Haunted by Secrets (Shadowed Souls #3)

Chapter Fifteen

“Oh, my poor boy! What have you done to him?” Axel’s mom saunters across the room to inspect the botched shave job we just finished, reaching out to run her finger across a few missed longer hairs. Garrett’s hand shoots across from the other side of the bed, snatching her wrist tightly in his grip.

“Don’t pretend you give a shit about him, Sharon,” he hisses her name through his teeth. “He doesn’t belong to you anymore.” Garrett’s dark eyes are blazing with fury, his arm trembling from the firm hold that has the slender woman whimpering.

After a tense second, which has even a doctor hovering in the doorway frozen with anticipation, Garrett releases her with a shove and moves to sit on the bed. Sliding his arm beneath Axel’s neck, Garrett tenderly pulls him close like a lion protecting his sleeping mate from outside threats.

With a roll of her eyes, Sharon turns around to face the rest of us and holds out her palms expectantly. The doctor, whose name tag reads as Dr. Breeson, jerks into action. Rushing forward with a brown envelope I hadn’t noticed he was holding, he pulls a pen from his jacket pocket and hands them both to Sharon.

Pulling the papers free, her eyes roam over the typed words, lips pursing before scrawling an elaborate signature with her manicured fingers. The glint of an outrageous diamond fixed to her skinny wedding finger catches Garrett's attention. His eyes narrowed as he tracks the jewel back down her side.

“There,” she hands the paperwork back to the doctor, his forehead dripping with sweat, making his black hair look even greasier. “I’ve already made the necessary arrangements.” He nods quickly, his eyes flicking back to Garrett before ducking out of the room like a bomb is about to detonate.

“What arrangements?” I ask when clearly no one else is going to speak. Dax’s muscles are bunched by the bathroom door, his locked jaw matching Huxley’s, who has edged around and slyly stepped in front of me. Sharon’s pale eyes light up further as she takes in Huxley, scanning his handsome features and broad frame and pausing over his crotch for a beat too long.

“Axel’s coming home with me.”

“Like fuck he is!” Garrett roars, gently placing down Axel’s head before leaping from the mattress to join the rest of us by the foot of the bed. “I refuse to let him out of my sight, especially around the likes of you. You’re not beyond pimping out his unconscious body for the right price.” His chest is heaving, fists clenched, ready for a fight that Sharon doesn’t seem interested in having.

I clearly don’t know as many details of Axel’s past as everyone else in this room, but I know enough, and the woman before me isn’t the monster I envisioned. Axel has her full lips and heart-shaped face, although that’s where the similarities end.

Her hair sits perfectly at the back of her slender jewel-covered neck, her breasts too perky to be natural in an expensive pantsuit. She easily could have been a model or boutique owner, but I suppose marrying into money was more her speed. Twisting her lips at Garrett’s comment and checking her watch, she looks to the ceiling as if her patience is being tested.

“I don’t like this anymore than you do, but both the hospital and Waversea have been insistent. There aren’t enough beds to keep him here indefinitely, and since Axel is still a minor by law, he needs to return to my care whether I want him to or not. I’ve got enough on my plate without babysitting a houseful of overgrown delinquents. By all means, tag along and play happy couples or whatever this is,” she waves her hand vaguely between all of us. “He’s being transported within the hour, with or without you.”

Her heels click loudly across the floor as she moves to leave, my mind whirling with questions and concerns. My mouth opens, but it’s not my voice that fills the room.

“We’re all coming with him,” Wyatt states coldly. Sharon halts at his demanding tone, looking back over her shoulder, although she isn’t looking in his direction. A smirk pulls at her lips as she holds Huxley’s gaze and raises a brow.

“As you wish. A bit of extra eye candy hanging around is never a bad thing,” she winks at him and leaves, her hips slinking with much more vigour than before. Huxley visibly shudders. Well, that was disturbing . No one moves for a while, watching the empty space in the doorway.

I’m the first one to turn, finding Dax’s blue eyes fixed on me with a note of longing in them. For a split second, I could have easily run into his arms and allowed his spicy scent to wash away my worries. His gentle touch and soft lips to take control of my pain and wipe it from existence. But that won’t help Garrett, who is quickly spiraling back into the panic that consumed him earlier.

I close the space between us and take his trembling fists in my hands. Garrett stares over my head; his neck is so taut it looks like it might snap itself at any moment. “Hey, look at me.” I beckon his head to tilt downwards. “Nothing will happen to him. You heard her, she’ll be preoccupied.”

“I promised he’d never go back there,” Garrett’s eyes shift between mine, the glassiness from earlier reappearing. I cup his jaw, feeling the weight of the others all pressing closer.

