Page 146 of Requiem
“Yeah?”
He pauses, seemingly mulling over what he’s about to say. “Don’t disappear on her. Or me.”
My breath catches hard enough that it aches inside my chest. This is the second time he’s alluding to me losing the battle with my mind. With the trauma and the darkness. He’s scared for me. “I told you, I won’t.”
***
The hallway outside the recovery wing feels different now. Officers stand along the corridor, observing me closer than before. Observingall of uscloser than before.
Levi is already at the center of it. He glances toward me briefly before turning his attention fully to Adela and Rafe as we walk into their room. Rafe is upright, his shoulder bandaged and stiff beneath hospital wrapping. There’s a calmness to him that doesn’t match what he’ssurvived. Makes sense, really, being the unhinged motherfucker he is. Adela stands close beside him, resting a hand on his good shoulder.
Levi studies them both. “I’ll need everyone’s statements,” he says simply.
Rafe exhales. “We’ll cooperate,” he says. “Fully. Whatever jurisdiction this falls under.”
Adela agrees quickly.
Levi nods once. “From the beginning would be great. Of your involvement.”
Rafe answers first, briefly outlining what he remembers. Adela fills in gaps where he pauses, her sarcasm entirely absent for once. Both are very professional in their tone now. As they continue to discuss, my gaze finds the window behind Adela.
I hated opening up and telling Levi everything about me. About Nolan, Micah, Adriana, and Alexei. Especially in front of Finnick and Kami, who thankfully never had to see the abuse Micah and I had to endure up close. They both stiffened when I told them about the extent of the sexual abuse with Adriana and…Henrik. I could barely make it through that one without crying. But Kami sat beside me the entire time, hand rubbing my back. She’s always cared so much about me. The woman looks like a wild child but is one of the sweetest people in the world.
Levi listened the entire time, taking notes and asking questions.
“Oh, and this is important,” Adela says sharply, pulling me back from my thoughts.
Levi’s gaze flicks to her. “Go on.”
Adela exhales through her nose, as if preparing to give a speech. “There’s proof that Jude was operating underduress. Not just implied pressure.Actualcoercion. Orders, containment, and psychological control. Everything that he says happened to him happened. The only evidence directly tying Jude to violence are the videos and photos Alexei released. He tried releasing it all to stage a narrative and turn the world against him.”
Her eyes shift briefly toward me.
I snort, though I don’t miss how much she’s covering for me. The fact that they were able to delete everything else I did is a fucking miracle.Otherwise, I’d likely be in prison right now. “The world is already against me.”
“Public opinion can always be swayed,” she adds, her blue gaze confident. “This was frameddeliberately, made to look like he was acting on hisownaccord.”
Levi’s eyes sharpen. “Evidence exists?” he asks. “Where?”
Rafe nods. “We have what we could retrieve from a flash drive from one of our…” he pauses for a moment, his icy eyes darting to me. “Friends.”
I shift my weight, crossing my arms.
“Who is this friend?” Levi asks.
“Adriana Britton,” I reply quickly. “She’s dead.”
There’s a heavy moment of silence that drops between us all. Rafe and Adela were beside me when Adriana drove her car into the ones chasing us. She saved us. Allowed enough time for us to call an ambulance for Micah. Otherwise…
He wouldn’t be here anymore.
“Ah,” Levi nods, catching the emotional weight. “Do you have this flash drive, then?”
“Yes. It was Nolan Marshall’s. He is also dead, but killed by Alexei directly.” Adela folds her arms slowly. “Enough to show intent to manipulate perception,” she corrects. “Not just what he was made to do. What he wanted people to thinkhechose.”
Levi absorbs that without interruption, his expression unchanged, but his attention now fully locked onto the implications rather than the individuals in front of him. “Whether or not he’s guilty, I am to defend him. We’ll go over everything as we proceed to the States,” he says finally.
Across the corridor, a door opens briefly and closes again, and I catch a glimpse of staff rushing around deeper in the hospital. Emma is still behind those walls, and I’m already desperate to get back to her. Everything I am doing here is still orbiting her painful fucking absence.
