Page 177 of Lessons In Grey

The last time we had heard anything from them had been 11 days ago.

Dead silence.

Nothing but silence.

Jeremy called.

Matthew called.

I called, and there was nothing. Nothing at all. From anyone. Not even Jack had information to give, there wasnothing.

I hadn’t slept in six days, I couldn’t eat. Jeremy wasn’t even pushing me this time because he hadn’t slept either.

“Anything?”

Jeremy shook his head. “Nothing.” He was sitting on the couch, refreshing his texts over and over again while on the phone with Jack.

I couldn’t keep doing this. Why had nobody heard anything from him? “Jack!” I called. “Jack, please.”

“I’m sorry, Emily, still nothing.”

No GPS. Their phones were off, their vehicles shut down. There was nothing to track. Nothing to listen to, nothing to read. There was nothing.

I ripped my hands back through my hair, the tears a permanent stain on my face. “I can’t lose him,” I panted, pacing back and forth behind the couch. “I can’t lose him. I can’t lose him.” Not again. I couldn’t do this again. I couldn’t go through this again.

Jeremy pushed himself off the couch. “Emily, they’re alive.”

“You don’t know that.” There was no difference between drunk drivers and bullets. It all ended the same. Death. Unmarked graves. He had died alone. He had died alone, and I didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye. Why was I never allowed to say goodbye?

“I do know that,” he replied, walking around the couch. “I know that.”

“How?”

“Because he’s Greyson, and I’ve known him for years, and I know that he would never put himself in a situation to die before seeing you again. I know because it doesn’t end like this. His life doesn’t end like this.”

I inhaled a shuddering breath as he forced me to come to a stop in front of him. “Please, please, please,” I said on a cracked sob. “Please do something, please. Somebody has to do something. Why does nobody ever do anything?”

He grabbed my arms. “There’s nothing I can do, Em. All we can do is wait.”

“I already did my waiting, and the police came to the door, and mom and Charlie were dead, and that was the end of it. Wait for what? A phone call? Another man in a fucking suit telling me that somebody I love is dead? I can’t wait, Jeremy. I can’t do it. Please.”

He pulled me into his arms, hugging me fiercely, and I curled into him, gripping into his shirt as his own tears warmed my shoulder. “Okay, Em,” he mumbled, his own voice thick. “Okay.”

It wasn’t just my other half, it was Jeremy’s best friend, Jack’s brother. Why wasn’t Malachi reaching out? Why was everyone in the fucking dark? He couldn’t die.

He couldn’t be dead. I refused to believe it. He couldn’t be dead.

The elevator turned on.

I jerked back, Jeremy and I locking wide eyes.

Jeremy placed a finger to his mouth and pulled out his gun, Matthew already creeping towards the gate with his own gun.

My heart slammed as I took several steps back, looking between the two, fear pounding through me.

“What’s going on?” Jack asked as Jeremy handed me the phone.

“Someone is at the door,” I whispered, Jeremy and Matthew exchanging a glance, their guns lifting as a silent conversation whispered silently between them.