“None of us wanted this, but our hands are tied,” Dax says from my side. Huxley swallows hard beyond my shoulder.

“The least we can do is make sure we’re there for him when he wakes.”

“She won’t get within ten feet of him,” Wyatt growls, his shoulders tense and jaw tight. I blink over at him, but he doesn’t spare me a glance. His expression is murderous and set on the empty doorway. “I’ll make sure of it.”

Something about Wyatt’s certainty breaks through Garrett’s rising panic. Nodding slowly, some of the tension ebbs from his shoulders, his concerned gaze flicking back to Axel. On a heavy sigh, he whispers his agreement and shifts back to the bedside, brushing his fingers along Axel’s jaw. Peacefully sleeping Axel, blissfully unaware that he’s about to return to the place of his nightmares.

No time was wasted. Security quickly evacuate most of us from the room to prepare Axel for transportation. As expected by all, Garrett refuses to leave. Luckily, Dax and Huxley are in the habit of keeping their belongings close, and Wyatt left ours in the trunk so no time is wasted gathering our belongings. Within just a few minutes, we are ready to go, settling in for yet another long journey.

Watching through the SUV’s windscreen, the gurney is pushed into the back of an ambulance in the hospital's layby. Garrett is also on the bed, his arm and leg hoisted over his lover, hissing at anyone who gets too close like a pissed-off cat. The two porters struggle to move the extra weight on the silver ramp, using their shoulders to stop it from rolling back down. I have to snort at the ridiculousness of it all.

Finally managing to secure the gurney in place and slam the back doors closed, one of the porters raps on the side of the ambulance for the driver to pull away. Huxley doesn’t waste a second, keeping the SUV right on their tail as the van merges into traffic. His jaw is tight, hands gripping the wheel as he weaves through the busy streets, refusing to let any cars slide between us.

Wyatt sits in the passenger seat, for once relinquishing control. His elbow rests on the doorframe, his sharp green eyes fixed on the ambulance ahead, though the occasional twitch of his knee betrays his impatience.

In the back, Dax and I sit huddled together. I could have taken the seat against the other window, but the space between us seemed too vast. An urgency to pull him close and not let go shifted me into the center. The anxiety churning in my chest is quieter with his presence anchoring me. My legs are draped across his lap, where his injured hand lies carefully and his free fingers trace patterns on my calf through my leggings.

“So,” Huxley starts when we can’t handle only the sound of the engine humming through the cab. Not even the radio is playing. “Does someone want to tell me why my car has a black bumper and a grey passenger door? I’m not even going to ask about the left-side windows not being black-out glass like they should be.”

Wyatt’s jaw twitches, but he doesn’t turn around. I swallow hard, shifting against Dax, who seems to find the whole situation amusing. A low chuckle rumbles in his chest as he glances at me, his hand stilling on my leg.

“I was wondering how long it would take him to bring it up,” Dax snorts beside my ear. I was hoping Huxley was too distracted in the parking lot to notice the mix-match parts making up the SUV’s exterior. I should have known better. The silence stretches until Wyatt flicks his green gaze over his shoulder at me.

“This one is all on you,” he says unhelpfully, before turning his attention back to the ambulance in front. I roll my eyes, not knowing why I expected anything different.

“We had an accident,” I finally mutter. The events of that night replay in my mind like a stuttering film reel. Wyatt’s cold demeanor, the twist of the wheel, headlights slicing through the air, the screech of tires, the crunch of the metal hitting the ground.

“An accident ,” Huxley echoes, a slow nod of his head. “I think I’m going to need something more specific. My baby looks like she’s been driven through a demolition derby, and I’m not even going to mention the animal hair and the smell . Seriously, what the fuck guys?”

Wyatt shifts in his seat, brushing said-dog hair from his sweatpants. I must admit, Baxter definitely has left his stench as a parting gift. “Avery swerved us into a ditch in the middle of nowhere.” My mouth drops open. As if Wyatt is going to blame this all on me?! Huffing through my nostrils, my eyes narrow to slits. Dax is trying to smother this laughter behind his hand now, my barely concealed frustration leaking through clenched teeth.

“In hindsight, I may have been a little rash. But in my defence, my decision making was warped by the drugs in my system and Wyatt blaming me for his terrible choices. Plus, I was bound, gagged, and covered in dog drool. So yeah, I totaled the car, and I’m sorry.”

Dax sobers, both his and Hux’s eyes darting to Wyatt. He has the audacity to shrug, unaffected. “I’ll have the SUV fixed up as new.” The atmosphere in the front becomes charged with the bunching of Huxley’s shoulder .

