His head shook again. Agony flooded out with it. “Couldn’t handle it if she wasn’t. Don’t know what I would do. Fuck…she’s been through enough, hasn’t she? And then what, she goes looking for trouble?”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions. We don’t know what’s goin’ on yet.”

He nodded hard even though neither of us accepted it.

Both of us sure there was something sinister at hand.

Could just…feel it.

Sense it in the air.

I rammed the accelerator to the floor.

Needing to get there.

To see her face.

To touch her skin.

To find that she was safe and whole.

For someone to tell me this was all one big fuckin’ misunderstanding.

I barely slowed as I got into town, zipping by cars and screaming around corners. The tires squealed as I skidded into the hospital parking lot. Royce and I were both jumping out before I fully had it in park.

Manic.

Frantic.

Every step of our thudding feet only incited a whole new dread.

He blew through the double-sliding-glass doors. I was right behind him, antsy as hell when he asked the man behind the counter for Maggie.

Royce mumbled, “Thank you,” when the guy buzzed him through the huge swinging door to the back.

And maybe there was some relief in that. Relief in the fact they didn’t give us some bullshit that someone would be out to talk to us while we realized we were about to get the worst news of our lives.

That tiny stake of consolation released some of the pressure.

I trailed him through the door.

Maybe he’d thought I was just his ride, but there was no way I could sit out there and wait.

I was on his heels, and he was cuttin’ me a questioning glare, and I was deciding I really didn’t give a fuck.

I didn’t know if it was rage or relief that I was feeling when we got close to her room and there was an officer slipping out.

Only thing that really mattered was Maggie was sitting up in the bed.

Whole and real and alive.

A burst of air left Royce like a punch.

While I pushed both palms to my face like it might cover the magnitude of what slammed me.

Overwhelming.

Overpowering.

Terrifying.

The rush of comfort and devotion that gushed.

Shit.

I needed to check this bullshit before it was too late.

The officer shot us a look as he angled passed. Royce just ignored him, ripped open the door, and rushed to her side.

He pulled her into his arms in the same second that I slipped into the room. I made the prudent choice of hanging by the wall like I was completely cool and wasn’t about to get charred to ash.

Worked for all of a flash before I saw the way she flinched. The way she tried to pretend like she wasn’t in pain, playing it off like this was no big thing.

Rage spiraled all over again.

Consuming.

Raw and deep and horrible.

Pulling away, Royce took her by the outside of her shoulders. “What happened?”

Maggie forced a shaky smile, all that black hair matted and littered with little pieces of dirt and debris, her spirit in turmoil.

Knocking against the walls while she did her best to keep it contained. “I’m okay.”

The shake of Royce’s head was harsh. He was most definitely not gonna let that fly.

“What happened, Maggie? Are you hurt?”

Those lips trembled. Maybe he didn’t notice it, but I saw the way she curled in on herself a fraction. Like she could guard herself from the danger. “I’m barely injured, Royce. I promise. But someone…cut me.”

She whispered the last like a secret.

“Cut you?” Royce almost shouted it. “What the hell does that mean?”

I itched where I stood at the wall, trying to hook myself to it rather than give into the urges that were hammering me like a drum.

Part of me felt like a stranger. Like someone who didn’t belong. All while trying to fight the feelin’ that I’d never been so sure of where I belonged in all my days.

That it should be me, right there by her side.

Reckless.

Dangerous.

Which was the absolute truth, but I didn’t know how to shuck the sensation.

The demand.

Charcoal eyes traced me for a beat.

A welcome and her own relief.

Drawing me into her intricate story.

Fuck. I had no idea how to pull this off when what I really wanted to do was push Royce out of the way and take this girl into my arms.

Run my hands over her to ensure she was safe.

Hold her and promise I’d never let anyone get to her.

Kiss the hell out of her, too.

Yeah.

I was about to lose it.

Like I was going to crumble into those sweet hands.

It’d probably been less than a beat that she’d been staring at me, but it felt like a physical rendering when she tore her attention away and returned it to her brother. She lifted an innocent shoulder that even Daisy would be able to tell was a total sham.

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