Page 13 of Monochrome (ORCA #4)

CHAPTER

THIRTEEN

JULIUS

Red and blue lights flashed on the road as the first police cruiser came into view, and I gave Ethan’s fingers a squeeze.

“Looks like the police are here.”

He made a small sound of understanding but didn’t open his eyes.

I didn’t think that was a great sign, but I’d been trying to keep my panic under control.

The rain had slowed down a bit, and I could make out the road beyond the guardrail we’d crashed through.

Since Eli had put the thought that the accident wasn’t an accident in my head, I couldn’t stop thinking about what that meant.

Before the police cruiser had pulled up, there had been no other cars visible up on the road, which meant the collision had been a hit-and-run.

The more I thought about it, the more I thought the collision couldn’t have been an accident.

The car had been moving too fast for the weather conditions, and it had moved straight toward us at speed, making no attempt to slow down.

There was no way we weren’t being specifically targeted.

But I couldn’t tell Ethan that.

Not until I knew for sure what had happened and why.

And if we had been intentionally run off the road, did that mean the accident that had killed the twins’ parents hadn’t been an accident either?

I couldn’t answer those questions without a shit ton more research, and I couldn’t start that research until we got out of this situation.

“Julius Hunter?” a voice yelled from outside, making me jump.

I looked out the shattered windshield to see the stern face of a middle-aged man.

He was wearing an SPD rain jacket with the hood pulled up, and he held up his badge, though there was no way I could see it from where he was standing on the embankment.

“Yes.”

He moved farther down the embankment.

I’d tried to get the car to turn on after the accident, but I’d gotten no response, so I couldn’t roll down the window.

“I’m Detective Donny McMahon. I know your brother. Are you okay?”

“I got banged around, but I’m okay. Ethan is hurt. He’s got a gash on his head and possibly a concussion. We can’t open the door because of how we landed.” I glanced over at Ethan to see the blood had already stopped flowing, his shifter healing kicking in.

The cut would probably be gone in a few days, less if it was treated, but the effects of a concussion could linger for a little longer.

Plus, regardless of shifter healing, head wounds bled like crazy, and Ethan’s shirt was soaked.

Whoever had done this to him was going to pay.

“Okay. EMS will be here in a few minutes, and we’ll get you out of there. Sit tight.”

“Thank you.”

Detective McMahon walked back up the hill to the road where he spoke to two uniformed officers who had arrived in a second police cruiser.

A few moments later, the sound of a siren cut through the air, and an ambulance pulled to a stop where we’d broken through the guardrail.

Minutes later, a tow truck pulled up, and I watched the police officers speak to the driver as they all came to look at where we were stuck.

The adrenaline from the crash was starting to wear off, and as I took inventory of my body, I realized I hurt everywhere.

My chest throbbed with every breath from where the seat belt had tightened around my body, and my neck was already starting to ache.

I could feel bruises beginning to form along my left side.

But, god, it could have been so, so much worse.

Ethan and I were going to walk away from this.

Sure, we’d be black and blue and sore as hell, but we were alive, and that was almost a miracle.

My phone rang, and I reached out a shaky hand to answer it, immediately putting it on speaker.

“Jules, Eli and I are here. Given the way you landed, getting you out is going to be a little tricky, but we’re working on a plan. Are you doing okay?”

“We’re okay. I hurt like hell, and I’m pretty sure Ethan has a concussion, but we’re okay.” Honestly, without the adrenaline spike, I was starting to feel a little panicky, but telling Nero that wouldn’t make getting us out of there go any faster, so I kept that to myself.

“Good. That’s good.” In the background, someone said something about how lucky we were to be alive and relatively uninjured, and Nero moved away.

“I’m going to stay on the phone with you, all right?”

“Yeah. That’s fine.” My body protested as I leaned forward to look up at the road, and seeing my brother by the broken guardrail looking worried made me realize how bad this all must look.

Tears stung the backs of my eyes, and Ethan, who had been quiet for a long time, reached over to place a trembling hand on my thigh.

His touch grounded me, and the anxious tightness in my chest receded a fraction so I could pull in a shuddery breath.

Nero gave us the play-by-play while the police, EMTs, and tow truck operators figured out the best way to get the car free.

It seemed to take forever, but the tow truck finally backed down the hill.

Two men got out and started rigging up the front wheels of the car.

