Chapter Forty-Six
TOREN
I rinse my mouth out with water and try ignoring the sound of their conversation outside the door, but it’s fucking pointless.
I hear every word. I suck in a steady breath, then open the door.
The three of them are too focused on their conversation to notice me as I step out.
I’m about to move toward them when I spot something in the room across from me.
I feel a pull toward it. It’s a strange feeling, but I surrender to it and step inside the bedroom, only to have my jaw hit the floor.
It’s a girl’s room!
I look around, take in the sight of everything as I make my way toward the dresser and lift one of the photo frames.
I gasp at the sight of Xaden smiling and looking so carefree and happy, but when I see the girl standing beside him my whole world tilts on its axis.
I stumble backward and drop the frame to the floor as I crash into the bookcase, causing the books to fall and hit the ground.
Xaden comes rushing into the room with a murderous look on his face. “What the fuck are you doing in here?” he roars. I open my mouth but no words come out. I drop my gaze back to the frame on the floor in utter disbelief. “Answer me!” he yells.
I start shaking as I lock eyes with him. “Who… who is she?” I ask, barely above a whisper.
Xaden’s face blanks of all emotion but I see the fire burning in those gray eyes. Masen and Cas stand in the doorway. My brother looks stunned while Cas looks… worried.
“My sister.” His answer is void of all feeling.
I shake my head trying to wrap my head around what I’m seeing and hearing. “Where is she?” I breathe out.
Hatred burns in the look he gives me. “You didn’t just take my best friends from me that night, you took the one fucking person from me that meant everything to me! You fucking killed Emery.”
The air evaporates from inside me, my head begins to pound like a stampede of wild animals running through it. I drop to my knees and clutch it between my hands as a blood curdling scream tears out of me.
“Come on, we need to go,” Kellan shouts over the music.
Kenna pouts and stomps her foot. “But we don’t want to go, we’re having fun.” I hum my agreement and cross my arms over my chest after I toss the car keys to my brother.
“I can’t drive anyway. I've had too much to drink,” I add to drive my point home.
“You had two beers!” Masen volleys back.
I roll my eyes. “Well, that is two too many, so I guess we’re staying.”
“Tor, we have to go. I just got a weird call from Dad telling me to come home. I think something happened.” The fight drains out of me at the concern in my brother's tone.
“Is Dad okay?” I hurriedly ask.
“I don’t know, we need to go!” he snaps.
“Where’s Cas?” Kenna asks.
“He’s grabbing our shit and will meet us at Masen’s.
I told him Toren was gonna drive us there,” Kellan says as we all rush toward Masen’s Cyber truck.
I call shotgun and hop in beside my brother, leaving Kellan to climb in the back behind Mase and Kenna behind me.
Masen starts the car, then slaps his cheeks and shakes his head.
My eyes widen as I lean over and grip his arm, forcing his focus on me.
“You’re drunk, you can’t drive.”
He pushes my hand off him. “I’m fine, Toren. I only had a couple.” Masen puts the truck in drive and peels out of the lot. My stomach is in knots of worry. I pull my phone out of my pocket to text my dad, only to find a missed call and text from him.
I open the message and frown.
Dad - Send Masen home now. Stay with your friends and don’t come back home yet.
“Why does Dad want you to come home alone?” I ask my brother, then suck in a sharp breath when he jerks the wheel. “Masen!” I scream.
“Shut up, Toren. I’m fine.”
“Mase, you should pull over and let me or Tor drive—”
“I’m fine, KennaDee. Would you both just shut the hell up! The car can drive itself. I don’t know why it jerked the wheel.”
Kellan snorts. “It’s not the car, it's the driver.”
“Screw you, asshole,” Masen claps back.
When the car jerks again, I scream. Masen holds the wheel but something’s wrong. I see headlights coming toward us and my stomach drops to the floor.
“Masen!”
“The steering’s locked,” he shouts back, as we all begin to scream and yell. I unclasp my seat belt and lean over to grip the wheel and help my brother. The blare of the horn from the other car only adds to my stress and fear.
Masen jams his foot down on the brake. We spin out and Kenna and I scream in terror as Masen loses control of the car. The force of a freight train slams into my side of the car, and then I black out.
I come to with a groan. My head feels like it’s about to explode from the bass thumping inside it.
My body is aching and screaming in protest when I try to sit up.
I smell gas. I frown when I realize I’m lying on the road.
I look backward and gasp at the sight of my brother's wrecked truck! Another car is facing the wrong direction and is mangled. The driver’s door is busted open and I see a woman behind the wheel.
I try to stand but cry out in pain. I call out their names, but no one answers. Tears roll down my cheeks as I begin to drag myself across the road. I hiss in pain and know my injuries will feel worse once the adrenaline wears off, but I need to see if they’re okay.
The stranger's car is closer so I drag my arms along the ground and use what little strength I have to pull my body closer. I reach the side of the car and try to use the door panel to lift me up, but my arms are like jelly. I tap the girl's leg, trying to wake her up.
She whimpers and slowly opens her eyes. I tilt my head back to get a look at her injuries but see nothing.
Her head flops to the side and she looks down at me.
Her gray eyes are riddled with pain. When her bottom lip begins to tremble, I cry harder.
I can see the light leaving her eyes and I just know she doesn’t have long left.
I reach up to cup her face, but slip and yank the necklace from her neck.
“I’m sorry,” I mutter as I look down at the gold pendant with whorls of vines around the outside and a single rose head in the center.
Her gray eyes shine with tears. I see blood gliding down the side of her face and disappearing into her long raven hair.
“F-f-find Xay,” she rasps out.
“Who?” I choke out.
“Xaden, tell him I love him and g-give… him… that.” Her breathing has turned ragged and she’s wheezing. I reach up and clasp her hand in mine.
“I will. I swear it,” I promise her. I know the second she’s gone, those gray eyes dim and I see no life left inside her. Sobs claw out of me. “I’m so sorry.”
We did this.
We killed her!
An innocent, beautiful young girl was robbed of her life because of us!
I cry out as I release her hand and crawl toward the truck to check on my friends and my brother. I barely make it a few paces from the car before blackness consumes me and I succumb to the darkness.