Page 34 of Cole: Bloodlines
“Angel! Baby!”Dane’s desperate voice cut through the panic and terror, and suddenly Angel was caught in a vice—his husband’sarms—held tightly against the man’s warm, strong body.
“No…”Angel whimpered, sobbing, trying to pull free, but the arms held him, unrelenting.“No… let me go… I don’t want to be here… please… just let me… disappear…”
“No,” Dane cried against his hair. “No, I’ll never let you go.” His arms loosened, and he cupped Angel’s face. “Look at me, baby. Open your eyes and look at me.”
Angel shook his head; if he opened his eyes, he would be back there… and he couldn’t escape again.
“Come on, baby, come back to me.” Devlin stroked Abel’s tear-streaked face as the boy stared vacantly through him. “Please, baby… come back… Savannah needs you.Ineed you.” He kissed his face and pressed his head to Abel’s brow. “She isn’tgone, baby. That young girl’s body… it wasn’t Savannah. She’s still here, Abel. Come back to us, baby,please.”
Cole approached, shock still etched across his face. Devlin broke down, trembling and sobbing. Cole sank next to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
“I can’t get to him,” Devlin whispered, shaking. “I-I can’t…”
Cole hugged him, kissing his head. “Let me try.” He took Abel’s hands. “Abel, baby, it’s Cole. You need to hear me. Savannah, she… she isn’t dead. That wasn’t her body. You need to come back to us.”
Tears formed fresh in the boy’s eyes and spilled down his face, but his eyes remained fixed on some distant point neither of the men could see.
“Abel,” Cole spoke more firmly and gripped the boy’s shoulder. “Abel.”He shook him once, with just enough force to jolt the young man’s body.
A shudder rippled through Abel, and his eyelids fluttered, his eyes slowly focusing on the men. For a moment, he still didn’t seem to bethere, staring at them as if they were total strangers.
“Abel.” Cole stroked his thumb over the boy’s cheek.
Abel blinked slowly, then again, as recognition seeped into his eyes. His chin trembled, and he sagged into Cole’s arms, breaking into sobs. Devlin stroked his hair and kissed his head.
“Baby,” Devlin whispered, his voice shaking. “Baby… those bodies… they weren’t Savannah and Maddy.”
Abel trembled and went still. He raised his head slowly and looked at Devlin. “What…?”
“It’s true,” Cole murmured, kissing his face. “It isn’t them.”
Abel’s face crumpled, tears flooding. “Are you… are you… sure?”
“Yes.” Devlin swallowed, nodding. Abel grabbed onto him, clinging with all his might, and broke down, his young body straining beneath the force of his sobs.
Angel squeezed his eyes shut, his body shaking with sobs, refusing to look at Dane, refusing tocome backfully—too terrified of what was waiting for him.
“Angel,” Dane pleaded as he held his husband’s face. “Baby, open your eyes, look at me… Maddy isn’t gone… that wasn’t his body.” He gripped Angel’s head and cried, “Maddy isn’t dead.”
A small spasm jerked through Angel… and his eyes slowly opened, releasing a torrent of tears. He stared at Dane, slightly disoriented, fear resonating through his stare. “Dane…” he whispered with a tremor. “What… Maddy…”
Dane shuddered with relief and hugged the young man, sobbing against his shoulder. “Baby,” he choked. “Maddy… it wasn’t him… it-it wasn’t Savannah.”
“What…?” Angel trembled hard as he struggled to comprehend his words. “That…” His watery eyes darted to the tree. “That isn’t… Maddy?”
“No.” Dane swallowed, his breath coming quick. “It isn’t, baby.”
Shaking badly, Angel crawled around him and stumbled onto the frozen grass. Angel stood unmoving, quiet terror on his face as he looked across the park. He turned his head slowly and looked at Abel, huddled between Cole and Devlin. When Abel saw him, he moved away from the car, Devlin’s jacket slipping from his shoulders.
The two boys started across the park, their steps hesitant at first, then breaking into a run. The three men followed as the young men reached the bodies, stood staring for a shocked moment, then fell to their knees and grabbed onto one another—clutching—their cries shattering the night.
Devlin brought a blanket from the ambulance and wrapped it around Abel’s bare body as the two boys continued to cling to one another, sobbing. Cole finally picked up Abel and carried him back across the park. Dane lifted Angel to his feet and wrapped him in his arms, leading him to the car once more.
Back by the vehicles, the boys huddled together, holding onto each other, their heads touching. The relief of discovering the truth about the bodies was overshadowed by the terrifying reality that the Mangler still had the kids… and the fate of the two dead teens was a preview—asneak peek—of “coming attractions” for Savannah and Maddy’sstory.
Angel rode in the ambulance with Abel and Devlin, while Cole and Dane stayed behind at the park. Neither said much as they leaned against Dane’s car and watched the coroner and the cops across the park at the crime scene. Both men were suffering the aftershocks of the recent events, like tiny, horrific vibrations rattling through their system.
Cole’s take-charge persona with Abel—reflecting a glimpse of his old self—had already begun to recede as the nightmare crept back in. “If it is the kids next time,” Cole whispered. “The boys won’t make it.” He lowered his head. “I don’t think they would have come back this time… if not…”
