Until Darkness Comes (27 page)

***

Liam ran back down the beach and dove into the water. He swam toward the kayak, floating aimlessly in the middle of the lake. He quickly reached it and tipped it to the side. Nate lay supine in the floor of the shallow boat.

“Nate,” Liam called, grabbing his leg and giving it a shake. “Nate!” he said again, a little more loudly.
Nate groaned softly and Liam sighed in relief. He was still alive. Liam grabbed the tie on the end of the kayak and pulled it to shore. He dug the keys out of Nate’s pocket and carried him over to the Escape. Nate stirred when Liam laid him in the back seat, but he didn’t regain consciousness.
When he ran back to the Camaro, Olivia was awake, but struggling to keep her eyes open. Liam scooped her up and carried her over to the Escape. He set her on the passenger seat and climbed into the driver’s side. Liam started the engine and was backing out of the landing before he’d completely gotten the door closed.
“Nate,” Olivia asked. “Is he…?”
“He’s alive, but we need to get him to a hospital. You should probably get looked at too.”
“I don’t understand what happened. Nate’s a great swimmer.”
“Max happened,” he said tightly. “And I’m going to put an end to it, once and for all,” he growled.

They pulled into the emergency entrance and the Escape’s tires squealed to a stop. “Can you walk?”
“I think so,” she said, climbing out of the car, testing the sturdiness of her legs as she held onto the hood.
Liam pulled Nate out of the car and threw him over his left shoulder as if he weighed nothing at all. He rushed around the front of the car and slipped his arm around Olivia’s waist. She leaned heavily into his side. They walked in the emergency department lobby and immediately heard “Code 1, ER lobby. Code 1, ER lobby” paged overhead. Medical staff burst through the doors, pushing a gurney, and they stopped in front of Liam.
“What happened?” the physician demanded as he lay Nate on the bed. The staff placed Nate in a c-collar and log-rolled him onto a backboard.
“Near-drowning. I pulled him out of the water at Byers Lake. I don’t know what happened before that.”
The physician nodded curtly and the staff wheeled Nate away through the double doors.
“He’s got to be all right,” Olivia cried.
“They’re doing everything they can,” he reassured her, hugging her a little more tightly against his side. He prayed for Nate’s healing and wondered where their guardians were. Their absence was an ominous sign, and he got the feeling that once again, he’d severely underestimated Max.
“Let’s get you signed in,” he said, guiding her over to the triage nurse.
“I’m fine,” she protested. “They need to take care of Nate.”
“They are,” he reassured her. “But you need to be seen too. I thought I’d lost you,” he said, kissing her forehead.
Liam paced restlessly, going between Nate’s and Olivia’s rooms. He fumed at how close Max had come to killing them both. Rage, unlike anything he’d ever felt before, burned deep inside him. With everything that happened, he refused to allow himself to think about the implications of walking out on the High Court today. He’d deal with Max first, and then he’d sort out the rest.
“May I use your phone?” he asked one of the nurses at the desk.
“Certainly,” she said, handing him the receiver and pressing 9 for an outside line.
“Thank you.”
Fifteen minutes later, Ashley and Balen burst through the emergency department doors. “I’m looking for Nate Thelan and Olivia Norton.” He could hear the anxiety in Ashley’s voice all the way down the hall.
“Mr. Thelan is unable to accept visitors at this time, but I will take you to Ms. Norton’s room.”
“Can you tell me anything about Nate?”
“I’m sorry, we don’t know a lot at this time. They’re still in there with him. We’ve been unable to contact his family. Do you know how we might reach them?”
He watched from Olivia’s room as Ashley stopped at the desk to give the nurse Nate’s home number. Balen waited at her side, his face a mask of grim. He looked down at Olivia lying in the bed, eyes closed. He sat beside her, absently running his fingers through her long black hair. IV tubes and wires hung from her as the soft steady beep of the machine tracked her heartbeat. It killed him to see her like this. His heart nearly stopped when he let himself think about how close he’d almost come to losing her.
Ashley gasped when she walked in, and he looked up to meet her fear-stricken face. “What happened to her? Do her parents know she’s here?” Ashley whispered, walking up beside her. Balen stood closely behind her and shot him a concerned look.
“I called her parents when I called Balen,” he whispered. “They should be here any minute. She nearly drowned in the lake this afternoon.”
“Nate and Liv were going kayaking. I don’t get it, what went wrong?”
“I think Max was waiting for them.”
She gasped. “This has gone too far. We’ve got to call the police!”
“No!” Liam snapped, looking up at her. “No police. I’m going to take care of Max myself.”
“But he’s dangerous,” Ashley protested.
“
I’m
dangerous,” Liam interrupted. “I don’t want the police getting involved with what I’m going to do.”
Balen frowned. “Take it easy. Hey, are you okay? There’s something different about you.”