“They’re going to get you free of the ditch, then they are going to have a boom truck come out and get the car since the rain has made the ground too soft to get up the embankment. As soon as they get you out enough to open the doors, the EMTs are going to come down and take a look at you both.” As Nero spoke, one of the tow truck operators got back into the truck and put it in gear as the other operator hit a button on the back of the truck to tighten the tension on the rigging.

The car lurched forward, the front wheels leveling out, and Ethan’s fingers dug into my thigh.

I lifted his hand and twined his fingers with mine as the tow truck driver hit the gas.

The wheels spun in the wet earth, kicking up mud, and the operator, still outside the truck, yelled something to his partner that I couldn’t hear.

The driver made some sort of adjustment and gunned the engine again.

The wheels spun but found purchase, and the car started to move.

It was slow going, but ten minutes later, we were free enough that the car door could be opened, and the EMS crew was right there waiting, throwing open Ethan’s door and immediately triaging the situation.

Since Ethan was more injured than I was, they got to work on him first. They’d brought a backboard, but after giving him a thorough assessment, they decided they didn’t need it.

“Mr. Lin, Andy and Kate are going to help you get up to the road and take a better look at you up in the ambulance.”

Ethan nodded and took the help offered by two of the EMTs.

Watching him make his way up the hill, heavily supported by the two members of the EMS team, made my heart ache.

It killed me to see Ethan hurt.

He was mine. I was supposed to keep him safe, and somehow on my watch, he’d ended up bleeding.

Logically, I knew the accident wasn’t my fault, that I’d done everything I could, given the circumstances, but I still hated every minute of it.

“Mr. Hunter, my name’s Tom. Can you tell me where the worst of your pain is?”

“Left hip. The other vehicle hit us on the driver’s side.”

“Okay. Let’s take a look.” He carefully assessed my injuries and took my vitals, and by the time he was done, the other EMTs had returned.

Tom helped me out of the car as Kate and Andy wrapped themselves around me, taking most of my weight, and moved us up the hill, Tom following behind.

It hurt like hell to put weight on my left side, but it didn’t feel like anything was broken, and when we were finally on solid asphalt again, I wanted to cry with relief.

“Jules!” Eli, who had been talking to Detective McMahon, ran over and wrapped me in a gentle hug.

“Glad you’re okay, man.”

“Thanks for getting everyone here so fast.”

“Anytime.” A line formed between his brows, and I knew there was something he wasn’t telling me.

“What? What’s wrong? Is Ethan okay?” I looked around trying to find him in the crowd, which had grown to include several additional police and emergency vehicles.

“Yeah. Ethan’s okay. The EMTs have him in the back of the bus.”

“Then why are you making that face?”

“Because this wasn’t an accident.”

“Fuck.”

“I shouldn’t even be telling you this, and we need to debrief with Felix and Marcus ASAP, but this was definitely intentional, and I’m worried about Ethan’s safety.”

“What about the twins? Has anyone spoken to Athina?”

Nero joined us just in time to hear my question.

“Yes, Quin and Dimitri spoke to her and told her what was going on, and Cal and Jack went to get her and the kids. They are all en route to the estate now.”

“But they’re okay? Safe?”

“Yes. When Cal and Jack got there, they were baking banana bread.”

“Good. So what’s the plan?” My gaze swung between Nero and Eli.

My brother crossed his arms. “Since I already know you are going to refuse to go to the hospital, you are at the very least going to let the EMTs take a better look at you. After that, Eli and I will take you back to Ethan’s. I think he should pack up some stuff for himself and the twins and plan to stay with us for a while.”

“Have you already told Ethan about this?” I wasn’t sure how he was going to take the news that he was not only being framed for embezzlement but that his physical safety was also at risk.

I had a feeling breaking that news wasn’t going to go over too well.

“No. We thought you might want to do that.” Nero looked away uncomfortably.

“Chicken.”

“Hey, he’s your mate.” Nero grimaced when he realized what he’d said.

“I’m sorry. Felix told me.”

I narrowed my eyes at Eli.

“Did you know too?”

He cleared his throat.

“It might have come up, though I had my suspicions when you rushed to assure us it wasn’t Ethan. It’s exactly how I would have defended Marcus if we were in the same position.”

“Damn it.”

“I take it you and Ethan haven’t talked about your connection then?” My brother raised a concerned brow.

“Not yet. There’s kind of been a lot going on.”

“Jules—”

I held up a hand, forestalling what I already knew he was going to say.

“Just because you and Felix had this instant connection and decided to talk about it on the first day of knowing each other, doesn’t mean that’s how it works for everyone. Look at Cal and Jack. Cal knew Jack was his mate for years, Nero. Years. I’ve only known Ethan for a few weeks.”