“I don’t give a shit about that,” he grips the wheel hard. “Was Avery hurt?”

I can almost hear Wyatt’s eye roll. “Nothing serious, and I’m fine too; thanks for asking.” That same instinct from the hospital room arises in me to smooth everything out. Especially as we’re about to walk into Axel’s old home. He’s going to need us, minus the petty squabbles.

“Wyatt actually took good care of me.”

Real good care if the previous night and morning are anything to go by.

Huxley’s eyes flick up to the rearview mirror, narrowing at the blush that coats my cheeks. I clear my throat and put on a sweet smile for his benefit. “Thanks to your forward planning, we had everything we needed.” I lean forward to stroke the tension from his shoulders, earning a brief brush on his jaw against my knuckles. Wyatt tracks the motion, careful not to reveal whatever he’s thinking.

Looking to distract myself, I reach into a crumpled snack bag nestled in Dax’s car door, plucking out a pink Starburst. The wrapper crinkles in my hand before I pop the candy into Dax’s mouth, and unwrap myself a second. Despite the weight lingering in the car and the pain he must be feeling in his fingers, Dax gives me a small smile as he watches me chew.

I sigh against his shoulder, tugging the sleeves of Wyatt’s oversized hoodie over my hands, the familiar scent of him bringing a sliver of peace. It’s become my comfort blanket these past few months, a shield against the weight of everything crashing down around us.

My gaze flickers to Axel’s silhouette, just visible through the ambulance’s rear windows. I can’t shake the image of him lying so still in that bed, his chest barely rising and falling. He would hate this, being carted back to a place he’s tried so hard to leave behind. For the first time, I’m glad he’s not awake to experience it. Even with Garrett’s body draped across him, probably muttering reassurances into his ear, we’re delivering him back to the one place he swore he’d never return.

Hunting for an escape from my thoughts and finding none, I suddenly sit upright and turn to Dax. “Do you have my phone?” He reaches into the duffle bag at his feet, pulling out Wyatt’s first and tossing it into his lap, before retrieving a pink device from the side pocket. I inhale sharply, the screen lighting up to greet me .

“I kept it charged in case Meg tried to call,” Dax looks away guilty. His focus turns to the countryside beyond the window. “I’m sorry we couldn’t get to her in time. We really did try.”

“I know,” I press against him until I’m sure he’s being crushed. His arm tightens around me as I flick through my apps, not really sure what I’m looking for. A message from Nixon maybe, a few missed calls. There’s nothing. Instead, I open the photos to scroll through photos of me and Meg. Camping trips, movie nights, college parties. Memories we might not get a second chance to enjoy together, the future looking bleak for both of us.

With my phone clutched in hand, my mind whirls with new options I didn’t have before. If I contact Fredrick, maybe I can convince him to take me instead and let me pay the debt he feels he’s owed. A thought I keep locked inside my head. Wyatt is straight on his too, typing Sharon’s name into a search engine and reading out the top result.

“Sharon Barrett, surviving widow of Matthew Barrett, has recently tied the knot to a man twenty years her senior after the pair met at his law firm. Mrs Barrett has been working as a secretary at the practice for the last four years, after speculation that she was running low on funds. She has not recently been seen in public with her son, Axel, following an alleged family dispute, nor was he present for her wedding. In an unconventional twist, Mrs Barrett insisted that her new spouse took on her last name-”

My stomach rolls, and I tune out the rest of the article. I hate her already. Turning towards the window, the countryside stretching out before us intensifies the feeling that I’m going to throw up. It’s starkly different from the cramped chaos of the city we’re left behind. Rolling hills and sparse clusters of trees replace the endless maze of buildings and streets. We’re drifting too far away. Like a thread being pulled from a jumper, I feel the chasm between Meg and I pull taut, barely hanging on. I don’t know where she is or what’s happening to her. I love Axel and will see him safe too, but this is a step back I wasn’t anticipating.

Huxley keeps looking at me in the rearview mirror, keenly watching my mind tick over. “Axel’s is the last place Fredrick or any of his goons would look for any of us. We can regroup and search for her from there. We’ll make it work.” He tries to reassure me. I twist my face out of his eyeline, not liking how easily he can read me, even in the reflection. “We won’t stop until she’s safe. ”

The words settle in the air, a fragile promise wrapped in uncertainty. Wyatt and Dax make no comment. I know neither of them are the type to make vows they don’t intend to keep, and their silence is damning. I lose myself to the horizon once more, lowering further into Dax’s hold until my head meets his shoulder. The ambulance remains firmly in my sights, the orange and white flashing light perched on top drifting out as I let the veil of sleep carry me away.