I roughly pull him towards me before smashing his head back against the wall. He falls to a heap on the floor, out like a baby.
I rush into the bedroom. Royce is lying sprawled over Ivy, blood pouring from the back of his head. I cringe, stepping forward to see if Ivy’s okay, but Nova, who I thought was passed out next to them, reaches up on a cry.
Horrified, I rush forward, but with strength I didn’t think she’d have, she stabs the knife into his back, in the nape of his neck.
“What did you do?” I yell, ripping the knife out of his neck. Blood spurts everywhere, the warm liquid flowing through my fingers and onto the ground.
“He can’t hurt her again,” she whispers, before passing out in front of me.
“Fuck,” I yell, going to reach for my phone, coming up empty. I left it in the car.
Noise in the hallway pulls my attention away from Nova and my eyes widen a fraction at the sight of Kaiden tumbling through the door, his gaze behind him at the man I knocked out on the floor.
He turns to us, horrified.
“I didn’t do this,” I tell him, my voice firm, hard.
He ignores me, falling to his knees beside me. At first, I think he’s checking his dad, but he shocks me when he pushes him at me, pulling Ivy out from under him.
“No,” he sobs, resting her head in his lap. I look at where he’s staring and see welts rising on her thighs.
Vomit rises in my throat when the understanding of what he’s breaking over hits me. It’s not the marks on her body. It’s her knickers, rolled down her thighs. He pulls her dress down, covering her modesty.
“You need to call an ambulance,” I tell him gently, but a voice at the door startles me.
“Selina called one, and the police. I’ll go check where they are,” Grant offers, looking stunned at the scene before him.
Shaking myself out of it, I reach over to check Royce’s pulse, my eyes closing when I don’t find one.
I look up, watching as Kaiden rocks her back and forth, muttering into her hair.
“Kaiden,” I call out, but he’s lost in his own mind, so I call out louder, stronger. “Kai?” He looks up, blinking through tears. “I’m sorry, but he’s dead.”
His gaze doesn’t waver, not a flicker of emotion. “Good!”
Shocked at his reaction, I shuffle away from the body and check over Nova, seeing a slash down her neck. She’s been beaten pretty badly so it’s hard to know if it’s superficial or if it’s caused damage internally. Her pulse is weak but there, so I get up, moving over to the bed, to the woman who’s laying there. I check her pulse first, averting my eyes from her half naked body. It’s barely there.
I drag a comforter off the end of the bed and cover her cold body. I gag when I get a glimpse of blood between her legs.
I don’t know how long it is before the room fills with police and paramedics. I move off the bed, sitting back against a desk, watching as they first roll out the woman off the bed, followed by Ivy and Nova, leaving Royce to lie there with a blanket over his face.
What happened here tonight is going to impact those involved, and not just those who were in this room.
This is what nightmares stem from.
A night not one of them will fully recover from.
And I sit, feeling useless.
Useless for not walking Ivy in.
Useless for not sensing something beforehand.
Useless for not stopping Nova before she killed a man, even if he did deserve it.
And useless for not being able to help them.
“Sir,” a woman calls, bending down in front of me. I raise my head from my bent knees and stare blankly at her. “We need to check you out.”
I shake my head. “It’s not my blood,” I croak out.
She looks confused for a moment, before placing her warm hand over mine. “You’ve got blood running down your side.”
What?
I glance down to my side, numb at the sight of blood and a small tear in my shirt.
“It’s okay. Let’s get you checked over,” she whispers, helping me to my feet.
I look around the room, feeling dizzy at the sight of blood around me. The little amount of time I’ve been in here feels like hours. I can’t imagine how long it felt to the women attacked tonight.
Or how they’ll recover.
EPILOGUE
IVY
I’m not leaving, no matter how many times the doctors, nurses or Kaiden ask me to. They want me to rest, to recover, however, all I want to do is stay by Nova’s side, which is why I’m walking back in her room, Kaiden beside me.
