climbed into my bed and wrapped his arms around me. Instead, he just held me and stroked my hair while I cried. Then I mentally berated myself for crying over a guy who didn't deserve my tears. Then eventually, I calmed down and relaxed in Steele's comforting hold.
I fell asleep again to his soft, comforting whisper in my ear, telling me all the creative ways we could hurt Archer for his bullshit. His suggestions ranged from amusing to downright scary, but just the fact that he was willing to suggest creative revenge on one of his best friends warmed me.
When I woke again, the sun was up and Steele was gone. The bed was still warm, though, and my second pillow dented from his head, so I doubted he'd been gone for long.
I stretched and yawned, climbing out of my cozy nest and making my way to the bathroom. The fentanyl overdose had still left me with a range of side effects, which the doctor had listed several times before I was discharged from the hospital.
I groaned, rubbing my pounding head, and hunted in my vanity for some nice, safe non-prescription painkillers.
Nausea, tick. Feeling cold, tick.
Drug overdoses fucking sucked. It was safe to say I wasn't likely to experiment with anything much harder than weed or alcohol anytime soon. I washed my headache pills down with water from my tap, then cranked my shower. I'd just showered before going to bed, but sleeping for almost twenty-four hours took a toll and I was confident the hot steam would make me feel a million times more human.
After I finished showering, I dressed warmly to try and combat the light shivers running through my muscles. Black jeans, long sleeve T-shirt, and a hoodie that I'd stolen from one of the boys. I didn't even know whose it was anymore, but I wasn't fussy. All boy-hoodies were good in my book.
Stuffing my feet into a pair of Ugg boots, I scuffed my way downstairs to find where Steele and Kody were at. Archer could go take a flying leap off a mountaintop for all I cared. The kitchen was empty, but my espresso machine was on and the intoxicating scent of freshly ground beans filled the air.
I shuffled over to it, but the faint sound of raised voices caught my attention before I could start making my coffee. Probably for the best as coffee on a seriously empty stomach wasn't going to go down amazingly well.
Moving closer to the window, the voices became louder, so I peered out to see what was going on. All I could see was the back of Steele's hoodie and fragments of Archer, but they were clearly arguing with someone in a seriously heated way. With Kody? Surely not.
Abandoning my search for food and caffeine, I headed back through the house and out the front door, pausing when I took in the scene before me. Kody was there, but it wasn't him that they'd been arguing with. And all of them fell silent when they saw me standing there. No points for guessing who they'd been talking about, I guessed.
"What's going on?" I asked, sliding my gaze over Steele, who wore his hood up and a cold, deadly expression on his face. Archer, I didn't bother looking at. He was already dead to me. But Kody had his gun out, aimed at Zane. The gang leader was the only one of the group of five—Cass was slouched against his motorbike with his hand loosely resting on a gun of his own—meeting my eyes.
On the white marble steps of the house, just two steps lower than where I stood, a bloody lump of meat sat. It took me a hot second to recognize it for what it was... A heart. Probably human.
"What... the fuck... is going on?" I repeated, staring at the blood-covered organ in horror.
"A gift," Zane replied when my boys all remained silent and stoic. "From your stalker. One of Charon's boys was found last night dumped outside the Laughing Clown and missing his heart... but I guess now we know where that went."
My already nauseated stomach roiled, and I swallowed the rapidly increasing saliva in my mouth. This wasn't the fucking time to vomit.
"Was this the Wraith from the recording?" I directed my question to Steele—the most levelheaded of my boys—and he jerked a short nod. Apparently my stalker hadn’t been satisfied with just taking out Drew for her premeditated drug-rape