“No, I’m not okay,” he whispered harshly. “I just pulled the woman I love out of a lake and held her lifeless body in my arms as I fought to breathe life back into her. And then I got the pleasure of dragging one of her best friends out of the lake, who very well may not make it. I’m anything but okay.”
“You’re losing it,” Balen said, leveling him with a knowing glare. “You’re not going to do her any good like this. Pull yourself together before she wakes up,” he instructed, nodding his head toward Olivia.
Liam struggled to heel his temper. Balen was right, his control was slipping. He turned back to face Olivia and felt some of his anger ebb. He gently slid the back of his fingers down her cheek. She stirred, but didn’t waken. “He’ll not get the chance to hurt her again,” Liam vowed. This time his voice held a touch more control.
They all looked up as the door cracked open, and Olivia’s parents stood in the doorway staring at them, panic-stricken. Liam stood up from the bed, making room for them to sit beside her. The movement woke her and she slowly opened her eyes.
“Hey,” she croaked, her voice still scratchy. “How’s Nate?”
She struggled to sit up and Liam was instantly at her side, gently pushing her back down into the bed. “Just lay here and rest,” he instructed softly. “We’re still waiting to hear. They’ll let us know as soon as they can.” He leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead. Olivia smiled and drifted back to sleep.
“Can I have a word with you outside?” Balen asked.
Liam looked reluctant to leave Olivia’s side, but nodded his consent after a brief moment. “Excuse us,” he said to Olivia’s parents as he squeezed past them.
“You sure this was Max?” Balen asked once they stood outside of the emergency department entrance.
“Positive.”
Balen frowned. “Max has been giving Ashley a hard time. He’s completely obsessed with her. I think Nate’s just the poor sucker that got in his way.”
“Max is as good as dead.”
“What happened at court?” Balen asked.
“I don’t know…”
“What do you mean you ‘don’t know’?” Balen snapped harshly.
“I left.”
“You what? You don’t
leave
court!”
“I did,” Liam said flatly, the undertone in his voice dared Balen to challenge him again.
“Help me understand,” Balen pleaded. “Why would you possibly do that?”
“Because Olivia was drowning and they wouldn’t allow me leave. They said to leave is an admission of guilt. If I left, I’d become like the fallen.”
“No…” Balen gasped in horror. “And you still left!”
“Of course I did! I wasn’t about to let her die! You would have done the same thing. You just haven’t admitted it to yourself yet. I see the way you look at Ashley. You’re like her freaking knight in shining armor! So don’t look at me like that, Balen.” Liam was angry and defensive, already grieving the loss of his wings brought on by an impossible choice.
“So what now?” Balen asked.
“I’m going to kill Max,” he said simply. “At least there’s one good thing that can come of this.”
“What’s that?”
“The bastard can’t hide from me now. I’ll go in through the gates of hell and drag that son of bitch out if I have to.”
Balen gasped and took a step back, looking at Liam like he’d suddenly grown two heads. “Your eyes!” he exclaimed. “They’re dark, bro, like…theirs!”
Liam could feel it. He ran his fingers through his hair and spun abruptly, driving his fist into the brick wall of the hospital. Mortar crumbled, falling to the ground.
“I doubt vandalism is going to help the situation,” Balen said dryly. “Having trouble controlling your temper now?”
“Seems so,” Liam bit out.
“Look, maybe it’s not too late. Maybe I could go to the court, petition for mercy,” Balen suggested.
Liam shook his head. “Even if they took me back, they’d never let me stay with her. I don’t think I can leave her.”
“All right, let’s deal with Max right now, and we’ll figure the rest out later.” Balen draped his arm around Liam’s shoulders as they walked back into the hospital. “Do you think they’ll keep her overnight?”
“No, they said they’d release her later tonight as long as her vitals stayed strong.”
They walked back into Olivia’s room. He squatted down beside her and brushed his thumb gently across her cheek. He glanced up to see Kim and Roger staring down at him.
“Olivia said you saved her life,” Kim whispered. “I can never thank you enough for saving my little girl.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” he replied graciously. Truth be told, he felt an overwhelming sense of guilt that she’d come so close to dying in the first place. “I love your daughter very much,” he whispered.
Nearly an hour passed in silence before anyone spoke again. “It’s been over an hour,” Ashley complained. “Why aren’t they telling us anything about Nate?”
“I’ll go check again,” Balen offered. Ashley stood up and followed him out, being careful not to disturb Olivia. As Liam watched them leave, he questioned his wisdom in putting his best friend in the same situation he’d made such a mess of. At least Balen had followed his advice and kept his distance from her.
Olivia stirred. “Liam?”
He reached over and took her hand. “I’m right here, sweetheart,” he crooned softly, brushing her hair back from her face.
