Page 36 of Deadly Little Hearts

My tongue slides over my dry lips.“When I look at you, all I can see is death.I see you killing my mother and taking her away from me.”

Tears well up behind her eyes and her bottom lip wobbles.“When I look at you, I always see life.”She releases a heavy sigh.

My pulse quickens.No one has ever said those words to me.I’m not a good person.I’m fucked up, broken, and here she is, telling me she sees life in me?

“You were, and still are, always there to protect me.To help me see the light in the darkness.I’m so fucking sorry I killed your mother, and I’ll spend every last second of every day trying to take that pain away from you, but please don’t let it ruin us.Ruin what we had.”Tears stream down her ash-covered cheeks, and I reach out, wiping them away.She leans into my touch, and without thinking, I close the distance between us, claiming her salty lips in a light kiss.

Butterflies flutter around my broken heart, begging me to open up again, to let her in.Except, I can’t.Not yet.But I have hope that one day soon, I’ll be able to.She could have died in that blast, and that thought kills me.

The door opens and I pull back.Dr.Phillips walks in dressed in scrubs, with a mask over his nose and mouth.He carries a clipboard and quickly scans it before coming to stand on the other side of Freya’s hospital bed.

“Hello, Freya, I’m Doctor Phillips,” he says and Freya nods.

He reaches out, removing the bandages one of the paramedics put over her burns.He checks out the marks on her arms, and I finally let go of Freya’s hand.Her warmth is gone, and I want it back.

“We’ll put some cream on your burns and wrap them up.Keep applying the cream over the next couple of weeks, change the bandages, and they should heal nicely.Come back in two or three weeks for a follow-up to see how they’re healing.Any questions?”he asks Freya, and she shakes her head.

“Thanks, Doc,” I say, standing, and he nods, following me out the door.He shuts it behind him and moves over to the nurses’ station, handing me Freya’s cream.

“Hope you don’t mind me asking, but what on earth happened?I’ve got my beds full of burn victims,” he says with a frown.

“Explosion at the town hall,” I say, bracing my hands on the desk.“Do whatever you can to help the victims, even those from the Hood side.We’ll cover the bills.”

Dr.Phillips presses his lips together before nodding.I know he wants to ask more, but he won’t.He’s been our family doctor for as long as I can remember.He knows to never ask any questions, outside of what he needs to know to help us.He gets paid well enough to keep his mouth shut.

I head back into Freya’s private room, leaving the cream next to her bed.

Her eyes close, and I turn to leave.I should get back to help Hazen and Gage.“Stay with me, please?”

I want to say no.I should be with the guys, cleaning up the mess and figuring out who the fuck did this.Who put us, Freya, and our people in danger.But I can’t leave her.Not when she’s looking at me with her puppy-dog eyes.Not when I could have lost her forever.So I settle back into the uncomfortable-as-fuck hospital chair instead.

Freya sleeps on and off for the next hour.Nurses come and go before securing fresh bandages around both her arms.There’s a knock on the door and one of the nurses steps inside.

“Your next of kin is here to take you home,” she says, and I stand, ready to meet her mother, but Kai Mercer walks in instead.

What the ever-loving fuck?

Chapter 19

Freya

Kaiwalksthroughthedoor, and I sit up straighter, my heart thrashing against my chest.He barges past Lucas, whose fists are tightly clamped.

“Holy shit, Frey, are you okay?”Kai rushes to my side, his fingers skimming lightly over my bandages.The meds are helping, but there’s still a slight ache in my skin.

“I’m fine,” I say, offering him a reassuring smile.Zion and Bear stand at the door, watching Lucas closely.

“We’ve got it from here, bro,” Bear says, lifting the corner of his mouth.

Lucas’s jaw tightens.“Why the fuck is Kai your next of kin?”he growls, looking between us both, and I shrug.

“He’s my best friend.It used to be Alec, but when he decided he was going to college early, we changed it to Kai in case I needed someone close by when Alec was gone ...”My words trail off and silence follows.

Lucas stares at me with a mixture of anger and hurt clear in his widened gaze.I won’t apologize for Kai being my next of kin, because he is.He’s my best friend and has been there for me through everything, and nothing will change that.

This rift between my best friend and the loves of my life will ultimately break me in the end, because I’ll never choose between them.I can’t.

Lucas comes closer and leans down.He presses a kiss against my forehead, but he doesn’t say another word before walking away.I want to tell him to stay, but he won’t.When he kissed me earlier, part of my heart stitched itself back together again.We can’t return to the way we were before, and I get that, but there’s hope for us yet.I’ll hold on to that smallest little lifeline and won’t let go.

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