Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
“SKIN AND BONES” BY RUELLE
LUNA
“I'm so sorry I can’t pick you up, honey,” my mother says before sighing over the phone, her voice full of regret.
“I didn’t realize that Richard had already planned to meet a prospective client, and it’s kind of a big deal for me to be there and support him.
” Tears sting my eyes, my lower lip trembling at the knowledge that she’s putting him, her new husband and my stepdad, first.
She’s never once missed an appointment before, when I went through this hell a few years ago, let alone not even picked me up. She knows the chemo takes it out of me, leaving me shaking and bone tired.
“That’s okay, Mom,” I say thickly, plastering a smile that I don’t feel onto my face, trying to sound cheerful even as exhaustion sweeps over me and despite the fact she can’t see me. Fake it till you make it.
“I’ve sent Blade to get you. I know you didn’t want him to know, but he’s the only one available.
I didn’t tell him what you were in there for.
” My stomach swoops, like it does when you’re at the top of a rollercoaster before you descend.
She’s sent the one person in the entire world I don’t want to see, one of my tormentors, my stepbrother.
I didn’t want him and his brothers to know about the cancer coming back because it just gives them more ammunition to use against me. “Luna love?”
“I–It’s fine,” I huff, my heart pounding as I look to the nurses’ station, my eyes widening as I lock eyes with said stepbrother. “I’ve got to go.”
His irises are that gorgeous dark green which I hate but also find unbearably pretty, his thick brown hair falling over his forehead in that way which has me itching to move it aside, regardless of what an absolute asshole he is.
His brow is deeply furrowed as he takes me in, still lying on the hospital bed.
Movement at his side has me tearing my gaze away, only to see his duplicate standing there, and I swear if they hooked me up to a heart monitor, it would blare an alarm with how fast mine is currently racing.
Thorn’s eyes are a little wide though, his nostrils flared as he trails his bright jade gaze over me, as if he’s checking every inch for any visible signs of injury.
More fool him. It’s what’s inside me that’s posing the most danger.
And of course, where two of the Banks triplets are, the third is not far behind.
Guess Mom was mistaken, all three are here despite her saying only Blade was free.
Chase Banks strides into the room like he’s about to tear it apart, his steps faltering as they land on me.
His chest is heaving, like he ran all the way here, and there’s a slight tremble to his clenched fists, which makes little sense.
Blade marches over, the others following, and I swear they suck all the oxygen out of the room because it’s suddenly hard to take a full breath. I can’t look away. It’s like watching my doom headed towards me and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
“You have exactly two fucking seconds to tell me why the fuck you are on a cancer ward, Goldilocks,” Blade demands in a quiet but deadly voice as soon as he’s next to me.
I have to tilt my head up to keep eye contact, and my mouth is so dry I can’t say anything for several moments.
His arms are crossed over his broad chest, and my brows furrow because I just can’t work out why he’s so pissed.
“What? Feel bad now that you know you’ve been assholes to a dying girl?” When in doubt, always go for the balls. That’s my motto anyway.
He flinches, two growls sounding from the other side of the bed, but before I can look behind me, Blade’s hand lashes out, gripping my jaw and preventing me from moving.
I expect his touch to hurt, for his grip to be too tight, but it’s not.
He’s holding me in place, but only warmth comes from his fingertips.
“Blade,” Thorn warns in a low tone, like he’s angry at his brother for the rough treatment. I can’t tell him I’m okay, that it doesn’t hurt but burns in the most intoxicating way, because I’m drowning in swirling, forest green eyes.
“Don’t say that shit. You aren’t going anywhere,” Blade snarls in a whisper, his words sending a shiver down my spine.
“Oh, really? And you’re going to be the one to stop my cancer, are you?”
I’m fucking furious, my body vibrating with anger at thinking he controls the disease I’ve been fighting since I was ten years old. Pissed at the world that would put me through this shit again after all I’ve been through.
“Yes. I will fucking rip it out of you if I have to.” My breath stalls completely at his words, my heart giving a stupid jolt at the possession that shines in his eyes. The world around me doesn’t exist, just Blade and his insane promise to heal me. “And do you know why?”
