Page 19 of Requiem
“Hey,” I say, softer now. “Look at me.”
His eyes flick up again as he flinches, like the words triggered him or something.
I swallow hard, forcing my tears down. “You remember last summer?” I ask.
His brow furrows.
“We were on that shitty little stage in Tucson...” A faint, broken laugh leaves me. “You said the sound was garbage and threatened to punch the guy running it.”
A beat.
His eyes shift, like he remembers.
“I told you you’d break your hand before you broke his jaw,” I add.
Silence.
I take a tentative step forward. “You were laughing,” I say, quieter.“Actuallylaughing when Kami’s drunk ass punched the guy instead. She busted some knuckles but she did it.”
His throat bobs as he swallows, his jaw tightening like something in him is fighting to the surface. “I remember that,” he whispers.
“There you are,” I murmur, almost to myself.
His eyes lock onto mine before he looks away from me, seemingly too exhausted for the rest of the conversation.
I stand there for another moment, watching the way his shoulders tremble. I hate to leave him withdrawing, but he won’t take the Suboxone. “I’ve missed you, man.”
He stares at me, motionless. And it almost makes my fucking skin crawl.
“If you’re not interested in taking this, it’s okay,” I say, holding up the bottle of medication. “I’ll be back. Promise.”
Jude finally turns away from me, and I can’t tell if hetrulyremembers me, or he’s just having a moment of clarity before he descends into hell again. Probably the latter. So I slip back out of the door, locking it securely. The second I step back into the basement living room, I see that Nico is still on the couch.
“I told you not to go back there,” he sighs.
I drag a hand through my hair, exhaling hard through my nose, the bottle still in my grip. “Yeah,” I mutter. “I know. But I had to at least offer the medicine to him again. Withdrawing fucking sucks.”
Nico rolls his eyes. “Oh, I know.”
Chapter six
MICAH PRESCOTT
I don’t realize how long I’ve been standing there until Nico finally speaks. “Adela came looking for you a few minutes ago. They’re waiting upstairs to talk to your girl.”
I glance at him. “Adriana’s not my girl,” I mutter.
Nico scoffs, like he wants to tell me,you know what I fucking meant.But I don’t have the energy to say anything else. I almost trip on the stairs on the way up, since my mind is using all of its energy to process life. By the time I reach the top, I can already hear people talking. And when Nico and I step into the room, everyone stops.
Rafe is standing near the couch, one hand resting on the back of it. Adela sits in front of him, posture straight, eyes focused. Kieran is in the corner chair, arms resting loosely.
Nico goes ahead and sits on the edge of the fireplace beside Kieran, elbows on his knees, watching the room. Emma and Heather are on the couch with Adela. Emma is sitting forward slightly, her hands claspedtogether in her lap. Heather is beside her, one arm resting lightly along the back of the couch, her attention focused right on me.
And Adriana is standing near the dining table, just a few feet from Rafe. She looks wildly uncomfortable, considering most of the people in the room do not like her at all.
Emma’s eyes land on me immediately, searching my face.
My jaw locks as I move into the room, trying not to show on my face the horror and dread crawling through me right now.Fucking goddammit.
