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Declan.
“Travis,” Declan said, for once, not sounding like a pushover. He sounded…almost menacing. He practically growled out my name, which made my spine straighten and all of my attention snap to the phone call. He sounded like he wanted to strangle me, and I couldn’t help but wonder what had his panties in a twist.
Did Will die?
I was never a huge fan of Will, mostly because he seemed smarter than Declan, like he knew, deep down, I wasn’t like the rest. And I wasn’t—my family had made sure of that. There were things most people would never do that I wouldn’t hesitate on doing. Crime sort of went hand in hand with my family, especially those crimes which would be considered felonies…
“What do you want, Declan?” I asked, frowning to myself. I was curious as to why he was calling me, but then again, it wasn’t like I could show him that. I tried keeping most of my genuine emotions tucked neatly away, hidden from the world. I only let out the real Travis to those people who I knew I could trust.
Until Ash, those people had remained family members. Not even Sabrina had known the real me, not really. She thought she knew the darkness lying within me, but she didn’t. In that journal, she wrote that she was afraid of me, and I supposed that was true. She was just a little girl in the end, but she was right to be afraid of me. I wasn’t like most people.
“Where are you?” Declan asked, sounding quite ticked—a tone I hadn’t heard on Declan since the ill-fated party when I’d sent him a picture of Ash and Sawyer dry-humping each other on the living room dance floor.
“I’m at Sawyer’s house, picking up,” I said. When Declan remained quiet on the other line, I added, “What’s wrong? Don’t you believe me? Should we video chat instead?” I thought it was a reasonable offer, especially if he suspected me of hurting Will.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’d never hurt Will, because if he ever lifted a finger to Ash, I’d sure as shit lay into him, but as for what happened to him? Whatever that was, I didn’t do it, nor did I have a hand in it. Whatever happened to Will was of his own doing, random or not. Not because of me.
“I need you to come back to the hospital,” Declan spoke quietly, a seriousness in his voice that made my skin cold. The way he ordered me back was almost…almost enough to make me upset, and yet, when he said what he said next, I stopped myself from saying anything snippy back: “It’s about Ash.” And then he hung up, as if that was that.
Ash? What about Ash?
I tried calling Declan back, over and over again, but the bastard kept sending it to voicemail. “Fuck,” I muttered to myself, glaring down at my phone as if it was the culprit.
Well, one thing was for sure. I couldn’t stay here. I had to go to the hospital and see what Declan was talking about.
My nerves were fried as I stormed out of the house and got in the same car I’d taken the first time. If this was some prank, or…something, I wasn’t going to be happy. And if this was real, if something had happened to Ash in that hospital, I was going to fucking kill someone. A hospital was supposed to be a safe place.
I drove like a speed demon, needing to find out just what the hell was up sooner rather than later. I parked in the ER’s lot, hurrying inside the sliding glass doors, spotting Declan in the sitting area. There was hardly anyone else nearby, due to the early hour. The sun was on the rise, though, so I knew the ER would probably just get busier as the time wore on.
Ash, I noticed instantly, was nowhere to be seen, and when I called her phone on my way here, it had gone straight to voicemail, too.
I swore to God, if this was her getting back at me for doing what I did, I wasn’t going to be happy. I’d let her get her payback, but worrying me like this? Unnecessarily cruel. That girl should know by now just how much she meant to me—and here’s a hint: it was a lot.
After tossing a quick look to the nurse behind the desk at the front, I headed towards Declan, a severe look on my face. Declan was on his feet the moment I arrived, giving me his own glare. Not my biggest fan, that one. Couldn’t blame him, of course, after what happened between Sabrina and I.
Sabrina was a fun little distraction every now and then, and I’d thought, at the time, she was perfect for me. She wasn’t. She was just bipolar. No, it took a lot more than a medical diagnosis to be perfect for me. Ash wasn’t diagnosed with anything that I was aware of, and she was strong in the ways Sabrina simply wasn’t. If Declan thought he’d have Ash…
“Where’s Ash?” I demanded, resisting my urge to lay my hands on him and rough him up. I would’ve, if the nurse hadn’t been watching us closely.There were certain things you could only do when you were alone. Letting my inner beast out was one of them.
“Getting checked out by doctors, I’d imagine,” Declan replied. He shot a look at the nurse behind the desk, and I was too stunned at what he said to deny him when he added, “Let’s go outside. You and I need to talk.” He headed toward the doors, not even bothering to wait for my answer.
Once we were outside, alone save for the cars in the parking lot, I asked, “Why the hell would she be getting checked out by doctors?”
Declan had his arms crossed, as if he thought he could intimidate me. Me, Travis Scott, a member of the family, someone who’d been taught since he was ten years old how to take down your opponent. Someone who had connections deeper than any plain old rich boy could. No one intimidated me. In fact, I hardly felt a thing as I stood there staring at him, nothing but concern for Ash.
“You’re saying you have no idea,” Declan muttered, narrowing his dark eyes. His brown hair was ruffled, his bedhead having never been fixed after getting the call about Will.
“Why the fuck would I know?” I asked. “I just got here.”If he didn’t fess up and tell me what this was about…I was seconds from blowing up.
Declan studied me, studied me hard, as if he was trying to get to the bottom of everything—the bottom of something I was still so fucking clueless about. “Because if you did have something to do with it,” he practically growled out, “you should know I won’t sit back and take it. If you did something to her, I won’t let you get away with it.” It was the worst, most serious threat a person like him could make, and what was even stranger?
What was even stranger was that I believed him.
His posture, his expression, how his voice sounded. He wasn’t that good of an actor. Declan cared about Ash so much he’d hurt me if he thought I did something to her. He was protective of her, which irritated the shit out of me, frankly.Ash wasn’t his.
“Noted,” I stated. “Now will you tell me what the fuck happened, or do I have to start guessing?” I did not hide the venom from my voice, but Declan didn’t back down, didn’t flinch at the acidity in my tone.The little sad boy was finally starting to show a backbone, but why?
“Ash was hit by a car,” Declan said, watching my reaction. It must’ve been exactly what he wanted to see, for he then added, “You really didn’t know.”
