Chapter 19
Selene
Months Later
The world comes back in pieces.
First, sound—a steady, rhythmic beeping that echoes inside my skull. Then, cold. My skin feels too sensitive. My throat is raw, dry like sandpaper. I try to swallow, but there’s something lodged deep—panic flares in my chest.
Hands. Too rough on skin that feels paper-thin. Voices. Too loud in a brain that can’t process them.
Then, nothing. Darkness swallows me whole again.
? ? ?
The next time I wake, the tube is gone.
The lights are dim—it’s night. My body feels unfamiliar. Weak. Like I haven’t moved in forever.
Because I haven’t.
The nurse tells me I was in a coma for months. The bullet went through my lower chest, nicked something important. I don’t retain much. I hear life support. I hear we almost lost you. The rest fades into static.
My mind feels sluggish, like it’s learning how to think again. My chest aches—not just from the injury, though I have a phantom pain—but from the gaping, hollow space left behind.
Because they’re not here.
No Kaz, growling at the doctors. No Keir, silently hovering while pretending not to hover. No Dario calling me pumpkin just to make me smile.
No Max. No Lily.
Panic rises fast, thundering through my ribcage.
Did something happen to them?
The monitor spikes. Alarms beep rapidly.
The nurse rushes in. “Selene, you need to relax!”
I try to breathe, but it feels like my throat’s closing. My vision narrows, black at the edges.
“Oh my god, Selene!” a familiar voice yells.
“Breathe, girl. I’m right here.” Lily.
Her hands cup my face as she breathes with me, guiding me in through the nose, out through the mouth.
I mimic her rhythm until the world settles and color returns to the room.
“I’m right here,” she says softly, eyes glossy with unshed tears.
“I-I…” My voice cracks, the words more rasp than sound.
She grabs a cup and presses the straw to my lips. I sip slowly at first, then greedily, the cold water sliding down like heaven.
When I open my eyes again, Lily is smiling—but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
“Where are they?” I ask, my voice hoarse but steady.
Her smile falls away like a crumbling wall. She can’t look at me.
“Tell me,” I whisper, grabbing her hand.
“They left.” Her tone is clipped, furious. “The only reason we knew they were still alive is because they served Barbra up to us on a silver platter.”
My heart stops in my chest. They left me.
The men I let myself fall for, that I desperately wanted to be mine…. gone.
As if I meant nothing in that short time, maybe it was all in my head.
I should’ve known better. I was reckless. Careless. Stupid.
“Hey,” Lily’s voice is gentle. She wipes away tears I didn’t notice. “No, none of that.”
“Sorry,” I croak. “I just—God, maybe I’m crazy, but I thought… there was something there.”
She squeezes my hands. “I thought so too.”
I nod more to myself than to her. Here I am—trained killer—crying over men. My father warned me to be cautious with love. Said my hyperactive attachment personality was too intense.
“Selene?” a croaky male voice calls from the doorway.
I turn my head, eyes wide.
“Max?” It’s barely a whisper.
He rushes to my bedside, arms open, but Lily shoves him back with a flat palm.
“Easy, idiot. She’s damaged goods,” she snaps.
He pouts, but I laugh—a tired, cracked sound.
“It’s been four fucking months,” Max breathes. “We thought we’d never see you again.”
He leans in and hugs me gently, pressing a kiss to my head.
“Four months?” I shout.
They both flinch, then nod.
“You had me on life support that long? Why?” I ask, stunned.
“Well… technically four and a half months,” Lily says, a little too cheerfully.
“We were waiting. You’re a fighter,” Max says, proud and certain.
“We decided to give it five months. Let your body heal and see what happened.” Lily adds, squeezing my arm.
“Oh,” I breathe, chuckling weakly. “Well, I’m glad you waited.”
Even if it doesn’t fix the gaping hole inside me.
“Selene,” a warm voice calls.
Mrs. Salone stands in the doorway, flanked by Ellie and Ava. Katherine trails in behind them, giving me a small smile.
Tears shine in Silvia’s eyes. “It’s a miracle.”
She rushes to me, then pauses to reach into her purse. A moment later, she slides a container across the tray table.
I raise a brow. “What’s this?”
“Shhh.” She gestures for me to open it.
Inside: mini croissants, chocolate chip cookies, and a red velvet cupcake.
I groan. “You’re an angel, Silvia.”
Laughter fills the room.
“Um… can I have a minute?” Katherine speaks up, voice tentative.
Everyone exchanges knowing look, then quickly exit.
She sits beside me, fidgeting.
It’s crazy, she looks so much like Kazimir it aches.
I reach out and take her hand. “How are you holding up?”
She laughs softly. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
“Maybe. But you’ve had your own hell to walk through.”
She nods. “I’m okay. Better, most days.”
“I’m glad,” I whisper.
She hesitates, then blushes. “I was wondering… could I come live with you?”
I blink. “Seriously?”
She nods fast. “I know you’ll be training to get back in shape, and… I want to learn.”
How could I say no to another female wanting to learn to kick ass?
“If that’s what you want, then yeah,” I nod. “But you’re taking online courses too.”
“What if I want to join Onyx?” Her eyes gleam with hope.
“Still need an education,” I say with a smirk.
“Deal.” She grins and reaches out. We shake on it.
The door bursts open.
“You can’t go home yet. Another day or two,” Lily announces with a scowl.
Mrs. Salone pokes her in the ribs. “Lily, dear. She just woke up from a coma.”
“You did call me damaged goods earlier,” I say, grinning.
“Maximus was coming at you like a bull in a china shop,” Lily fires back.
We all laugh.
“Where is he anyway?” I ask.
Lily smirks. “I sent him to get your ‘necessities.’ Told him to bring a book too.”
“This is why I love you.”
“I love you too,” she says, soft but firm. “But no more almost dying.”
“No promises.”