But who—
Leo spun away from Skye, trying to hide his pained face from her as he whispered, “Was it my dad?”
“I don’t know, Leo—”
“We’re coming,” Leo cut in, shutting his eyes as he struggled to breathe calmly. “We’re coming now, Shane. Have our flights ready in the next hour.”
“Okay—”
“And tell me what else you learn.”
“I will.”
He hung up and braced his hands on the wall, gulping in air as Skye shook behind him, too afraid to ask. She came up to him, but he twisted his head away, determined she didn’t see him hurting. His body quaked and his teeth chattered as he struggled to tell her.
Goddammit, Hunter.
Despite it all—fucking hell, despite the rift and bumps in their relationship, Leo was certain he could not draw breath in this world if Hunter was not in it.
“What’s going on?” she demanded, raggedly. “Leo…”
“We’re leaving,” Leo said as he swallowed the agony and erected those fucking walls with such expertise, it should have startled him, but it didn’t. Not after all those visits at the Dungeon. His face fell flat as he turned around to face her. “Get packed.”
But she stood there, resolute. “I need to know if Hunter is okay. You said his name—Leo, tell me what’s going on!”
He stared at her for several moments, trying to find a way to delicately word this, but it wasn’t possible.
And she needed to hear the ugly truth.
“He’s fighting for his life at the hospital, Skye,” he said calmly. “He’s been stabbed, and Kayla’s dead.”
Skye looked weak all of a sudden. He stepped to her just in time to catch her naked body collapsing. His arms wrapped around her, cradling her to him. She shook as she looked up at him, demanding his eyes. He looked down at her, afraid he might come undone at the tears in her eyes—
But Skye wasn’t crying.
She was breathing hard, her face was pale, but the tears were absent. “No,” she whispered to him. “No, Leo, please.”
He swallowed hard. “Shane will let us know—”
“I need to call Roy—”
“Roy is the one who discovered them.”
“Kayla is dead?”
Leo swallowed hard, pushing out a guttural, “Yeah.”
Her hand flew to her mouth as she shook her head. “No.”
“Yeah, Skye.”
“Not Kayla.”
He shut his eyes again to contain his emotions. “We’re going back.”
“Not Kayla, Leo…Not Hunt…”
“Shh, Skye.”
Skye trembled in shock, no longer speaking. He had to place her weak body in bed and call for a maid to pack for them. He threw on a suit and helped Skye into a loose shirt and pants. By then, her face had broken, and she looked distraught, barely able to speak. She was falling apart, hardly able to move without direction. “Skye,” he had said to her in a firm tone, “keep it together, pup.”
It was on their way to the airport that she broke the silence, whispering, “Who did this, Leo?”
Leo’s face tightened as he gripped the steering wheel in a tight fist, shaking his head. “I don’t know yet, but I will. I’ll find out, Skye.”
“You promise?”
A series of emotions crashed through him so fast, he couldn’t catch up. By the end, there was blackness in his vision and a rage he couldn’t calm. “I promise.”
He would find out who did this, and he would destroy them.