Page 124 of Dark Surrender

Ah. Their son.

“Is he okay?”

“Yeah. He and his father had… have…” Kali clears her throat and dashes the tears from under her eyes. “Sorry. They have always had a rough relationship. But he’s not taking this well. Neither of my boys are. I guess they’re making plans to come home.”

“Home. Home. Or here?”

“I don’t know yet. Probably here?” She shrugs. “His boyfriend’s a member of this chapter.”

“Lace.”

“Yeah. Lace. Dark told you?”

“Yes.” I chuckle at the memory. “He wasn’t… isn’t fond of his son dating a man so much older.”

Gripping her crystal necklace as it grounds her, Kali releases a watery chuckle. “That sounds like him.”

I smirk. Yeah. It does.

It’s strange, sitting with her, wanting to ask how she’s doing, when I already know the answer. She cries herself to sleep. We both do. Dark was her husband, and Sunshine is now. It’s a complicated dynamic, but it seems to work for them. If anything, I feel like this random woman who doesn’t belong here. Not that Kali or Kat have ever made it seem that way. They’ve been nothing but kind. It’s just me. I know I’ve said it before that I don’t have friends, and this isn’t the time to dwell on that, but it’s more apparent now than ever that I’m alone. Without Dark, somehow getting it, getting me, getting us, I’m on my own. Maybe not fully, but inside, it’s true. There’s a hollowness there. The gap is ever widening.

People mill about throughout the day, coming in and out of the cabin. Ryker and his brother, Kade, introduce themselves. Bear and Ghost show up. The small cabin gets tighter, making it harder to breathe as more well-meaning men in leather continue to roll in on loud motorcycles that they park out back.

Lace eventually shows up and hugs Kali, and offers me a tight-lipped smile. But I don’t move from my solace on the couch. My little slice of soft support that keeps me from completely losing it. Sure, I use the restroom and force whatever food they give me down, but I sit in silence, focusing on the beat of my heart as it breaks.

Crack by crack.

Nobody knows where the men are.

Nobody has seen or heard from Dark or Sunshine in days.

They’ve disappeared.

Poof.

I need to get home. To face the music. To figure life out by myself.

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

Iris

It’s been seven days. Seven days of sleeping in a twin bed, surrounded by stuffed animals. Seven days of men on phones trying to find them. Seven days of soul-sucking exhaustion. Kali stopped talking days ago, and I’m right there with her. Walking corpses. Every now and then, we exchange knowing looks and hugs, silently bonding through our trauma. But I’m done. Done waiting to get back to my life. Back to my bed. What am I waiting for? A miracle? I’m old enough to know that’s just a fantasy from Disney movies I wasn’t even allowed to watch as a child.

Kat slides a piece of pie across the kitchen counter to me. It’s pecan, doused in whipped cream. My stomach grumbles with hunger, but I can’t eat. I don’t want to.

“Come on. You only had toast yesterday.” Pulling her long blonde hair into a ponytail, Kat nods toward the plate, trying to tempt me. She’s sweet and beyond patient. It is a small slice. Only a few bites. But I can’t do it. I don’t even care. Food means nothing right now. I’m just tired. I want to sleep. The tears have dried up. I’m numb, everywhere. More than anything, I want to be alone so I can suffer by myself, without the pitying looks and the constant check-ins that force me to smile so they feel better, even when I sure as hell don’t.

I don’t even want to text Dee, whose concern has grown out of control. So much so, she texts at least five times a day. That’s a lot for her. Far too much.

Tarek, Kali’s and Dark’s oldest son, who might as well be a younger, copy-and-paste version of his father, joins us, glances at my slice of pie, claims the fork Kat set beside my plate, and eats my treat in one giant mouthful.

Kat’s jaw just about comes unhinged as she glares at him and his audacity. Not to mention his cocky grin that he flashes her, then me, with his cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk.

On the inside, it makes me grin, even if my lips don’t work.

Tarek eyes me, swallows, and sets the fork on top of the plate. “Now you don’t need to feel guilty.” He winks in a way that confuses my insides, because it feels like a move from Dark, even if it’s coming from his kid. When he’s done, Tarek claims the plate, sets it in the sink, and rinses it.

Kat shakes her head and pats me on the shoulder as she goes about her business elsewhere, leaving Tarek and me alone. Not that we’re ever truly alone in this cabin. There’s no place to hide.