Chapter 34 THE WAITING IS WORSE

Chapter 34 THE WAITING IS WORSE
THE WAITING IS WORSE
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I don’t sleep.
I don’t even pretend to.
The chair beside Liam’s bed digs into my spine, but I stay there anyway, my fingers wrapped around his like letting go might loosen whatever thin thread is keeping him here. The machines hum and beep. Every sound makes my heart jump.
He hasn’t opened his eyes.
Not once.
“Come on,” I whisper, leaning closer. “I know you can hear me. You always do.”
Nothing.
The doctor said the next few hours are critical. He said that like it was a neutral thing. Like it wasn’t a sentence hanging over my head, ticking down second by second.
I brush my thumb over Liam’s knuckles. There’s dried blood under his nails. I don’t remember when it got there. I don’t remember much of anything after the shot. Just the sound. The way his body jerked. The way my scream ripped out of me before I could stop it.
I press my lips together hard.
I won’t cry here.
If I fall apart, it’ll be later. Somewhere private. Somewhere he can’t see me weak if he wakes up.
Footsteps pause outside the room. I feel them before I hear them, the air shifting, the sense of someone watching.
“Elijah,” I say without looking up.
He exhales softly. “You always know.”
I finally lift my head. He stands just inside the doorway, arms crossed, posture tight. He looks like he hasn’t slept either. There’s a cut on his brow that’s been stitched badly, the skin still angry and red.
“You should be resting,” he says.
“So should you.”
He shrugs and steps closer. His eyes flick to Liam, then back to me. “Any change.”
“No.”
He nods once. Silence stretches between us.
“They’ve locked down the east side of the city,” Elijah says eventually. “Roads blocked. Cameras tapped. Evelyn won’t get far.”
I don’t answer.
“She shot him,” I say instead, my voice flat. “She looked at me and pulled the trigger anyway.”
Elijah’s jaw tightens. “I know.”
“You don’t,” I snap, finally looking at him fully. “You didn’t see her face. She wanted it. She wanted me to watch.”
His gaze softens, but there’s something else there too. Anger. The kind that simmers instead of explodes.
“We’ll find her,” he says. “I promise.”
Promises don’t mean much to me right now.
A nurse slips in quietly, checks Liam’s monitors, adjusts something on the IV. I watch her hands like a hawk.
“Is he okay,” I ask.
She gives me a careful smile. “No change. That’s good for now.”
For now.
She leaves, and the room feels too quiet again.
I rest my forehead against Liam’s arm. “You hear that,” I murmur. “You’re doing good. Don’t stop now.”
My throat tightens despite myself.
“You don’t get to leave me,” I whisper. “Not after everything. Not after we finally—”
I stop. I don’t finish the thought.
Saying it out loud feels dangerous.
Elijah clears his throat. “Kenzie.”
I glance up.
“There’s something else,” he says. “Something you should know.”
My stomach sinks. “If this is bad news, save it.”
“It’s not about Liam,” he says quickly. “It’s about Evelyn.”
I straighten slowly. “What about her.”
“She wasn’t working alone.”
I let out a humorless laugh. “No surprise there.”
“She had help on the inside,” he continues. “Not guards. Higher than that.”
My fingers curl into Liam’s sheets. “How high.”
Elijah hesitates. That hesitation is answer enough.
“The board,” he says quietly. “One of them. Maybe more.”
Cold spreads through me.
“The board is supposed to be neutral,” I say. “They’re supposed to protect the balance.”
“They protect themselves,” Elijah replies. “And you’ve been a problem since the moment you refused to disappear.”
I think of the masked figure. The words echoing in my head.
I am the heir.
“Did you find anything else,” I ask slowly. “About the heir.”
Elijah studies me. “You’re thinking about that again.”
“Answer me.”
He sighs. “We pulled old records. Financial trails. Disappeared names. Someone’s been erasing themselves for years. Someone powerful. Someone patient.”
My grip tightens. “Do you have a name.”
“Not yet.”
Frustration burns hot in my chest. “Then what good is this.”
“It means this isn’t over,” he says. “Even if Evelyn is caught, this goes deeper.”
I look back at Liam. His breathing remains steady. Too steady. Like he’s stuck somewhere far away.
“I don’t care how deep it goes,” I say quietly. “Anyone who comes for him comes through me.”
Elijah nods. “I figured you’d say that.”
He turns to leave, then pauses. “Kenzie.”
“What.”
“If he wakes up,” Elijah says, careful with the words, “everything changes. They’ll move faster.”
I meet his eyes. “Let them.”
After he leaves, I’m alone again.
Hours pass. Or minutes. Time doesn’t behave normally here. The lights dim and brighten. Nurses come and go. At some point, my head drops against the bed, exhaustion dragging at me.
I must drift, just a little.
Because suddenly—
My fingers twitch.
No. Not mine.
His.
I suck in a sharp breath and lift my head so fast my neck protests. My eyes lock onto Liam’s face.
“Liam,” I whisper urgently. “Liam, can you hear me.”
His brow creases faintly. His fingers curl weakly around mine.
“Oh my God,” I breathe. “You’re here. You’re here.”
His lashes flutter.
Slowly, like it takes effort.
Then his eyes open.
They’re unfocused at first. Glassy. Lost. Panic spikes in my chest.
“Hey,” I say quickly, leaning closer. “It’s okay. You’re safe. You’re in the hospital.”
His gaze drifts, then finds me.
Recognition flickers.
“Kenzie,” he rasps.
I choke on a sob and laugh at the same time. “Yes. It’s me. I’m right here.”
He swallows painfully. “Did… did she—”
“No,” I cut in. “Don’t talk. You’re okay. You made it.”
His fingers tighten again, weak but real.
“I thought,” he murmurs, eyes slipping shut again, “I thought I lost you.”
My chest aches. “Never.”
I press my forehead to his. “I’m not going anywhere.”
He exhales, long and shaky.
Then his eyes open again, sharper this time.
“Kenzie,” he says, more force behind it now. “Listen to me.”
I still. “What is it.”
“She wasn’t alone,” he whispers. “Evelyn. She said—”
I hold my breath.
“She said the heir already has you marked.”
Cold crawls up my spine.
“What does that mean,” I ask softly.
Liam’s gaze darkens.
“It means,” he says, “this was just the beginning.”
Before I can ask more, his eyes roll back slightly and alarms start screaming.
Nurses rush in, pushing me away.
“Wait,” I shout. “He was awake. He was talking.”
“Please step back,” someone orders.
I stumble backward, heart slamming, watching as they surround him again.
One of the monitors spikes.
Another flatlines for half a second too long.
And as they work frantically to stabilize him—
A phone vibrates in my pocket.
I stare at it, dread pooling in my gut.
With shaking hands, I pull it out.
Unknown number.
One message.
You can’t hide him forever. See you soon.
My blood runs cold.
Because attached to the message—
Is a live camera feed.
Of Liam’s hospital room.
From an angle that proves someone is already inside the building.