gave out on you. Not cool, legs.”
I shook my finger at her legs, then smiled back at her. “But big sis is here now. I’ll fix everything, like always.”
But she just looked at me with this wisdom like, like— Like she didn’t believe me.
Like I didn’t know what I was talking about.
Like I was the child and she was the grown-up who understood grown-up realities like death and dying while I was still a little baby kick-boxing at shadows I had no hope of winning against or even comprehending.
I just shook my head. “No, Rebs. No.”
She smiled the tiniest little smile.
And then her eyes went wide with shock and what looked like excruciating pain. A thin, reedy wail of pain came out of her throat and all the machines hooked up to her started going haywire.
“Reba. Reba!” I shouted.
But she couldn’t answer. Her eyes had rolled back in her head.
I ran for the door, screaming, “Nurse! Doctor! Doctor!”
23
Sully
The hospital walls seemed to be closing in on us, the shadows of the dead haunting the hallways reminding us that not everyone leaves this building alive.
Portia’s sister was dying and there was absolutely nothing I could do to help. Portia had been so dazed and upset when the doctor had talked to us about what was wrong with her sister—recurrent UTIs because of her being in the last stages of renal disease leading to a rare complication, something something. Long story short—if she didn’t get that new kidney, she was gonna die.
For the first time in my life, I wished I was my father.
My father had power. Wealth. Massive strings he could pull.
He’d be able to save Portia’s sister.
He’d be able to make it right.
But because I had been so damn stubborn and had resisted every leg up that had been offered to me, I didn’t even know where to start in trying to get that poor girl a kidney. I couldn’t just make a few phone calls and get it done.
I was helpless.
God, I wish I was like my father.
My eyes were closed, but I wasn’t asleep. I had been up all night as Portia slept on my shoulder between her constant getting up and asking for updates on her sister. Exhaustion had set in, but I worried that if I fell asleep, I wouldn’t be there if she needed me. I wasn’t going to leave her for even a second.
I may not be able to give her sister a kidney, but I sure as hell could give all of me to Portia.
A tap on the shoulder that Portia wasn’t leaned up against had me opening my eyes startled.
It was Montgomery Kingston.
I blinked a few times to make sure it was indeed a reality and not some overly tired and twisted dream, but when I saw my old friend’s concerned face, and his head motioning for me to come speak to him, I knew this nightmare was indeed a reality.
The Order had found me.
They knew Portia and I had left… all was lost.
I wasn’t sure how to move without waking Portia, but she made it an easy decision when she lifted her head and looked at Montgomery.
“They know we left?” she asked Montgomery.
He nodded. “They do.”
“It was an emergency,” I said.
Montgomery nodded sadly and then looked at Portia with deep sympathy written across every inch of his face and in the depths of his eyes. “I’m sorry about your sister. When The Order of the Silver Ghost heard… well, when I heard… anyway, I’m really sorry.”
She nodded and then stood. She stretched her body and rolled the kinks out of her neck. “I should go check on Reba and see if there’s any updates,” she said.
I reached for her hand and squeezed it, silently telling her I was there for her if she needed me.
When she left the waiting room, I spun my attention to Montgomery. “So, are you here to tell me that we lost the Initiation? Did they send you to do the dirty work?”
“I wanted it to be me,” Montgomery said. “And no, you haven’t officially failed it yet. They’re calling for both of you to return to the Oleander to face the music.”
“Why bother?” I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. “Frankly, I couldn’t care less if I ever step foot in that house ever again.”
“You both were nearly done with the Trials. Don’t you want to see if they’ll make an exception, considering the reason you both left?”
“I’ve never known the Elders to be merciful