Lead Me Home (Fight for Me #3)(112)

The sound was deafening.

Ricocheting on the cliffs and rocks and moving through me.

He crumpled into a pile at my feet.

My lungs squeezed, and I panted through the haze, everything set to slow as my mind tried to catch up.

Ears ringing, my attention swooped across the space for Nikki.

She teetered at the edge of the cliffs.

Bound feet sliding out from beneath her. Hands tied behind her and setting her off-balance on the slick, wet surface.

I was running that way as she struggled to regain balance on the slipping rocks.

Those indigo eyes went wide as her feet gave.

Falling backward.

A shout of agony tore from me as I watched her tip over the side.

My pulse thundered, and my heart screamed as loud as the screams that tore from my mouth.

“Nikki! Nikki. God, no, Nikki!”

I raced for the edge.

I skidded right before I hit the crumbling ledge.

Sucking in a staggered breath.

Blinking as I swore I saw Sydney standing at the cliff, her flowy dress billowing around her, hair soft as it whispered across her face.

Her voice lilted on the breeze. “You were my protector. My savior. My hero. It’s okay, Ollie. It’s okay to be hers.”

“Forgive me,” I begged, the words so small.

She smiled. The softest smile. “There was never anything to forgive. Just promise me one thing.”

“Anything.” It was my own plea.

“Never stop going after what makes your heart feel right.”

She angled her head toward the edge and lifted her chin.

“Fly, fly, dragonfly.”

I blinked, and she was gone.

And I dove over the side.

Falling.

I’d been all along.

I hit the water. It split, swallowing me in a pit of darkness.

I couldn’t see anything, and I started flailing, searching the water, my chest burning from the exertion and the loss of oxygen.

And I felt my sister. All around. And I wondered if she’d always been.

I pushed myself harder, a little deeper.

My fingertips just brushed against something.

Didn’t matter.

I saw it.

Could feel it.

The flash.

A spark.

Energy.

Light.

The meaning of life.

A half second later, I had an arm around Nikki’s waist, and I propelled us up. We broke the surface, and I was gasping for breath, frantic as I freed her of the bonds.

But Nikki.

She wasn’t breathing.

And I was crying out, floating on my back as I turned her so her face was out of the water, swimming back toward the shore with one arm.

The sound of the sirens traveled across the water, and swirling lights came into view from the shore, hitting the lake and blinking across the sky like an endless mirror.

“Nikki,” I cried, my feet finally hitting the bottom of the lake. I gathered her in my arms and staggered up the rocky beach as officers came rushing down the incline.

I screamed with everything I had. “Help!”





38





Ollie





The monitor blipped quietly in the still of the room, the lights muted and her soft, soft breaths filling the air.

Swore, they breathed right back into me.

The sound of her where she slept on the hospital bed.

Olive skin and honeyed hair and freckled cheeks.

Sunshine.

She still hadn’t gained consciousness, but they thought she was going to be okay.

Her saturations and pulse ox had been good, but they would be taking her for scans to make sure her lungs were clear.

I leaned forward, taking her hand in mine, bringing it to my lips.

I was swept by an undercurrent of that energy. A sated fire that streamed between us. Our connection quieted but so goddamned bold.

Overwhelming.

I inhaled, and I swore, it felt like I was inhaling the breaking day.

Something fresh and new.

I stared at her, eyes tracing every unforgettable line of her face.

She was so pretty.

So pretty my guts clenched and my heart was drumming its song, the way it did whenever Nikki stepped into a room.

When she took up my space.

“You’re going to be just fine,” I whispered at her knuckles, praying she could feel my promise. That it was touching that bright, bright spirit.

That she’d know she wasn’t alone.

Her mom had been here.

Her sister.

Lillith and Rynna and Hope.

This girl surrounded by love.

Because that’s what she was.

Love.

The lightest tap sounded at the door, and I shifted to see Kale popping his head inside.

Thank God for Kale.

Kale, who’d come running when I’d sent out the distress call that we needed him. Even though he was no longer a physician at the ER, there wasn’t anyone I trusted more than him to be there, acting as Nikki’s intercessor, making sure no stone was left unturned.

“Hey,” I said, voice so low it barely broke the air. “Is it time for her to get the scans?”

He grimaced a little as he stepped inside. “Not quite,” he told me.

Unease wound through my being, and I couldn’t keep the quiver of distress out of my voice. “Did the tests come back?”