Nothing is there.
No air.
No rising of her chest.
I’d felt her leave.
Melody’s gone.
My eyes squeeze shut and I refuse to look at her face. My muscles tighten and I roar again.
“Melody’s dead. She’s dead.” Sagging against her body, dizziness circles me. My voice is scratchy and heavy. “My little sister is gone.”
Sobbing into her, my body wracks in agony.
No one comes near me or says a word.
I’ve entered a black hole and am surrounded by nothing.
Despair, desolation, and pain swim within.
Raising my head, I look quickly at my sister and wipe her hair from her face, brushing it from her eyes. The curves of her cheeks are cold and her lips are slightly parted. Wetness runs from my eyes.
I can’t look at her.
Standing abruptly, I look at my family. Phoebe’s heads down, the rest of the women gone.
“Who fucking shot my sister?”
Eyes flick from the men to each other, trying to keep themselves from catching my glare.
What the fuck?
“Slate.” I try to compose my voice, rubbing my face in frustration. “Who the fuck gunned down my sister in cold blood on your wedding day?”
Standing rigidly, his eyes flick to Phoebe then back to me.
My head shakes involuntarily from side to side.
Another bomb explodes inside.
The universe is finally repaying me for all the bloodshed and brutality I’ve given it.
“The fucker we’ve been tracking all week,” Caden speaks and my eyes watch Phoebe carefully, having already put two and two together.
“I will kill him.”
Her blue tired eyes snap to mine. A sadness resigned in them.
Mania cripples my rational thinking.
This fucker ruined Phoebe’s childhood and has now taken away from me the one person who knew me better than myself.
The one person who has loved me unconditionally.
The person I would talk to every day and have dinner with every week. She thought I did it to make sure she wasn’t doing something stupid or to see if I could fix anything for her, but I called and saw her because she was my sister and I enjoyed her company knowing she was there for me no matter who I hurt, killed or fucked over. Melody didn’t care. I was her brother first and foremost.
There’re no words.
I can’t tell her I’m going to kill her brother, when my sister lays before us?
Striding to Melody, I kiss her cooling cheek.
“Goodbye, sis. I will always love…” Unable to finish, I walk away from her. I walk away from my family and from the woman whose brother I must kill.
Silence and darkness envelop me.
Revenge my priority.
“I will kill him.”
Ocean’s words replay in my head for the thousandth time.
Tanner had taken Caden and me from the scene after the paramedics had put Melody on a stretcher and they had declared her dead. Slate was finishing putting a very battered Kyle into his car when I decided I’d had enough and sat alone in Tanner’s car. I asked him to take me to my place, not Ocean’s of which he agreed.
He needed space.
I needed quiet.
Searching my apartment before they would leave me in there alone, I thanked them when they both left me on the doorstep, sadness on their faces echoing mine.
Locking the door with the multiple latches, I walked heavily into the bathroom, kicking off my heels, shedding the fabric I had been excited to wear only hours ago.
How minutes can change the course of a life.
Hurt was a part of life.
Excruciating pain happened.
Humans hurt others. It might be calculated or coincidental but there was no escaping it. I’d tried multiple times, but it kept hunting me down.
Hot water cascades over my weak body, my mind circling on repeat.
Melody’s dead. My brother killed her. Ocean’s unadulterated rage. My brother dying at the hands of the man I need.
Tears trickle down my face and I crumble to the floor. My knees bend and I wrap my arms around them, rocking.
Sobs echo in the bathroom.
For the loss of Ocean’s sister.
For Emerald and Slate.
For the realization of the savagery lying within Ocean.
For the pain lodged in Ocean that will never disappear.
For losing our connection. How will he be able to look at me again, knowing my flesh and blood killed his?
I had already come to terms that Colton would cease to exist if Ocean found him. I saw it in Ocean’s eyes the day my brother almost killed me.
I was at peace with it.
Hearing Ocean growl the words “I will kill him” put reality into the situation though.
I hate my brother. Nothing good comes from him and my life derails when he is near.
He needs to be far away from me.
But dead?
In my heart, I know it’s the only way I will be able to live any type of life. I’d already put it on hold because of him and my father.
Even coming to terms completely with it, I’m not sure if Ocean will be able to see past the family connection in the death of his sister.
Shaking my head, my body spasms uncontrollably.
I let it.
Desolation, betrayal, loss, and hurt ravage me until there’s nothing more to leave my body. Standing and turning the cold water off, my reflection startles me. Red-rimmed eyes stare back. Crevices mark my face from where my hands have rested, my nose red, my lips fat. I’m a hideous mess.
Wrapping my body in a towel, I fall onto the bed exhausted.
My eyes shut but spring open hearing my cell ring.
My body won’t allow me to move, my eyes shut again and my shallow breaths even out.
Ring… Ring… Ring… Ring…
My lids peel back, and my legs move slowly, retrieving the cell from the bag dropped in the middle of the walkway.
“Hello,” I mumble and walk back to the bedroom.
“Phoebe. It’s Lace. I wanted to check in with you. Are you okay?”
Closing my eyes, I breathe out. “Yes. No. But mainly yes.”
“I understand. It’s been a day from hell.”
“Yep.”
“We wanted you to know that security has been stationed at the front of your apartment and the back. Ocean’s orders.”
My heart jolts hearing his name.
“The security didn’t do Melody much good.” Blank and withdrawn, I shouldn’t have said that.
“No, it didn’t. But she died saving Kyle. That was the type of person she was.”
A savior like her brother.
“Oh.” Curling into a tight ball, I manage to breathe. “How is everyone else?”
I want to ask how Ocean is, but I already know.
“Emerald’s shattered. She’s trying to comprehend Kyle’s gambling leading to the death of Melody. She hasn’t seen him battered and bruised ‘cause Slate’s got him away from everyone. Caden said he’s been taken somewhere to heal and rehabilitate.”
“Ocean nearly killed him.”
“If Tanner had his way, he would be dead already but Slate won’t allow it.”
“I understand. He’s caught in a hard place for sure.”
“Slate’s taking Emerald on a trip for a few days to get her mind off the tragedies.”
“Good idea.” My speech slurs a little, my head thumps. “Has anyone seen Ocean?”