“Ivy, you need to rest,” Sam orders, but I ignore him, sitting down on the sofa in Nova’s room.
I continue to ignore him, keeping my focus on her sleeping in the bed as Kaiden throws a blanket on me.
It has been two days since the attack and emotions are high. Kaiden has hardly spoken and I’m giving him time to process what happened, to process the death of his father.
I grit my teeth at the thought of him. I don’t care that he’s dead. I only care about Kaiden and how he’s feeling. And he’s yet to express any kind of emotion towards it. Even the twins didn’t know how to react, or how to feel, and I can’t blame them. They’re in the middle of a shitty situation.
“Will they move Annette in yet?” I ask, closing my eyes when the image of her on the bed flashes through my mind.
She’s awake and alert and had informed the police of what she remembered. Royce had beat her when she wouldn’t tell him where I was. He had just penetrated her when Nova walked in and attacked him. It didn’t matter how long it lasted or if they penetrated a person or not. Rape was rape and the police are treating it as such. The rest the police can’t puzzle together until Nova is awake, as Annette had passed out the second Nova entered the room.
My gaze goes to Sam when he doesn’t answer. His expression softens. He’s going to tell me no. I can read it on his face. Tears pool in my eyes because they should be together. We all should.
“The police would like to question Nova first,” he explains. “And Annette needs privacy. It’s unfair to her to force her to be around everyone.”
I grit my teeth when he briefly looks to Kaiden. “I’d never hurt her,” Kaiden growls, speaking to someone other than me for the first time.
“I know,” Sam tells him, sighing.
Nova woke up this morning, briefly, before passing back out. She’s going to make a full recovery medically speaking. Mentally is another story. We have a lot to work through. She killed a man.
They aren’t charging her, not yet, and Sullivan doesn’t think there will be a case. She was fighting for her life. For mine.
She saved me from being raped.
Tears pool in my eyes as I pull the blanket tighter around me. Kaiden wraps his arm around my shoulders, kissing the top of my head.
I watch as Sam lovingly caresses her head, sadness pouring from him. “You love her,” I state.
He smiles down at Nova, unable to take his eyes off her. “I never stopped. She was my world. What happened with your mum was a mistake. One I can’t regret now that I’ve got you. I was a coward, riddled with guilt over what happened to your mum that night. I should have done something. I screwed up more than your mum’s life that night. I ruined mine. I lost out on watching my daughter grow up. And I lost the love of my life. The woman I wanted to grow old with.”
“There’s still time,” I remind him gently.
He looks over at me. “I know. And I should have fought harder back then. Maybe we wouldn’t be here now. I don’t know. I just know I’m not leaving her.”
“Why don’t you go get a coffee,” I tell him, seeing how worn out he is. He’s stayed by her side from the moment I woke up and told him to watch over her, unaware at the time that Royce was dead. “You look worn out.”
“I will,” he replies, getting up and stretching his back. “Would you two like me to bring you anything?”
&nb
sp; “We’re good.”
The room is silent when he leaves, and the silence is awkward. My mind runs through ways to get Kaiden to open up to me. He’s stuck in the nightmare of that night. He needs dragging out of it so he can process it. His dad has just died, and although I won’t shed a tear over the loss, I want to be there to support Kaiden and the twins.
As for me, I’m alive. I passed out that night thinking it would be my last moment, and although it will take me a while to be okay again, I’m not going to let it destroy me. We have a mountain to climb, but I’ll exhaust every inch of my body to get over it.
My concern is more for Anette and Nova. The mental scars are going to be a lot harder to move forward from. They have a long road of recovery, and I plan on being there every step of the way. And that’s only if Annette ever wants to come back to the house.
Twisting in the seat without jarring my shoulder is hard. I have to have it in a sling for a while since Royce had dislocated my shoulder.
I study Kaiden, trying to get a read on him, but I’m coming up blank. His gaze is fixated on Nova. There’s no anger, no sadness, or a mixture of both. There’s nothing. If it wasn’t for the relief and pain and love I saw in him when I woke up, I would think he wasn’t in his body at all.