“But—”

I shook my head.

“When all of this”—I gestured wide to encompass everything my family was involved in at the moment, my shoulders aching with the movement—“is over, I promise we’ll talk.”

“Talk about what?” Ethan’s voice behind me made me snap my mouth shut.

I caught Nero’s smirk as I turned to look at my mate.

He had three butterfly bandages over the cut on his head, and his eye was bruised and swollen, but he still took my damn breath away.

“Are you okay?”

“Fine. I’m already healing. They think maybe a mild concussion, but I feel okay.”

“You should go to the hospital and get checked out.”

Ethan set his jaw and shook his head.

“I need to get back to the twins.”

“They are on their way to my family’s house with my brother Cal and his mate, Jack.”

“What? Why?” He looked from Nero to Eli and back again.

“What’s going on?”

Eli took half a step forward.

“Mr. Lin, I’m Detective Eli Mercer with the Seattle Police Department.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out his badge, holding it up so Ethan could see it.

“We have reason to believe the accident you and Julius were involved in this afternoon was not an accident, and we are making provisions to ensure your safety and the safety of your family.”

I watched the color slowly leech out of Ethan’s face until he was ghastly pale in the watery afternoon light, and I reached out and grabbed his hand.

“Eli is also my cousin Marcus’s mate. He’s family.” I gestured to Nero.

“And this is my oldest brother, Nero.”

Eli and Nero both offered their hands for Ethan to shake, and when they were done, he looked at me.

“Is this real?”

“I’m sorry, E. When we’re done here, Nero is going to take us back to your place so you can pack.”

He ran a hand through his hair, wincing as he tugged at his injury.

“Somebody tried to kill me.” The words were a statement, not a question, and I held his hand a little tighter.

“Felix and Marcus are following up on a few leads, and we don’t know anything for sure, but we aren’t taking any chances. I’m not taking any chances with you and the twins.”

“So, we’re just supposed to move in with you indefinitely?”

Nero put a hand on Ethan’s shoulder.

“We’re going to figure this out, Ethan. We’ve got your back.”

Ethan let out a noise that was somewhere between a frustrated growl and a sob, and I knew he was about to lose it.

“Will you come with me to get checked out by the EMS team? I don’t really want to go to the hospital either, but my hip hurts like a sonofabitch.”

It took Ethan a second to respond, but then he nodded, and I led him over to the ambulance where Tom and his team were waiting.

“Are you okay with this?” It felt like I’d used the word okay so many times in the last few hours that it was starting to lose its meaning.

None of this was okay, and I could tell by the way Ethan was shaking that he was definitely not okay.

Ethan stared at me, his expression conveying exactly how not all right he was.

There was a haunted look in his eyes I hated, and I wished I could pull him into my arms and kiss it all away.

“Be honest with me, Julius. Do you really think we need to move in with you?”

I closed my eyes, not wanting to see his face.

“I think someone tried to kill us today, Ethan. I think I don’t want to let you or Jude and Lily out of my sight until we figure out who wants you dead. I think I’m fal—” I barely stopped myself from confessing more than I thought Ethan was ready to hear, and the words I held back felt heavy on my tongue.

“You think you’re what?”

I cleared my throat.

“I think I’m with Eli and Nero on this. My family’s estate is more than big enough for you and the twins to stay with us. You’ll never be alone. We’ll all be able to look out for you.”

“I have a company to run. I can’t just hide out in your house.” He dropped my hand and paced a few steps away.

“And you don’t think whoever is coming for me will find me at your place?” He ran his hand through his hair again.

“We weren’t even in my car today, Julius. They knew I was with you. You don’t think they’ll put two and two together?”

Ethan was coming unglued, and when he tried to step away again, I grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into me, holding him as tight as I could with our injuries.

“There is safety in numbers, Ethan. All my brothers and their mates live at the estate. My cousins are always around. My brother Cal and his mate, Jack, are former military and special ops. The estate has top-of-the-line security, and there is no way anyone can get close without us knowing about it. Felix has all the security feeds relaying directly to his phone and SPD. We can keep you safe.” I pressed a gentle, featherlight kiss to the bruising just below his eye.

“Let me keep you safe. Please.”

He melted into my touch and sighed.

“Fine.”

“Good.” And for the second time that day, I made a promise I wasn’t sure I could keep.

“Everything is going to be all right. I promise.”