Chapter 224 ROME HAS FALLEN
KAI’S POINT OF VIEW.
Her body barely makes it to the floor before I’m on the one girl that has my soul in her grip. I fall to my knees, a pained, jagged sob tearing through my throat as I reach for her. “Aurora!” I cried out, shaking her vigorously. My heart remains in my throat, tears I haven’t shed since I thought she’d died years ago now flowing freely.
“Please….my love, please wake up.” I was ready to do anything. As long as she would wake up, but no matter how hard or how long I shook her, she didn’t even stir. Her body remains lifeless in my arms, the peeks of the bite of the needle in different spots around both of her arms. I looked at the lifeless body of the caricature that was my mother, my first monster in life.
And I felt a surge of rage, helplessness, and terror. Did she steal yet another thing from me? Life without Aurora…. I’ve gone down that lonely, bleak road; I never want to do it again. The silence in the room felt like a physical weight as I lifted Aurora’s limp body in my arms. I watched her mother, who stood still, her face a blank canvas without emotion.
Until I heard it.
Everleigh releases a pained, terror-filled shriek, rushing over to Aurora in my arms. “No…..No!”
“We heard a gunshot! The police are on their way.” Someone else yells, the sound warped in my ringing ears. Probably a nurse? I didn’t know; I didn’t fucking care. Everleigh tenderly strokes her daughter’s head, her tears streaming into her mouth as she mutters.
“I’m so sorry, baby. It’s all my fault.” No, it was mine. I had a bad feeling from the moment she told me she wanted to do this. I knew something was off; I should have tried to stop her. Yes, Aurora was stubborn, but I should have done something better.
I could have tied her to my bed last night. I could have told her something more than no. hell, I should have made the driver turn back the second he pulled up this building. However, I wanted to please Aurora; I knew how much she needed to know.
So although I was terrified, I hadnt told her everything about the incident. She doesn’t deserve the darkness that comes with the memory, I agreed, and stifled my intuition. Now, it might have cost me everything all over again.
“Oh, no…..Kai.” Everleigh whispers, bringing my attention to her. "What? What is it?" I rasped, my voice sounding like it was being dragged over broken glass. She looked behind me, probably at my mother’s corpse. “Did you…?” she trails off before she asks the full question, but I knew what she was talking about.
Without breaking eye contact, I replied, “Yes.” I wasn’t thinking of anything but Aurora’s safety at that moment.
“The police are on their way… You might get arrested for this.” She whispers, bringing my heart to a still. For a second, I felt afraid. The thought of getting arrested, or being taken away for a long time, or being separated from Aurora again filled my mind. But at the same time, I knew I would do it again without batting an eyelid.
“Let them come. I don’t care.” I barely recognized my voice; it felt off and torn. “As long as Aurora lives…as long as she breathes again.” Everleigh still has a nervous look to her, her eyes searching around us as if to keep the terrified nurses away.
They stared at us with shock and pity, but at me with fear. I knew they were thinking it. I’d killed someone. Any sane person could see it. “I’ll call Silas. He’ll know what to do.” Everleigh whispers, and before I can blink, her phone is out. She stands to the side and makes the phone call, her voice hushed with whispers.