Page 136 of Resolve
Jackson’s face is ashen as he presses his forehead to hers. He keeps his hand hovering over her mouth, pushing air into her lungs to make sure her body still has the oxygen it needs to survive.
“Go find Reid,” Aiden commands. “Get Cassandra. Now!”
Yes.
Reid should be on this island somewhere still.
Dane and I storm the door. All the furniture is ash, while black soot streaks the door. I kick it down, and Dane runs through it to the hallway on the left.
Alice and Sam stand behind me. “We’ll look for him too!” she declares. They go left as well, and I take the hallway straight ahead.
“Reid!” I bellow. “Reid!”
Goddamn it. He could be anywhere on this island.
Don’t die. Whatever you do, don’t. Die.
I clench my jaw to restrain the panic that has my heart thrashing in my chest. That makes it difficult to breathe. To think clearly.
Please don’t die, beautiful. Hold on.
I keep running. I keep searching for Reid, shouting his name until my voice grows hoarse. Until every muscle in my body quivers from exhaustion.
But I don’t stop.
I’ll never stop.
I’ll never let go.
Chapter forty-four
Raegan
“—saidno,butyourmen have recognized me as your best friend and number one person. If they didn’t let me in to see you, there might’ve been some trouble with Elias and the others because I’ve been going stir crazy after Cassandra told me what she healed. If Kellan didn’t swear to me that he ripped Charles’s head off for stabbing you like that, I’d be giving your guys a piece of my mind.”
Portia’s voice reaches me in the darkness. A colorful light that beckons me to return to consciousness.
“Stop talking,” Dane orders without any heat. Something gently strokes my cheek. “Rae? Can you hear me?”
Heat encompasses one side of my body, and the smell of citrus fills my nose when I breathe deeply. I peel my eyes open, sleep still weighing them down.
“Rae! She heard me!” Portia exclaims, bouncing forward, and entering my view.
Dane tucks hair behind my ear, his amber gaze warm. “How do you feel?”
I open my mouth, and it feels like sandpaper. “Thirsty,” I gasp.Something tugs on my arm when I try to move it, and I frown at the tubes attached to it. Dane is lying beside me in bed while Portia stands on the other side with a bright smile.
“You’re all sorts of hooked up right now,” she explains. “I’ll call Elias to let him know you’re awake so we can get you out of this stuff.” She walks past Jackson to the bathroom.
He and Dane help me sit up before Jack brings a cup of water to my lips. I greedily gulp it down, gasping once it’s empty.
The bedroom door—as I’ve now realized we're in my apartment at Hype—flies open with Aiden and then Kellan barreling through.
“Don’t crowd her—” Aiden starts, but Kell doesn’t hesitate to wrap me in his thick, muscular arms. He towers over Dane, engulfing my upper half while Dane cusses up a storm about how close his dick is to him.
Kell ignores him, crushing me to his chest. “You did it again. You scared the fuck outta me and I’m getting bitey as hell over it.” He releases me, his mouth crashing into mine. His hands tangle into my hair, gripping me like he’s afraid I’ll disappear. I grab his arms—the only part I can reach with the tubes and wires linked to me—and kiss him back, my chest expanding as I’m filled with his love for me.
I’m breathless when he breaks away, his lips still hovering close to mine as he whispers, “Thank you for not letting go, beautiful. For staying with us.”
