Chapter 31
Kael
The teaching hospital smelled like bleach and saltwater; a year ago, it had flooded. I wouldn’t have chosen this place if I had been shot.
I stood near the door with my back to the wall, arms crossed, eyes moving between every person in the room.
Bria stayed close to my side, wearing my shirt under a jacket I’d thrown over her before we left the house.
She hadn’t spoken much since we walked in.
Every few minutes, her fingers flexed like she could still feel the bat in them.
Indigo paced near the windows, arms locked around herself so tight her knuckles had gone dark.
Raziel leaned against the far wall with Maya tucked under one arm, his free hand resting near the gun I knew he carried.
Priest sat forward in a chair, elbows on his knees, staring at the floor like he was already counting the bodies he was going to put down because of this. The air felt charged, heavy.
Nobody had spoken for almost ten minutes when Indigo finally stopped moving.
“We were at the store,” she said, her voice flat, scraped raw.
“Loading bags into the car. We don’t even usually shop for our own food.
Malachai wanted goddamn ice cream for the kids.
Then—bang. Guy in a ski mask. Walked right up and put one in his chest. No words. No warning. Just walked up and did it.”
Priest’s head lifted. “Cooly.”
Indigo’s eyes cut sideways. “He’s in New York.”
“He doesn’t have to be in Florida to pay for a hit,” Priest rebutted.
Indigo’s expression tightened. “Anybody could have done it. We’ve got enemies. Malachai has more than most after all the hits he’s done.”
I didn’t move from the wall, but my voice cut through the room low and sharp. “You’re protecting him.”
Her head snapped toward me. “Excuse me?”
“You’re protecting Cooly,” I repeated. “Even now. Even with Malachai bleeding out in the other room, you’re still making excuses.”
Something ugly flashed across her face. “Fuck you, Kael. I’m not protecting Cooly. I’m trying to talk y'all out of making a fucking mistake. You know who his father is, and he’s looking for any excuse. Fucking investigate before fucking accusing niggas with homicidal daddy’s.”
The double doors that hid Malachai opened before I could respond. Though she was right—Cooly was an easy answer.
A doctor in surgical scrubs stepped out, face tight, gloves still on. Every head in the room turned at once.
“The patient is stable for the moment,” he said. “The bullet collapsed his left lung. He’s lost a significant amount of blood. We’re prepping him for a transfusion now and will reassess once that’s complete. I’ll update you as soon as I have more.”
He didn’t wait for questions. He turned and disappeared back through the doors like the conversation was already over.
The room went still again.
Raziel frowned. “Where the hell is Caine?”
I already had my phone out. I hit the call and put it on speaker so the whole room could hear. It rang twice.
Then a woman’s voice answered—tight, breathless, with the background noise of tires on asphalt. “Kael?”
“Zia. Where’s Caine?”
“We’re on our way. Someone shot at us on the road. Caine got grazed in the shoulder. He’s okay. Bleeding, but okay. He got a shot off at the car before they took off. Dark sedan, no plates I could catch.” Static crackled for a second. “What the fuck is going on?”
No one answered right away.
I looked at Indigo. She was texting someone and staring at the phone like it might explode. Probably Cooly.
Priest’s jaw had gone tight. Raziel’s arm tightened around Maya. Beside me, Bria’s breathing had gone shallow.
The same question sat on every face in the room: What the fuck was going on?
I ended the call without answering Zia. My mind was already moving, lining pieces up.
Two shootings inside an hour. Coordinated timing.
Different locations. One aimed at Malachai in a public parking lot.
One aimed at Caine on the road to the clinic.
Whoever this was knew our movements, or at least knew where to hit to create maximum chaos.
Cooly was the obvious name. Too obvious, though. Indigo’s instincts had been honed in her father’s house, and she was probably right—especially now that Caine had been shot at.
Bria shifted closer. I felt the heat of her against my side.
Indigo started pacing again. “This doesn’t make sense. Why both of them? Why tonight?”
I stayed silent, my eyes tracking Indigo: the way her hands shook when she thought no one was looking, the way she kept glancing at the doors like she could will Malachai to walk through them. This was real grief. I eliminated Cooly.
Bria’s voice was soft, almost private. “Kael... should y'all be talking about this here?”
She was right. Nobody was thinking clearly.
“We wait for the doctor,” I said to the room. “Then we move and plan. No one leaves alone. And nobody—” I looked directly at Indigo “—makes any private decisions about who did this until we have more than theories.”
Indigo’s jaw clenched, but she didn’t argue again.
The waiting room settled into a heavier silence. Somewhere behind those double doors, machines were keeping my friend breathing.
I exhaled once, slowly.
Whoever was behind this, they had just made a very expensive mistake. I would make sure they paid for it in full.