44. Lincoln
44
Lincoln
Work passed slowly, though I’m not sure if it’s because it’s a Monday or it’s because I feel the loss of my phone like a phantom. I realized that I had left my phone at Seraphina’s apartment halfway through my drive when I went to call my mom for our weekly check-in and realized that I didn’t have it on me.
I don’t like the feeling of disconnection, of not being able to respond if something happens or if someone needs me. The odds of a catastrophe happening are slim, but it doesn’t stop the dread from pooling in my stomach at the possibilities.
The “what ifs” that run rampant in my brain.
The knowledge that there are assholes out there who know exactly where Seraphina and her friends are.
I’m finishing up my last piece of cleanup for the night, breaking down my station, and making sure that everything is set up and prepped for tomorrow’s dinner service.
“Di, I’m heading out. Are you on the schedule for tomorrow?” I call over my shoulder.
“I’m off until Thursday,” she quips, her voice unusually upbeat.
I pause in my breakdown and turn to face her. “Big plans?” I shouldn’t be making small talk; I should be getting the fuck out of this kitchen and back to West Elm, but I can’t turn down the sight of a happy Diana. It happens so rarely that I have to capture the moment.
“Ricky is taking me to Avalon.”
I whistle low, happy for her. “Good for you. Enjoy the beach.”
“Oh, I will. Enjoy sweating your ass off. Now get out of the kitchen and stop distracting me.”
I snort at her command, not surprised by the repetitious barb she throws out. “Will do, Di. Have a good night.” I knock once on the stainless steel counter before heading to the employee break room to shower and change.
—
I’m lucky I know exactly where I’m going.
My car is vintage, an homage to the classic muscle cars that riddled movies and televisions last century. It’s beautiful and restored. But it’s also old as fuck.
There’s no touch-screen navigation of any kind.
I weave through the narrow streets of West Elm, watching for pedestrians as I stop at a four-way intersection. Looking in each direction, I check the flow of traffic and start to press forward when a blacked-out Mustang blows the stop sign and speeds dangerously across the intersection.
“ Pierdoli? ,” I curse, slamming on the brakes to prevent a collision. “Fucking assholes.” I watch the car fly down the road, disappearing around a bend as it races to God knows where. A vague memory tickles the back of my mind, something familiar about that car and the fast pace of the vehicle.
“Where the fuck have I seen that car before?” I murmur, sorting through my memories to try to pinpoint the vehicle. Shaking my head, I toss it from my mind and look at the four-way stop again, checking that no other vehicles are about to appear before I press on the gas and drive the final four miles to Seraphina’s apartment.
A block away from her street, I notice a swarming of cars, a heavy presence of vehicles that seems abnormal to the street. The dread I felt earlier, the one that tells me to never leave my fucking phone somewhere and be inaccessible, returns, this time with the gnawing realization that something is not right.
I sit in the suburban traffic, inching slowly down the street until I’m able to see the flashing red and white lights of first responder vehicles and wooden barricades preventing anyone from accessing the street I need to turn down.
“What the fuck?” My heart sinks to my stomach, and I lurch my car to the side, slipping into a narrow spot that will be a bitch to get out of later. I waste no time throwing open my door and running to the barricade. I slip behind it, not giving a shit that it’s stamped with the words “Do Not Enter” or that one of the police seems to call out after me to stop as I jog toward the collection of ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars lined up five hundred or so feet outside of Seraphina’s building.
I stop in my tracks, chest heaving at the scene in front of me. It takes me a moment to register the smoke coming from the building, the black cloud that seems to disappear into the early evening sky. Panic seizes me, and instead of standing around, watching the smoke dance into the air like a fucking moron, my feet start moving, running toward the collection of people being treated in a row of ambulances.
I look at each face as I search for Seraphina, praying to every god I’ve ever heard of that she’s here and safe. Because if she’s not, I don’t want to know what I’ll fucking do.
“You are the most annoying person I’ve ever had the displeasure of speaking to,” a familiar voice growls to my right, and I whip my head around to see Bianca glaring at a tall, dark-haired police officer.
“Listen, Ms. Gregori, I don’t know what hole you crawled out of, but go back. Because if saving your life after a goddamn fire isn’t good enough for you, I don’t know what is.”
“You didn’t save me after a fire, asshole. I walked outside and got pushed by some idiot. Helping me stand up doesn’t count as a rescue mission, Rambo.”
