Reyna’s breath released in a whoosh. Her legs gave out and she clutched at the table. “Drew.”
“Should I grant him access?” Tony asked Sydney.
“Gabe, go and meet him, then yes,” Sydney said.
Reyna darted to her feet. “I’m going with him.”
“You will remain here while we assess Drew and make sure there are no more threats,” Sydney said
“You want a threat?” Reyna snarled. “Just try to keep me from my brother.”
Then without a backward glance she stormed from the room. Gabe dashed after her. He put a hand on her shoulder to move into place beside her. But neither of them let up. They raced down the stairs. Their breathing in tandem with their movements. He was faster, but he didn’t let her get behind as they finally hit the lower level floor where Drew had come in.
Gabe spoke into a radio. “We’re here.”
“Access: three, two, one,” Tony counted down.
The door slid open.
Drew collapsed forward onto the floor. Reyna ran to him, cradling his head in her arms. She pushed his fine hair out of his eyes.
“Drew,” she whispered. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “You’re alive. You’re okay now. You’re here.”
She barely noticed Gabe check the underground garage entrance before manually shutting and locking the door back up.
“He’s alone,” he said.
“Drew, it’s Rey. I’m here.”
“Rey,” he muttered, coughing up the same stuff that Tye had inhaled.
“Yeah, big brother, it’s me. I’m here. You’re safe.”
“Hey man,” Gabe said, leaning forward. “How did you get here? Did you see anyone else?”
Drew pushed himself up onto his elbows. His eyes were red and hazy. “I…I walked and…I’m alone.” He coughed again. It was so hard that she thought he might cough up his lung. “Where is everyone else?”
“We’re trying to figure that out,” Gabe said.
Drew groaned and rolled in on himself.
“Hey, hey, are you okay? Are you hurt?” Reyna asked.
“Shoulder.”
Reyna looked down at this shoulder and cursed. “He’s been shot. We need to get him upstairs. He needs medical attention.”
“No,” Drew managed. “No, I need…Laura.”
“Laura?” Reyna gasped. Horror sank in. “Why?”
“Rey, I’m sorry.”
“No, no, no,” she whispered. “Don’t be sorry.”
“Brian.”
Gabe radioed back to the conference room. “We need medical here. Carpenter has been shot in the shoulder. Plus smoke inhalation.”
“Laura,” Drew repeated. “I have to tell Laura.”
He struggled to his feet, but Gabe put his hand on his good shoulder, pushing him back down to the ground. “Hold it there, buddy. You can tell her when you’re patched up.”
“I have to tell her,” he repeated, slipping in and out of conscious as he collapsed back onto the floor.
“Tell her what?” Reyna asked.
“They got Brian,” he whispered. “They captured Brian.”
Then Drew passed out.
* * *
—
Drew was rushed to the medical wing with Meghan and Washington both suiting up to remove the bullet from his shoulder. Reyna sat in the waiting room with Gabe as it all happened. She knew that she should tell Laura. That she should get Jodie. That anything else should probably matter at that moment. But…it didn’t.
All that mattered was that Drew was in surgery.
And that Brian was gone.
Gone.
Her heart broke. Shattered into a million pieces and scattered all over the floor. Gone was such a simple word. A word that didn’t mean half of what she was feeling.
When she’d joined Visage, she’d done it for her brothers. All of this had been for them. And in the end, she was safe and they were fucked. What the hell had she done? What the hell had she brought them into?
She didn’t know how long she sat there when suddenly Beckham was there. Tears fell from her eyes as he picked her up and crushed her to him. She put her arms around his neck and his wrapped around her waist. She stayed like that, letting him hold her, giving him all her grief.
His lips landed on her hair. “Oh Little One.”
“Brian,” she choked out.
“I heard.”
“It’s my fault.”
“No.”
“If I hadn’t joined Visage, they wouldn’t be here.”
“No,” Beckham repeated more firmly. He pulled back to look down into her red-rimmed eyes. “Do not place the blame on anyone but the person who deserves it—William Harrington.”
“Can we kill him now?”
“Yes.” The murdering vampire who had single-handedly taken over a kingdom stood before her. And she was glad for it. She would need him to win this war.
“Good.”
His thumbs stroked across her cheeks, wiping away her tears. “Don’t let them break you.”
“Only you,” she whispered.
His lips were tender against hers. A direct contrast to his normal behavior. It settled her in a way nothing else had been able to.
“There is a meeting. It will not begin without you.”
“Will you wait with me?”
“To the end of time.”
* * *
—
Meghan came out of surgery. Dark circles ringed her eyes and her hands shook as she adjusted the bun on the top of her head.
“He’s fine,” she told Reyna. “He told us the same information that Tye did. I think he inhaled more smoke than Tye though. We gave him a sedative so that he’d sleep. He’ll have to wait a few hours to tell Laura.”