Page 48 of Cursed Sight
She nodded and gathered their things as Brandy changed back into street clothes. Cynicism was something Serena understood all too well, at least until the Broderick family barged into her world. She had gone through her share of men and had been burned enough times by women to question everyone.
Serena had fought her attraction to Ethan until their union didn’t allow it anymore. The last few months and the conversation only moments ago with Brandy showed Serena that some women did mean what they said.
Volark may have started the current chapter in her life with a few rocky paragraphs, but the relationships that followed had smoothed things out. The small voice in her head, the cynic she’d managed to shove down deep within her, warned her all great things must come to an end.
Serena shook her head free of the negative thought and moved toward the door.
Brandy draped her wedding dress over her arm and asked, “You okay?”
“I’m not sure. Something feels… off?”
Brandy stopped. “Is it Ethan? Is he okay?”
Serena shut her eyes and inhaled deeply. “It’s—”
“Serena?”
Chapter 27
Ethan nervously tapped his fingers against the glass counter. He hated throwing up a block between Serena and him. It was unnatural… as if he’d cut off a piece of himself. He knew it was temporary and that in a matter of hours he would be rid of it, but it did not assuage his feelings.
“Once you sign this receipt, you’ll be all set to go,” the kind, middle-aged blonde told him as she set his bag and card next to him.
He nodded and put the pen to the paper. Halfway through writing his name, Ethan cried out when a shooting pain hit him in the gut. The pen dropped on the glass as he stared down and saw there was no blood.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
Serena.
Meeting the clerk’s eyes, he told her, “I don’t know,” then grabbed his things and hurried out of the store. Ethan dropped the shield between him and Serena as his phone rang. He barely looked at Brandy’s name as he slid his finger across to answer it.
“What’s wrong with her?” he barked as he looked up and down the street, unsure which way he needed to go. Their connection was weak.
Brandy’s words came out in a sob. “She’s on her way to Schwab Memorial. E… I… I don’t know what happened!”
“Fuck!” he growled before running to the street and waving down the next cab. “Meet me there.” Everything inside him hurt, and he needed his family. He could not lose Serena, not now that he’d found her.
The ride to the hospital took what felt like a century. He tossed a few extra bills at the driver, urging him to break a few laws if it meant he would get to Serena faster. The cab had barely stopped when he jumped out with the small bag still in hand.
Ryan’s grim face met him at the ER exit. “They’re working on her,” he stated and began walking, knowing Ethan would follow. “Brandy said they’d been finishing up at the dress shop with the alterations when Serena said something felt off. She grabbed her stomach and collapsed.”
Unable to speak, Ethan nodded at his brother-in-law. Inside, they met the others in the waiting room. Brandy’s distraught face met his, and his throat closed further.
“I’m so sorry, E,” she cried before enveloping him in a hug. “I don’t know what happened.”
Ethan cleared his throat a few times until he thought he could speak. “How long has it been?”
“Not long,” Peter said as he stepped forward.
“What are you doing here?” Ethan snapped when the nightmare flashed in his mind. As far as he knew, the werewolf and Serena were not close.
Peter’s eyes flashed gold at Ethan’s aggressive tone.
“Ethan! Peter is a friend!” Brandy said and gave him a shake.
A man Ethan had never seen before stepped up near Peter’s side. “Ethan. I wish we could have met under better circumstances,” he said, and Peter’s deep growl caused the man to whimper.
“Gary is one of Peter’s wolves. He was keeping an eye on the girls,” Ryan stated.
