A Tempting Arrangement (Twisted Vows Book 1)

55. Damon

A bright lightshines in one of my eyes, then the other.“Call the OR and tell them we have a trauma coming in.”

It’s like I’m ten feet underwater, trying to listen in. “He’s hemorrhaging!”

Alarms start going off, loud beeping piercing the surface of my fog. A woman presses down on my chest, pain searing beneath her hand.

“Stay with us.” The pain dissipates, replaced by ice so cold I go completely numb. “Shit! He’s bleeding out. We’re losing him.”

Lavender hair and clear green eyes are the last things I see before the blackness pulls me under.

Muffled voices filter in, pulling me toward them.

“We almost lost him.” Matthias.

“He’s going to be pissed when he wakes up.” Xander.

A voice I don’t recognize cuts in. “You can’t be in here.”

The noise grows quiet, and I’m sucked deep into a fog.

“How are we going to tell him?” Matthias says, and I fight to the surface. Is he talking about me?

“There was so much blood.” Bash.

“Misty…” Another voice I don’t recognize—it fades off at the end, and I desperately reach for consciousness. I grasp the rope hanging in front of me, dragging myself upward. I need to know what he says next.

Clear green eyes, red hair. That’s not right…her hair’s purple. A memory slips to the forefront of holding her in my arms. There’s blood on my hands, on her lips, soaking through her shirt.

I promised her I’d keep her safe. Promised I’d stay with her.

I stop fighting, welcoming the dark. I’m coming, Misty.

Beeping erupts from the machines around me, and there’s someone directing others, but I let go of the rope I’m holding and fall.

Light sears the back of my eyelids, and my throat burns.

“Water,” I breathe, barely above a whisper. Everything hurts. I peel my eyes open, but I’m frozen in place. My arms are too heavy to lift.

“If you ever fucking do that to me again,” Matthias’ fist digs into my shirt.

I blink, trying to process what’s happening. I’m not supposed to be here. Where am I supposed to be?

Realization dawns on me, bringing clarity, and the pain of living past her is worse than the bullet wounds. “Asshole. Why didn’t you let me die?”

“Let you fucking die? Let. You. Die!” He stumbles back a step, rubbing his palms over his face before raking them through his hair, pulling on the ends. “How can you ask that?”

“I’m supposed to be with her. Let me go.” My voice cracks around the words, more plea than statement.

Matthias searches my face, then huffs out a breath. “I don’t think she’d like that.”

“What?” My brows pull together, trying to process what he just said.

“Quiet, or you’ll wake her.” Bash comes into the room, holding two coffees.

Wake her? Wake who? I’m still fuzzy from whatever painkiller they have me on, but there’s a dangerous hope bubbling in my chest. I force my head to turn, and my ribs constrict around my chest, my heart aching. Lavender fills my vision…Misty. She’s asleep on a bed, pressed against mine. Her small hand reaches toward me even in her dreams.

She’s alive. She’s alive. She’s alive.

How is it possible? I watched her die.

My eyes burn, and tears overflow as I take her in. She’s bruised, and her skin has a pale yellow tint, but she’s here.

Pain radiates through my shoulder, but nothing can stop me from tucking the stray pieces of hair behind her ear. I never thought I’d be able to do it again.

Her lids slip open, and her stunning green gaze meets mine, a faint smile on her lips. “Welcome back.”