“That’s good,” she mumbled sleepily. “I had the worst dream. I dreamt you left, and you never came back. There was no way I could find you. You were just, gone…It was like you never existed.” A tear slid from the corner of her eye, and he brushed it away with his thumb, replacing the trail the tear made with a soft kiss.
“You know I’ve always been here, and that will never change,” he whispered against her cheek.
“I want to go home…”
“Soon,” he reassured her.
“We’ll go check with the nurse about getting Liv released,” Roger offered, leaving the room with Kim.
Liam appreciated the few minutes of privacy. Once they were alone, he lowered his lips to brush them softly against Olivia’s mouth. She immediately parted them and returned his kiss. “I missed you so much,” she whispered as he kissed the corner of her jaw.
“I’m sorry I left you. It wasn’t easy for me to be away.”
“How did it go with court? What happened?”
He didn’t answer her right away. “I’m not ready to talk about it yet,” he replied evasively.
“Liam…” she prompted. “Something bad happened, didn’t it?”
“We’ll talk soon, I promise.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead again.
“Thank you for saving my life,” she whispered.
“Don’t mention it. It’s not like it was the first time,” he teased, smiling down at her. “It
was
the closest I ever came to failing you, though, and for that, I’m so sorry.”
“You could never fail me, Liam. You act like this is your fault or something.”
“It’s
my
fault for leaving you, for letting Max get that close to you.”
“You had to go.”
“Yeah, well, the result was the same. At least if I’d never left, neither you nor Nate would be lying in a hospital bed right now.” Bitterness filled him until he thought he might explode.
“It went that bad, huh?”
He saw the concern etched on her brows and he loved her all the more for it.
“Nate’s going to be okay!” Ashley shouted, bursting into Olivia’s room. “They said he’s not well enough for visitors yet, but he’s going to make it!”
Olivia smiled with relief and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. She mouthed the words “thank you” again before turning her attention to the nurse who followed Ashley in. “So I hear you’re ready to go?” the nurse asked.
“I’m ready,” Olivia said, sitting up in her bed, proving to everyone watching her that she could.
Satisfied, the nurse began unhooking her from the IVs and the wires that connected her to the monitor.
Liam turned to Olivia. “Balen’s going to run me back to the lake so I can get my car. I’ll see you back at the house, all right?” He bent down to kiss the top of her head.
“All right.” She looked reluctant to see him go.
Night had fallen by the time they left the hospital. Balen and Liam rode in silence. The darkness of the night surrounded them as the moon failed to make an appearance, leaving a feeling of uneasiness in the air.
"Turn left here," Liam instructed.
Balen looked over at him with a puzzled frown. They weren't anywhere near the turnoff to Byers Lake, but being the good friend that he was, he wordlessly obeyed, turning down a side street that brought them into a small cul-desac.
"Stop here," Liam said, pointing to a brown house on the left.
Balen pulled the Mustang over and stopped the car in the street. Liam hopped out. "I'll be back in a minute," he mumbled, slamming the passenger door before marching up the driveway.
Balen’s eyes were on his back as he walked up to the front door. Without breaking stride, he drove the heel of his boot into the door, breaking it open with a loud crack. He stormed inside like he owned the place.
"Shit!" Balen cursed, flying out of the car.
He stormed into the kitchen, following the stench of sulfur. Cale was sitting at the table with a cigarette in one hand and beer in the other. "Where is he?" Liam growled. He heard Balen’s footsteps as he walked up behind him and wondered if he’d try to interfere. Cale set his beer on the table and leaned back in his chair, balancing on the two rear legs, glaring at him with a pretentious gleam in his eye.
"He's not here." Cale took a long slow drag off his cigarette and defiantly blew the smoke in his face.
He glared at the demon, and saw a brief moment of fear cross Cale’s face. He shifted uneasily in his chair. "I can see that, asshole. Where is he?" Liam demanded, taking another step toward him.
“Don’t know…”
“Liar.” His foot shot forward and swept the back legs out from under Cale’s chair. He fell to the ground as the chair was tossed into the air. Liam reached out and caught it, bringing it down across Cale’s chest. He sat down, straddling the chair, arms casually folded across the high back, his chin resting on his arms as he looked down at Cale, lying on the floor beneath him. He rocked forward, pressing the steel bar against Cale’s throat.
“Now, let’s try this again. Where Is Max?” He let the chair back down on all fours, giving him a second to take a breath he better damn well be using to answer the question with. Fear clouded Cale’s eyes and he looked over at Balen for help, as if he were the reasonable one of the two, as if Balen could stop him. He reached down and backhanded Cale across the face. “Don’t look at him! He’s not going to save you.” He grabbed Cale’s face and snapped his head back toward him. “You look at me! Answer my question and you may just walk out of here in one piece. There’s going to be hell to pay for what happened today. And I’m collecting. You don’t necessarily strike me as someone willing to pay someone else’s debt.”