KAI POV
The ride to the hospital was silent.
Not quiet—silent. The kind that thickened the air, that wrapped around your throat and pressed against your lungs. The kind that made you want to scream just to hear a sound.
Except there was a sound. A sacred one.
The beep of Derrick’s heart monitor.
Each beat, a bit stronger.
Each beat, a lifeline.
Each beat whispering: Not yet. I’m not done.
But Goddess, I had almost ended him.
He was in that ambulance because of me.
Because I believed Reyes.
Because I stopped Derrick and Dalton when they wanted to rip him apart.
Because I let my guard down.
Because I was so godsdamned desperate to feel normal, to have a friend, that I let a snake coil around my neck.
He almost marked me.
I almost let him.
And Derrick had been the one to take