I watch the officer pinch the bridge of his nose, nostrils flaring as he seemingly tries to reel in his exasperation with Bianca. “I’m six seconds away from cuffing you and throwing you in the back of my squad car. Go find your brother.”
“How dare you! I’ll tell his boss there’s an asshole who doesn’t—hey, Jack, what the hell are you doing? Do not walk away from me.”
The officer, Jack, turns his back on Bianca, shaking his head as he retreats into the crowd. Bianca is left seething but alone, and it gives me the opportunity to figure out what the fuck is going on. “B,” I yell out, catching her attention. She looks around, trying to find the direction of my voice before she spots me.
“Linc.” She nods and walks over to me. As she approaches, I see the tiredness in her eyes.
“What happened? Where is Seraphina? Are you okay?”
She shakes her head, looking upward before responding. “Ava and I were in the living room when the smell of smoke hit us. At first, we thought there was a kitchen fire and that Ava left the burner on or something. But when we realized it wasn’t from our apartment, we opened our door and saw people panicking to get down the stairs. One of our upstairs neighbors told us there was a fire somewhere in the building. Ser was in the shower, and we grabbed her and ran outside. She’s in one of the ambulances getting checked out.”
“Where?” I grit out, needing to see her as soon as fucking possible to make sure she’s okay.
Bianca points to the left toward an ambulance parked parallel to the row of fire trucks. I nod and jog toward the vehicle, hitting people as I go. I don’t give a fuck about being courteous right now. I’m no more than two feet from the side of the ambulance when an officer stops me. “Someone is being treated in this vehicle. You’ll need to wait until they’re cleared or transported.”
“Like fuck I will,” I practically growl, wishing I could take the officer in front of me and toss him into the crowd of people behind me.
“You are unauthorized to approach a patient receiving treatment. You can go to another ambulance for emergency care, or you can—”
“Listen to me, asshole. My girlfriend is in the ambulance, and if you think—”
“Lincoln.” A voice interrupts me, stopping my tirade mid-sentence. I turn toward the voice and see Rafe approaching in full uniform.
“Steve, this is Sera’s boyfriend. He’s cleared to pass.” Steve shoots me a look, one that says he’s unimpressed, but steps to the side, clearing the way forward.
Rafe meets my strides, walking with me in silence as I approach the ambulance. For the hundredth time tonight, my heart stills in my fucking chest at the sight before me. Wrapped in a plush white robe, Seraphina sits on the back of the vehicle’s ledge, a paramedic swiping something across the bloody scratches on her face.
“Cierń,” I choke out, and her eyes flick to mine, relief and tears and fear mingling together in her dark-brown gaze. I fight the urge to toss the medic aside to pick her up and hold her and assure myself she’s real and safe. Instead, I let him finish while I stare at her, cataloging every bruise and scratch on her body.
Rafe stands beside me, a sentry, while I look my girl over, making sure that despite the surface-level injuries, she’s not hurt. With a final squeeze of ointment and instructions to keep the scratch on her face clean, the medic dismisses Seraphina and reaches out a hand to help her down from the ledge. I clear my throat, forcing him to look over his shoulder at me. “I got it.”
With a nod, he cleans up his supplies and walks to the front of the ambulance. The moment I’m able to, I stride to Seraphina and lightly cup her jaw, making sure that I’m not putting any pressure on the gauze bandage. “You’re determined to give me a heart attack, aren’t you?” I joke in an attempt to chase the shadows from her eyes.
I fail. Miserably.
Tears begin to pool in the corner of her eyes, and I catch them as they spill, my heart breaking at her pain. “Fuck, cierń.” I drop her jaw and pull her in gently, cradling her head against my chest as I rock back and forth. “Are you okay, baby?”
She nods against me, sniffling into the fabric of my T-shirt. “I’m fine. B and I fell when someone pushed her from behind, though I think someone probably just tripped into her on the way down the stairs. She fell into me, but other than that, I’m fine.”
I hold her tighter, refusing to let go. Rafe clears his throat behind me before stepping closer to us. I watch him look at us for a moment, a hint of jealousy in his eyes. I know it’s not Seraphina or me he’s jealous of—that’d be weird as fuck—but I have a feeling he wishes he were holding Sera’s tall roommate the way I’m holding Sera.
He looks away before quickly returning my gaze, whatever I saw replaced by a hardness that belies his anger. “It’s too soon for the CFIs to assess the cause of the fire, but I doubt this was an accident.”
“CFIs?” Sera mumbles, turning her head to stare up at her twin while she burrows against me.
