Page 99 of The Last Call Home
Yeah, that nightmare shoved us into this moment—but it’s not fucking fair.
At least she’s safe.She’s here.With us.
The room is quiet, the stillness punctuated only by their breathing—hers light and soft, a fragile cadence against my ribs.His deeper and slower.
I glance down at Lilah again.Her lashes twitch in the faint morning light spilling through the cracked curtain.A tiny sound escapes her—something between a sigh and the smallest, most adorable snore.She burrows into the pillow like she’s trying to disappear into me, her thigh draped across mine, stealing more of my heat like it’s hers by right.
She is soft in her sleep.All that fire and fight stripped down to something vulnerable.Her mouth parts slightly, like she’s whispering secrets to a dream lover she doesn’t realize is real.
Across from me, on the other side of her, the mattress dips with the shift of Malerick waking.I feel the tension ripple through him before I see it.His hand flexes near hers, like he’s reaching out before he’s even fully awake.His brows tug together as his eyes open, hazy and dark, the aftermath of sleep still clinging to his voice.
“She’s waking up?”
I shake my head, careful not to shift her too much.“I hope not.It took fucking forever to calm her.”
Mal exhales through his nose.The sound scrapes something inside me.“Have you talked to CQS today?”
“Yeah,” I murmur.“Called them earlier.We’ve got a meeting later.Eleven.”
He nods, jaw ticking.“We found some John Doe nearby—car accident.He didn’t make it.”His voice tightens.“I’m afraid that if we don’t find Keir soon ...he might be next.”
“Fuck,” I mutter, guilt slamming into me like a punch.“I forgot about him.”
I move carefully, peeling my arm from around Lilah like I’m dismantling a live bomb.Her brow creases, but she doesn’t stir.We’re making too much noise.She needs to rest.Her body deserves some goddamn peace.
Because when she wakes up, I know what’s coming.
The fury’s going to simmer beneath her skin, but it won’t stay there.It’s going to shatter into something quieter, meaner.Grief.That grief is going to cut her open from the inside, and I’ll have to watch her bleed out everything she built.Everything they fucking took.
If she’d been inside ...
I swallow hard.
I can’t think about that.
I won’t.
Not when my fists are already clenched with the need to destroy the people responsible.
Once we’re both outside the bedroom, I ask him, “What are we going to do?You know that was the syndicate, right?”
He nods.“I still think?—”
“No, it wasn’t you kissing her.I think it’s something else.We’re missing pieces, Mal.I’ve been thinking all night.”
“Did you get any sleep?”he asks before I can continue my thought.
“How could I when this is it?This is when things begin to get worse before we eliminate them.”I continue, “This wasn’t random and I’m sure it wasn’t because you two are together.Lilah is best friends with the owner of Maple Haven, and she’s close to the Timberbridge women.Still, there’s more.Did she date someone that might be linked to them?”
He shrugs.“I wouldn’t know.Delilah was too young when I left.She wasn’t on my radar.Maybe you could ask Atlas—or her.”He taps his chin.“Simone might know.”
“Simone’s leaving town.There’s a new doctor taking over for her.”
“What the fuck?”He frowns.
I shrug.“They probably need her somewhere else.Doctors are like agents.They rotate them depending on where they need to be placed.”
“The town is welcoming her and suddenly, she’s gone.”He shakes his head, disbelief threading his voice.“That’s ...it doesn’t make sense.It’s like they dragged her out overnight without a warning.Poof, just gone.If that happened to me, everyone would be asking questions.”