“So you can keep tormenting me,” I reply sarcastically, and his plush lips pull up into a devilish smirk that sets my cursed blood alight.
“If that’s what I choose to do with you. You are mine, Princess. You belong to us, and I won’t allow you to go anywhere until I’m done with you. I’ll fight off god himself if he tries to take you from me.”
“You’re fucking crazy,” I rasp, tugging my face free and breaking the spell he has me under.
Then I turn my gaze to the others, finding Thorn’s fists gripping the rail of my hospital bed.
“You all hate me.” One of Thorn’s hands releases the side and comes up, his knuckles brushing my cheek in a gesture that is too sweet, especially with the way his hand trembles slightly.
His soft scent of amber and dark rum surrounds me, and I can’t help but take in a deep breath.
“There’s a fine line between hate and… something else, Goldie,” he murmurs, and tears fill my eyes. I can’t deal with this. I need them to go back to being the assholes I know and dislike. Not these gentle protectors.
“You were right,” I say, his brows dipping. “About us being gold diggers. My mom…she only wanted your dad for his money.”
Thorn’s jaw tightens, a flare of anger making the green of his eyes blaze.
“And why was that, Star?” Chase rumbles, and my gaze moves to him standing next to Thorn, his thick arms crossed over his chest, mirroring Blade’s position of moments ago.
I shake my head, refusing to say a word, even if the new nickname has my chest warming.
His arms uncross, then he’s holding the metal railing and leaning over, his spicy scent of warm cinnamon washing over me in a way that shouldn’t relax all my tense muscles but does anyway.
“You found out your cancer had come back two days before they eloped, and I know your mom was up to her eyeballs in debt from the last round of treatment you had.”
The tears that I’d been holding back fall, burning my cheeks as they drip down them to land on my fists in my lap.
The lump in my throat is so thick I can’t even ask how the fuck he knows my history.
That shit is meant to be confidential, but I guess when you’re as rich as the Banks family, you find a way.
“We don’t hate you for using our money to get better, Princess,” Blade says tenderly from beside me, his long fingers grasping my chin again in a gentle hold and turning my face to him.
“But you should have told us from the start. We wouldn’t have…
” he trails off, a frustrated sigh leaving his lips.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard him talk so much, never mind with such a softness to his usually gruff voice.
“I wanted a fresh start,” I tell him, my words rushed as I try to ease the torment that lurks in his eyes and the crease between his brows, even though they were so horrible to me before today.
“I didn’t want to be the girl who had cancer anymore.
” My voice hitches and I bite my lower lip to stop the pain from overwhelming me.
The heartbreak of knowing that I am that girl again, that this disease is defining me again.
“You are so much more than that, Luna,” he tells me earnestly, leaning down and brushing a kiss on my forehead that stops my heart completely. Straightening up and releasing my chin, his fingers tangle with mine as I try to relearn how to function again. “Let’s get you home so you can rest.”
“O–okay,” I croak, clearing my throat as I swing my legs to the side of the bed—the side that Blade is on has no metal guards—and place my feet on the floor. His hand holds mine as I get up, which is lucky because a wave of dizziness has me sagging into him as soon as I’m upright.
“Shit, Luna!” he exclaims, his voice sharp with panic as he catches me and I rest my head on his chest, letting his smokey vanilla scent wash over me. His heart is beating so hard I can feel it under my cheek, and it’s steadying in a world which feels like it’s spiraling out of control.
“I’m okay, just get dizzy sometimes after treatment,” I tell him, closing my eyes and breathing him in. It shouldn’t calm me, not after the way he and his brothers have alienated me ever since I moved into their mansion, but my body hasn’t gotten that memo and relaxes into him as he holds me close.
“I’ll get a wheelchair,” I hear Thorn say, and I wrinkle my nose.
“I’ll be fine. I will not be wheeled out of here like I’m too weak to walk,” I growl, my pride not allowing that, even though I know that I probably should take it easy.
“You are infuriating, you know that, Goldilocks?” Blade grumbles, and something unfurls inside my chest at the nickname. Then he’s picking me up in his arms as if I weigh nothing, pulling me close so that my head can keep resting on his chest.