“Kaiden, talk to me,” I whisper, placing my hand over his. He doesn’t. He stays unmoving as he continues to stare at Nova.
An unnerving thought hits me. What if he blames me for his dad’s death? I twist my neck so fast I wince, letting out a tiny puff of air. I close my eyes, waiting for the pain to subside.
Hearing me, he glances over with concern, scanning me from head to toe. “You need to go back to bed. You should be resting,” he croaks, his voice raw.
Tears pool in my eyes. “Do you blame me for your dad’s death?”
Unable to look at him, I concentrate on Nova, yet I don’t really see, lost in my own head.
The touch of his hand slipping out from under mine startles me, and I jerk to glance at him again. “No. Never.”
I sag with relief. “I need you to talk to me, Kai. You seem so lost, and I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to say to make you feel better. I’m not going to pretend that I’m sad that he’s dead. It might sound callous, but I’ll only ever be honest with you. I’ll do my best to support you,” I ramble, taking a deep breath. “Who am I kidding? Maybe I’m not the best person to be with you right now.”
“Will you shut up now,” he orders bluntly.
My mouth falls open in shock. “Wha—”
“No, I need you to listen,” he orders. My heart races and I dread the worst as I give him a firm nod. “Under no circumstances do I blame you or anyone other than my father for what happened that night. His death? It’s a blessing. Yeah, I’m going to miss the absence of a father, but I’ve been feeling that loss my whole life. I’m not going to lie and say I don’t care, because when the anger wears off, I might feel something.” He shrugs, rubbing a hand over his unshaven jaw. He tilts his head until his eyes meet mine. “I nearly lost you. Again.”
“I have a death curse,” I tease, trying to lighten the mood, but he doesn’t laugh.
“I’ve never in all my life been scared to lose anything or anyone, but I was—am—terrified of losing you, and I nearly did. Three times.
“But I’m okay. You can see that, right?” I ask gently.
“Yeah.”
“Why do I feel like there’s a but on the end of that sentence?”
Rubbing a hand down his face, he turns away, staring straight ahead. “There’s always a but in life, no matter how much you pretend there isn’t. You’re happy, but; you got a promotion, but; you’re pregnant, but…” He sighs, shaking his head. “I’m happy you’re all okay, exhilarated that you are alive and that I didn’t lose you, but… all I can feel is guilt. Guilt that my father did this, guilt for the promise I didn’t keep and guilt for not being able to stop him. It’s eating away at me, and all I can do is think, what if. What if Nova didn’t find the strength to hit my dad? He would have…” He gulps, paling. Taking a deep breath, he shakes himself out of it. “He would have raped you. He raped Annette. He beat you all.”
“But you didn’t do any of those things, Kai.”
“I didn’t stop it either,” he yells, breathing heavily. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay to be angry, Kai.”
“How can you even look at me after what he’s done?” he asks quietly.
“Because it wasn’t you in that room. Because his actions don’t reflect on you or who you are as a human being. Because I love you.”
“I love you too.” His posture is still stiff, but now I know what the issue is, I’ll make sure he knows this wasn’t his fault and that he has nothing to feel guilty about. “And I’m sorry. They seem like pointless words in light of what’s happened, but it’s all I have, Ivy. It’s all I have right now.”
I can’t stand to see him so broken. It’s not the Kaiden I know. He’s ruthless and a fighter. I rest my head on his shoulder, wishing I knew how to comfort him. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“There’s something else you should know. In the midst of what’s happened, it seems irrelevant.”
“What is it?”
“Hackett has been fired, and the proof of what he was doing has been sent to the police.”
“Good,” I whisper, a shiver running through my spine as I think of what a creep he was. “Actually, there’s something I was meant to speak to you about.”
“Yeah?”
“Clary came to visit me when you went to see what was taking the doctor so long this morning. She said Danielle’s home has been burnt down.”
