Page 114 of Crash

Blake remained surprisingly calm throughout the inquisition, respecting my need to handle this conversation without his doctor mode kicking in. He only spoke up when Ryker fired medical questions his way, otherwise staying quiet, a silent pillar of support while I peeled back the layers of this mess for my brother.

That was, until we were almost done.

“There’s one more thing,” Blake said, his voice careful.

My stomach dropped. “Blake, don’t.”

His eyes met mine, full of apology and determination. “He deserves to know.”

“Know what?” Ryker’s pacing stopped dead.

“There’s nothing to know,” I cut in quickly. “It’s just a theory, and Blake’s the only one who believes it.”

“Actually, I’m not,” Blake said. “Another medical professional brought it to my attention first.”

“Why are you telling him this?” The words came out sharp. “Are you trying to wind him up?”

“Wasn’t that the point of this conversation? Getting your brother up to speed on everything?”

Betrayal burned through me, my hands clenching into fists. The rational part of my brain knew Blake meant well, but right now, that part was being steamrolled by the urge to throw something at his stupidly handsome head.

“Somebody had better tell me what the hell is going on right now.” Ryker’s voice had dropped to that dangerous octave that usually preceded someone getting their face rearranged.

“It’s just a slim possibility,” Blake hedged, choosing his words carefully. “But in covering all our bases, we’re currently testing for toxins in her blood.”

The kitchen went dead silent. I could practically hear the gears turning in my brother’s head as he processed that bomb.

“Are you saying that someone might be intentionally hurting my sister?”

“It’s possible,” Blake answered. “It’s also possible a toxin could have come from another source. We’ll know more once we have the results.”

“And how long will that take?” Ryker’s words came out harsh.

“We stopped at the lab before coming here. I put a rush on it. We should have results by end of day.”

“So, by tonight, we’ll know if someone’s intentionally hurting her?”

The tone alone came off like a death warning.

The way Blake’s jaw tightened sent a chill over my skin.

When he spoke, his voice was pure ice. “We will. And if it comes back positive …” He didn’t finish the threat, but his eyes said everything.

I’d seen that look before, in the ER when he was fighting to save me. It was the look that said he’d move heaven and earth to fix this.

What scared me most wasn’t the possibility that someone might be poisoning me. What scared me was the knowledge that if those tests came back positive, I’d have two men—a brother who’d do anything to protect me and a doctor with a dangerous, dark side, who knew exactly which nerve endings caused the most pain—hunting down whoever was responsible.

And now, based on the way Jace was quietly locking eyes with the boys, I feared there could be a third hunter in the pack. One with virtually unlimited resources and connections.

And God help anyone who got in their way.

57

BLAKE

SINNERS & SAINTS GROUP CHAT

Axel: Why does Ryker look like he got in a fight with a doorknob and lost? *fist emoji*