In a divided city, a first-year resident, an investigative journalist, and their neighbor join forces to unravel a web of corruption and secrets surrounding the death of their friend, leading them to confront an oppressive government, uncover dark p...
اوووه! هذه الصورة لا تتبع إرشادات المحتوى الخاصة بنا. لمتابعة النشر، يرجى إزالتها أو تحميل صورة أخرى.
October 24, 2021
VIOLET HAYES WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD AT THE SCENE, and Joe tumbled into the endless cycle of grief once more.
Tipping over the edge of shock and plummeting into a chasm, her body incinerated with the rage that scorched every inch of her veins, smoldering her until she was nothing but crumbled ashes amidst the mayhem - until she felt numbness prickle at her nerves, collapsing in the watery end. She felt the sudden heaviness of her strained muscle, the water swallowing her lungs, air scraping at her throat as she drowned. Deeper and deeper and deeper.
She released the breath she was holding when she felt Kaden's hand settle on the back of her head, pulling her to his warmth, her cheek resting against his shoulder.
Dry tears burned her eyes, unshed ones brimming the surface.
The sound of Lizzie and Ollie's sobs tearing out of their throats echoed around her, suffocating. The sight of Jeremy, holding onto them as they shook in his arms, gutted her. She ground her teeth, burying herself into the safety of Kaden's shoulder, gut sinking at the realization he had been the one to bear the news to them once again.
He had stood before them, with the ghosts of the many others he had announced standing behind him, wearing the same look he had worn time and time again - one of pure defeat.
"How?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper he might not have heard.
"Knife to the gut."
His quiet words erupted a weep from Ollie, aiming and slicing right through her heart. She placed a hand on her chest, feeling her ribs constrict until she choked.
"Murdered..." she echoed the thought blaring through her mind.
Kaden was still for a moment, and she could hear the painful swallow of the lump lodged in his throat.
"Yes," he answered.
She felt it all at once. Grief and despair and guilt wound themselves inside of her chest. She felt it overcome her in a suffocating wash. Violet had been here mere hours ago. How? Why? Had she stayed, it would have been avoided. Had she made sure she got back safe - she could have done something to prevent it, she would have protected her, she wouldn't have been alone-
"I'll find them," Kaden cut through her spiraling thoughts, and she could hear his voice against her ear, loud and clear. "I'll handle it."
Her heart ached at his words, and she shook her head. "You've handled enough."
"I can take it."
She scoffed, wanting to tell him that even if he could, she didn't want him to. He'd taken enough hits for them.
"Joe," he called again. The fingers on her hair gently tipped her head back, and he moved, lowering himself so she could face him. She met the calming dark eyes of his, shadowed and heavy with grief. "I can take it."
