Broken Wings (Dark Legacy #1)(54)
Surgery didn’t sound good, but I was relieved that she seemed to think he was okay. He’d been rushed away at the hospital, and I hadn’t seen him again.
The three of us sat on my bed, and I told them as much as I felt safe in saying. I didn’t mention all of the murder that the boys did, because that was … that was something I would take to my grave. I would not be the reason they all ended up in prison while they’d been keeping us safe.
“The world of Delta is dangerous,” Eddy whispered, her eyes darting around the room. “But there’s no way out now, Riley.”
Dante and I just stared at her. “Very comforting,” I said with a laugh, because what the hell else could I do?
At least I wasn’t in it alone. Beck might have disappeared the moment we returned, but Jasper and Dylan had acted the same. Like I was one of them. That would have to be enough.
Shuffling across my huge bed a bit, I wrapped Eddy in a hug as tight as my damaged ribs would allow. “I’m sorry about Jasper, babe. He’ll be okay though. He’s a stubborn fucker.”
Eddy gave me a watery smile, but I could see the fear in her eyes. “He told me you saved his life. I think he’s a bit in love now.”
I scoffed a laugh and bumped her with my shoulder. “Yeah right, pretty sure Jasper falls in love at least twice a week.”
She grinned and waggled her eyebrows at me but didn’t push the subject. Thank fuck. The idea of Jasper liking me as anything more than a good friend made me all kinds of tense and uncomfortable. Not that he wasn’t gorgeous. He was. But Beck...
I let out a heavy sigh and flopped back on my pillow mountain. “So what do you want to do? I don’t have a TV in here or anything.”
Eddy laughed and shook her head. “Oh my god, you’re so working class right now, Riles.” She said it with a teasing grin, reaching over to the bedside table and pressing a button that I hadn’t even seen, let alone associated with a TV.
From the bench at the foot of my massive bed, a huge flat-screen TV rose up like fucking magic.
“Get out,” I muttered in awe. “To think I actually read my school books when I couldn’t find that sucker last weekend.”
Dante laughed at this and I whacked him in the stomach with the back of my hand. Then immediately regretted it, because it pulled my side and I cringed with pain.
For the rest of the afternoon, the three of us stayed snuggled up in my bed, watching Disney movies and eating the popcorn that Stew delivered to us. Eventually, though, Stew came to tell us that it was my “curfew” and that Dante and Eddy needed to leave.
I wanted to argue, but exhaustion had been creeping over me like a black cloud, and I was already half asleep when my friends hugged me goodbye.
“Can I bring you some dinner, Miss Riley?” Stewart asked after my friends were gone.
I yawned heavily and tried to rub my eyes with the backs of my hands—only to scratch my face with that damn hard shelled wrist brace.
“Fuck,” I groaned. “No, I think I just need to go to sleep. Thanks, Stew.”
The old man gave me a small frown, but nodded and exited my room. “Call if you need anything, Miss. Oh, and I placed the codes to the house alarm, and the front gate on a note for you.” He waved the yellow post-it note. “As per Mr. Deboise’s orders.”
That made me chuckle, because Richard Deboise was definitely doing everything he could to piss off Debitch, which made me like him. Just a little.
Shutting the door after Stew and turning the lights off, I dragged my feet back to the bed and fell in face first. My whole body hurt, but I wasn’t due for another dose of painkillers for another two hours. I groaned into the plush bedding, then wrestled my way under the blankets as best I could without hurting myself further.
I’d been so sleepy while Dante and Eddy were here. My eyelids were like lead and my brain like a ball of cotton wool. Yet the second I actively tried to sleep ... I was wide awake.
“Come on, Riley,” I whispered into the darkness of my room. “You need sleep. Just ... sleep.”
Yanking a pillow over my face, I tried to block out the world. But within seconds, the overwhelming feeling of suffocating washed through me, and I sat bolt upright, throwing the pillow across the room.
My heart thundered and my breath came in harsh gasps.
Great. Amazing. Lingering psychological effects from being nearly killed. Just what I needed.
“Fuck,” I groaned, pulling my knees up and dropping my head to my folded arms. I closed my eyes again—only for a second—but instantly I was hit by a barrage of images that I badly didn’t want to relive. The black-masked man on top of me, his hands around my throat as he squeezed the life from my body. The blood spraying from his throat as Jasper dragged his blade across it. The view from the cockpit of the plane as we hurtled toward the ground.
“Shit, shit, shit.” I was shaking now, my breath coming so fast I was sure I’d pass out soon. I needed to get out, get fresh air or space or something. I just…
Stumbling from my bed, I pulled on a fluffy bathrobe and a pair of black Uggs. It was the middle of the night, and I doubted anyone would see me or give a fuck what I was wearing, but I was amused to think a Deboise was heading out in her pajamas. Catherine would lose her mind.
Grabbing the yellow note with the codes, I made my way through the dark house. I disabled the alarm on the front door before I hobbled out to stand on the small front porch. Lifting my head I breathed in and out, enjoying a moment of silence and fresh air. My feet started to move while my hands reached for keys I didn’t actually have on me. I was desperate to drive. To feel that power under my hands. To forget everything else in a rush of speed and horsepower.