Page 107 of Bound Bride
"He said…" She hiccups sharply. "He said when they find out who I am, I'd only have a day. It's been longer."
Shit.
"Okay. Okay, first I gotta— Calvin!" I drop back to my knees next to him, but as I place my hand over his blood-drenched shirt, he grabs my elbow and pushes me away.
"Go," he croaks out weakly.
"I'm not leaving you here!"
"G-Get… Kon," he gasps. "Kon… he… g-get him…" His eyes flutter for the last time, then his grip slips from my elbow. His arm falls limp at his side.
"Calvin?!" I surge over him and grab his shoulders. "Calvin!"
He doesn't respond.
"I-Is he dead?" Beatie asks from behind me, her voice thick. "No… no…"
"No," I say quickly. "He's just… he's tired."
I don't know. I can't tell. There's so much blood mingling between the two of us that I have no idea if he is alive or not, but the paleness of his skin and the sheer volume of blood staining the floor nudges me toward the terrible truth.
What will Kon say if I tell him my sister, in a bout of fear or psychosis or whatever the hell this is, killed Calvin?
This is all my fault. Everything I touch just crumbles.
I slowly climb to my feet and finally wince as the pain from my arm registers in my mind.
"Rose?" Beatie follows me as I rush to the cupboard and snatch up a kitchen towel then wrap it around my arm.
"Beatie." I spin to face her and the impossible knots in my gut twist tighter at the dazed expression on her face. "It's okay. It's all going to be okay. I'm going to fix this. Can you take me to Mom?"
Beatie stares up at me. "What?"
"Take me to Mom. I promise, everything is going to be okay."
35
KONSTANTIN
It's going to break Rose's heart.
I left the estate in a twisted tangle, lost in my own emotions but determined to somehow make things better for Rose.
I was going to return with good news, news that would allow us both a moment to breathe so I could work through the pain of learning that everything up until now was based on a lie.
Instead, we drive up the winding road with heavy hearts and the news that Maxim is being transported to the morgue.
"How am I going to tell her?" My strained voice cuts across the silence in the car.
Ethan shifts his hands around the steering wheel and glances at me for a half-second, then he sighs ever so softly. "I don't know. But you should sit her down and comfort her before you tell her."
"She will blame me." The thought makes my stomach tighten. "She will think I did this as revenge."
"Maybe at first. But when you explain it to her, she might understand. You just have to take the brunt of her reaction for a little while." Ethan's head dips slightly and he sighs again. "Fuck."
"Are you alright?" Worry about Rose fades momentarily as I study Ethan, but he waves me off with a shake of his hand.
"Painkillers are wearing off. I'm fine."