I squeak, my eyes flying open, but again, my body betrays me by wrapping my arms around his neck and snuggling into him like the teddy bear he is not.
“Takes one to know one, big brother,” I sass back, feeling his huff of laughter under my cheek. I like that sound, like the fact that I was the one to cause it.
“Chase, grab her bag and let’s get the fuck out of here. I fucking hate hospitals,” Blade orders as he walks. My cheeks flush when Judy, my nurse, gives me a salacious wink.
“See you next month, honey,” she says, her tone promising me I’ll be spilling all the beans when I see her next. Urgh.
“I can walk,” I huff, although it’s not that convincing, especially as I just snuggle closer into him, letting the exhaustion wash over me in waves.
“Sure you can,” he says dryly as Thorn opens the door and then hurries over to the elevator, pressing the down button. My eyelids flutter, and Blade tightens his grip. “Wait until we get you to the car, Princess. Then you can sleep on the way home.”
I mumble an agreement, my eyelids just too heavy to keep open any longer.
“ARCADE - ACOUSTIC VERSION” BY DUNCAN LAURENCE
BLADE
I grunt as my stepsister gets heavier in my arms, clearly losing the battle with sleep before we’ve even stepped out of the elevator.
She doesn’t weigh much, but having all of her pressed up against me is making my mind wander to places that it really shouldn’t, especially given that she’s currently being treated for fucking cancer.
I pull her closer, wishing that my words from earlier were true.
That I could just rip it all out of her.
That she didn’t have to go through this again.
When I got the call from her mom asking me to pick her up from the hospital, it was as if my entire world collapsed.
All the shitty things I’ve done to her came back to haunt me as the endless scenarios of why she was in the hospital in the first fucking place flooded my mind.
It was Chase who discovered that the ward she was on was for cancer treatment, and the silence that filled the car as I drove like a madman to get there was thick and cloying like smoke.
Chase used that time to gain access to her medical records and discovered that she’s been going through this on and off for eight fucking years.
Eight. Fucking. Years.
Watching Mom go through it five years ago was bad enough, seeing how rough the treatment was on her, taking her away until there was nothing left. But to have to keep repeating that cycle, not knowing if this time it will work again or fail…shit.
Then she came into our lives and we’ve made hers hell for the past few weeks. Fuck, we really are monsters of the worst kind.
“You drive, Chase,” I say as we approach the parking lot, not even remotely ready to let her go yet.
“You okay, bro?” Thorn asks as we stop outside our truck, which looks out of place in a lot full of beat-up rust buckets. Why the fuck is she here and not at the private hospital? That will change as soon as we get her home and settled.
I have to take a breath to release the tension in my jaw. “Yeah, I just…”
His hand lands gently on my shoulder and he squeezes. “I know, man. It’s fucked up.”
Chase fishes around in my back pocket for my keys, Thorn opening the back door for me.
Luckily, our truck is a big bastard, so it’s easy for me to get in while keeping hold of her.
I can’t let her go right now, I need to know that she’s still here.
I need to feel it. I keep her on my lap as Thorn shuts the door, jogging around to the other side and climbing in next to me.
“We should strap her in,” he whispers, brushing her hair from her face. She sighs, nuzzling into his touch but staying asleep. I pull her closer.
“I’ll keep her safe. Just drive carefully, Chase,” I command, catching his irritated stare as he twists to look at me.
“Of fucking course I will,” he seethes, his voice low. He must be riled up if he’s cursing. He’s usually so professional all the time, even when we’re not in the boardroom. “I wouldn’t take risks with her in the truck.”
“Shit, I know, man. I’m just all…fucked up,” I confess, glancing back down at her. She’s so fucking beautiful, even with the dark circles under her eyes that I only just realize have been there almost the entire time she’s been with us.
“Yeah,” I hear Chase say before the engine roars to life, then he’s driving us away from the hospital.
The tension in my shoulders eases with every mile we put between us and that place, the band wrapped around my chest loosening as I stare down at Luna in my arms.
“I won’t lose you too,” I whisper into the quiet, feeling the attention of my brothers as I make my vow. “I swear it, Princess. We will fight this together and we will win.”