“Certified Fire Investigators,” Rafe explains, nodding toward the building. “I don’t believe in coincidences, and with everything happening around the three of you, I don’t for a fucking second trust that there’s not some overlap.”
I hum my agreement. The moment I saw the police barricade, my gut told me this had something to do with Seraphina. My mind wanders back to minutes before I saw the slowdown a block from her apartment to the four-way intersection and the familiar black car.
“Fuck,” I mutter. “Rafe, there was a blacked-out Mustang that almost hit me when I was driving here. It looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I had seen it before until now. It almost hit Seraphina’s car in the library parking lot last week.”
Rafe’s jaw goes steel. “I’ll have someone check the traffic cameras in the area.” With a final look at his sister, he turns to leave.
“Rafe?” Sera calls out, stopping his leave. “Have you spoken to Liv? I didn’t grab my phone, and I don’t know if she knows yet.”
I see his hand flex at his side. “I asked one of the off-duty officers to stop by Legends and wait until I got there. If she doesn’t know now, she will soon.”
Seraphina nods, though Rafe isn’t able to see it. “Tell her I’m sorry I wasn’t able to grab any of her things.”
“You don’t know what the state of the apartment is. Your things may be untouched.”
“Regardless, tell her I’m sorry.”
Rafe nods and disappears between police vehicles, leaving Seraphina and me alone amongst the chaos surrounding us.
“Have you spoken to your parents yet?”
She pulls back, allowing her to look into my face. “Rafe called them when he spoke to me, B, and Ava. They’re at a conference in Toledo and are flying back tomorrow morning. Speaking of my sisters, they were with Grey before I got escorted to the ambulance. Have you seen them?”
“I saw Bianca but not Grey and Ava. We’ll look for them in a minute, but right now, I need to hold you.” I bring her back in, inhaling the scent of citrus that the strands of her hair emit. It’s calming, though it doesn’t fully assuage the panic that hit me.
“Ma’am, sir, you’re going to need to move to another location. We have other people to treat.” The medic interrupts us, shattering the moment of peace.
With a sigh, I drop my hands from Seraphina’s body and step back, holding out a hand to help her down from her spot on the edge. She slides down gracefully, clutching the robe to her body to conceal her skin from the humid evening air.
“Come on, let’s find your sisters and Grey, and then I’ll take you to my apartment.”
She nods, tightening her grip on my hand as I lead her in the direction I last saw Bianca. I spot Grey’s tall, blond head in the crowd and call out his name. At the sound of my voice, he turns and meets my gaze with a nod.
I lead Seraphina over to him, not surprised when Ava and Bianca launch themselves at her and disconnect our hands.
“I’m never coming to your apartment again,” Ava remarks, a sob breaking out at the last word. “First horror movies, and now this. I swear to God, it’s cursed.”
“Vixen,” Grey murmurs, drawing Ava away from Seraphina and into his arms. I ache to do the same thing to Seraphina, to pull her back into my body, but I don’t interfere in her embrace with her younger sister.
“I’ve had enough near-death experiences to last until I’m at least fifty.”
“Vixen, that’s not fucking funny.”
“I’m just saying—”
“Well, don’t. We don’t joke around about your safety, remember?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Oh, barf.” Bianca gags, pulling away from Seraphina to glare at her sister in disgust.
“It’s a joke. Calm down.” Ava rolls her eyes.
“Except I don’t think it is.” I have to agree with Bianca—it’s probably not a joke. I don’t say shit, though, taking this opportunity to pull Seraphina against my body. I breathe easier when I feel her pressed against me.
“Ser, B, you’ll stay at our house, right?”
Every instinct I have demands that I say absolutely fucking not, that Seraphina will stay in my apartment with me while they figure out when, if ever, they’re able to return to their apartment. I bite my tongue, letting her take the reins.
“Actually, I’m going to stay at Lincoln’s. Do you, uh…” She pauses, looking up at me before continuing, “Can Liv stay with you too?”
“Of course.” My answer is immediate, the relief that she wants me staggering. “Let’s get you to my apartment so you can put on clothes. Are you okay to walk? I had to park a block away. I can carry you.”
“I can walk.” Her voice is low.
Nodding at her, I look back at Grey. “You guys good?”
“Yeah, I’ve got them. I’ll call you later tonight.” Lifting my chin, I release Seraphina’s hand and drape an arm over her shoulder, pulling her into my side as she waves at her sisters and follows me to my car.