kidnapped. Any number of things could’ve been wrong. Even the weather was bad last night. What if she slipped and cracked her head open just walking? I’d seen her walk . . . it could totally happen.