He shrugs. “I didn’t think Rome would continue with the plan. But if you want to know if it was us, then yes. Her dad is fighting tooth and nail to get her released until the court date. He’s going to keep fighting and he’s made a good argument to get her released and let off from all charges.”
“Really?” I ask, stunned she’d get away with it. And kind of pissed off.
“Don’t worry, her dad has already started to liquidate his businesses over here and move overseas to do business. We won’t be seeing her again.”
There’s a knock on the door when I go to reply, and we both turn to see Carter walking in. “Carter,” I call out, surprised to see him. And thankful. He did save my life. Again.
“Hey,” he greets, his gaze flicking to Nova before coming back to us. “I need to speak to you. Alone.”
I glance at Kaiden, my brows scrunched together. “Um, sure.”
He pointedly looks at Kaiden. He grunts beside me. “I’m not leaving, Remington, so spit it out.”
“Fuck it. Just remember I saved your girl. Three times.”
Kaiden tenses beside me and I grab his hand, squeezing it. “Go on, Carter,” I order, keeping my voice low.
His gaze flicks back to the bed before he walks over, sitting on the edge of the coffee table. He looks wary as he scrubs a hand over his face, looking tired and worn out.
“Whatever it is, it can’t be worse than what happened the other night,” Kaiden warns him, and there’s frustration in his voice.
Carter’s jaw clenches as he narrows his eyes on him. “Dickhead.” He takes a moment, sorting through his words. “That night, it’s burned into my memory. Nova was hitting Royce with a stainless-steel vase when I reached the room. He was out cold.”
I close my eyes, trying to picture the vase in my mind, and the only one I can come up with is the rose gold vase that was on my desk. It weighed a ton. Vomit rises in my throat and I open my eyes to glare at Carter.
“Why are you telling us this?”
He swallows, looking nervous. “Because I had a friend look through the autopsy. Royce died from the stab wound to the back of his neck. She hit his left vertebral artery. That is what caused his death.”
“I know,” Kaiden grits out.
“Fuck,” Carter curses, pulling his hair. �
��I’m telling you now, if you repeat the wrong thing, I’ll end you. There are people worth protecting and those who aren’t. Your father wasn’t one worth spitting on. So, what I’m about to tell you stays between us.”
“Okay,” Kaiden confirms, sitting up straighter, sensing the tension coming in waves.
“Nova stabbed him when he was out cold. There was no way he was waking up. I told the police she tried hitting him with the vase, but he went at her again, so she reached for the knife and stabbed him in the back of the neck. I don’t know what she’ll remember when she wakes up. She’ll be better off not knowing. But if she does, she doesn’t deserve to go to prison. Feed her the story I told the police and she should be okay.”
I look to Kaiden with wide eyes, not knowing how he’ll take it, and in fear of possibly losing Nova.
Kaiden’s quiet for a few moments before he nods. “We’ll let Sam know. If there’s a chance she wakes when we aren’t here, it’s best that Sam can fill her in. You’re right, she doesn’t deserve to go to prison.”
Carter stands, looking shaky on his feet. “I’ll give you some privacy.”
“Wait,” I call out when he reaches the door. “Aren’t you admitted?”
Carter chuckles, shrugging. “I released myself this morning. If one more person fusses over me I’m going to lose my shit.”
“Thank you,” I tell him, forcing a smile at his confused expression. “For saving my life.”
He looks to Nova, wonder in his eyes. “As much as I’d like to give it to Kaiden about saving you for a third time, it was all her. She was barely breathing yet found the strength to fight him off and win.”
I shiver with trepidation. Kaiden shuffles closer, wrapping his arm around my waist. I curl into him, resting my head on his shoulder. “She was a warrior.”
He leaves and a few moments later, the door opens again. Instead of Sam, who I thought it would be, a tall, slender woman walks in wearing business attire. She’s beautiful.
“Mum,” Kaiden splutters.
She smiles, dropping her bag near the door. “Well, aren’t you going to come give your mother a kiss and a hug?”
Crowd of Lies (Kingsley Academy Book 2) Page 26