Page 88 of Dark Verse

I nod, breathing a little deeper with each second.

“Does Raven have any other family in town you might want to reach?” he asks.

Fuck.

It totally slipped my mind to call her sister and parents. Zeke must read my expression because he reaches out and pats me on the back.

“It’s all right, Knox. A lot has been going on. How about you take a walk around the building and get some fresh air while you call?”

I nod, taking my leave to step outside into the cold air. I pull out Raven’s phone, ready to call her sister, when I realize I don’t know her passcode. I try to guess a few times before stopping.

Wait, you have the brother-in-law’s number.

I pull out my phone, but finding his number isn’t a quick task. I have to remind myself of the date, scrolling back several months to find the unfamiliar yet familiar digits. It rings long enough to go to voicemail. I hang up and dial again. Voicemail again. By the third try, I’m beginning to fear that his phone is on silent, but with no other real choice, I redial his number. It’s on the fifth ring he answers.

“Hello?” his voice sounds rough.

Given the time, I know I’ve woken him, but I can’t worry about that now.

“Hey, yeah.” Too tired and emotionally rung out in the moment, I dispense with pleasantries. “Can I talk to Dove?”

There is an extended pause on his end.

“Who is this?” His voice cuts back in, annoyance apparent.

“Knox,” I answer, like it’s obvious. “Sorry to wake you, man. But I need to talk to Dove.”

“Knox?” he repeats, incredulous. “Knox Knight?”

“Yeah.”

“Knox Knight the singer?”

“Yes.”

I’m already getting annoyed by this conversation. Is he being dense on purpose?

“Why are you calling my phone at three am to talk to my wife?”

I hear a woman’s voice in the background but can’t make out her words.

“I don’t have her number,” I say like it’s obvious. Because it is.

“I can’t for the life of me imagine why you’d need her number at three in the morning.”

I’m really starting to dislike this guy.

“Knox Knight,” RJ responds to a question I don’t hear. A moment later, a woman cuts in.

“Hello, this is Dove.”

“Hey, Dove, this is Knox Knight.”

“I gathered. Is something going on? Is Raven okay?”

Clearly she’s the brains in this couple. It didn’t take her long at all to figure out why I’m calling them at this ungodly hour.

“She’s okay, now. She’s still in surgery, but the doctor said that she’s past the worst of it.”