Chapter 76

Kayla

The soft beep of the heart monitor was the only sound in the room, save for the quiet hum of the hospital hallway. It had been hours, and Noah still wasn’t awake. Hours. And the doctors claimed that they couldn’t find a reason for his sudden coma.

This was all too familiar for comfort.

My father.

He had gone down in a similar fashion; one moment he was fine, the next he was unconscious. Granted, he hadn’t foamed at the mouth and had a fit of rage. But the sudden coma was awfully familiar. Too familiar for comfort.

Nicholas was standing by the window, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. He hadn’t moved in at least ten minutes, barely even blinking as he stared out into the dark parking lot below. The moon hung low in the sky, casting long shadows across his face, but even in the dim light, I could see the tightness in his jaw.

He was worried about his friend.

Not that he would ever admit it, of course. That would make him seem weak in his eyes, for whatever reason, and he couldn’t have that.

But I knew what he was thinking: he was wishing that he hadn’t fought with Noah right before all this happened. And maybe, in a way, he was blaming himself for everything.

I shifted in my chair, the cheap vinyl cushion squeaking under my weight, but Nicholas didn’t turn around. His focus stayed glued to the glass, like he was willing Noah to wake up just by staring hard enough.

Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore.

“You can sit down, you know.” My voice was softer than I intended, but it still echoed faintly through the too-quiet room.

Nicholas didn’t move.

“I’m fine,” he muttered, but the slight edge to his voice made me doubt the truth in that statement.

I sighed, leaning back in the chair and folding my arms across my stomach. My eyes dropped to Noah’s hand resting limply on the bed, his knuckles faintly bruised from the fight. The memory of him shifting, lunging at Nicholas with a ferocity that seemed so out of character for him, flickered in my mind like a haunting image I couldn’t seem to shake off.

Noah was sick—really sick—and whatever had caused it wasn’t natural.

And although I couldn’t quite explain my reasoning just yet, I had a sinking feeling that that guildsman—Mr. Gray—had something to do with it.

Nicholas finally moved, exhaling as he pushed away from the window and crossed the room. He sank into the chair across from me, dragging his hands down his face before letting them rest loosely between his knees.

For a long while after that, neither of us said a word.

The weight of it all hung between us—thick and suffocating as ever. But it wasn’t just the fight that was getting between us. And it wasn’t just Noah lying unconscious in that bed.

It was everything. Especially the words I’d said to get the guild to take Noah to the hospital.

I glanced sideways at Nicholas, watching the way his head was hanging low, his dark, slightly mussed hair falling into his eyes as he stared blankly at the floor between his feet.

This wasn’t the time for bringing up what I’d said. I knew that. But I had to say something, anything—I had to tell Nicholas the truth.

“I lied,” I finally said softly.

Nicholas’s head lifted, his eyes flicking to mine.

“What?”

“When I said I loved Noah.” I shifted under his gaze, my fingers curling into the fabric of my sweater. “I lied. I just… I thought it’s what that guildsman wanted to hear.”

His brow furrowed, but he didn’t say anything right away. Finally, he drew in a deep breath.

“You thought Gray wanted you to say that you’d leave me if they took Noah to the hospital?” His voice was careful now, like he was testing the words as he said them.

I nodded, swallowing hard. “I don’t know how to explain it. But the way he looked at me, the way he hesitated when Noah collapsed… I could tell. He was waiting for something. I felt like if I didn’t say it, Noah might not get the help he needed.”

Nicholas’s eyes darkened, and I could see the storm rolling in behind them. He rubbed at his jaw, his teeth grinding softly together. But I got the sense that he wasn’t angry with me, but rather with the guild.

“So you let the guild think you’d end things between us,” he muttered.

“It’s not like there was another choice.” I shifted toward him, lowering my voice even though there was no one else in the room. “Noah was foaming at the mouth during the fight. You saw it, didn’t you?”

Nicholas’s gaze sharpened.

“I did.” His hand curled into a fist on his knee, and for the first time since we arrived, I saw the crack in his calm exterior. “I didn’t want to believe it, but yeah. There was something wrong with him.”

I hesitated, leaning in just a little more. “Do you think the guild might have—”

“Yes.” His answer was immediate.

I blinked. “You’re that certain?”

Nicholas’s eyes flicked to the door, his voice dropping low enough that I barely caught the next words.

“The guild has been looking for a reason to come between us since day one. Gray knows I’m vying for a position on the council and doesn’t want me on it. I wouldn’t put it past those slippery bastards to do something like this in a desperate attempt to get their way. If I don’t have a Luna, then I’ll lose my pack…”

“And your chances of being on the council,” I finished, to which Nicholas nodded.

That didn’t surprise me. Not anymore. Not after Grace—and not after everything she’d told me.

“So what do we do?” I asked quietly, my fingers brushing against the edge of the hospital blanket, just a couple of inches from Noah’s limp hand.

Nicholas didn’t answer right away. He stared at Noah for a long moment, his brow still furrowed like he was thinking too hard. But when he finally looked back at me, something in his expression had shifted.

“We have to investigate without getting caught,” he said softly. “And hope that he wakes up.”

I nodded slowly, but the knot in my chest didn’t loosen. I wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because the very thought of Noah waking up, after I’d spent so long hoping that my father would wake up, felt like a futile effort.

But Nicholas was right. All we could do was hope. And in the meantime, try our best to get to the bottom of this without the guild figuring us out.

Nicholas shifted closer, his hand brushing against mine as he leaned his elbows on his knees again. The contact was brief—barely even there—but it was enough to make me glance down, watching the way his fingers lingered, as if he wasn’t sure whether to hold my hand or pull away.

I didn’t think. I just did it.

I turned my palm up and slipped my fingers between his.

Nicholas stiffened slightly, but he didn’t let go. His grip tightened just faintly, his thumb brushing softly along the side of my hand, but he kept his eyes on the floor like nothing had happened.

For once, I didn’t mind the silence.

We stayed like that for a while, sitting side by side in that too-quiet room, his hand warm against mine as the heart monitor kept softly beeping in the background.

The night crept by slowly, but neither of us moved.

We stayed like that with Noah all night, watching over him in silence as the moon climbed higher in the sky.