Page 128 of Perfect Rhythm

I shook my head, silently begging God—pleading from the deepest, most desperate place in my mind—to let us keep her just a little while longer. I wasn’t supposed to bury my baby sister. That was never the deal. She was meant to bury me.

Finally, my mother returned from the front desk.

“Did they tell you anything?” Xandie asked.

She exhaled sharply, slamming her hand against her hip. “They’re saying she’s still in surgery. But I told them they need to get someone out here and tell me what the hell is going on.”

“Damn it.” I turned away, dragging my hand down the back of my head in frustration.

“So what the hell happened, Shade?” my mother spat. “When I spoke to Jassi yesterday, she said she was going to a listening party. How did that turn into her getting hit by a car?”

I squeezed my eyes shut.

How the hell was I supposed to tell my mother that I had completely lost my shit on Enzo and turned the whole damn club into a war zone? And because of that...because of me...my sister ran out and got hit by a fucking car.

I opened my mouth to speak, but?—

“A lot happened tonight,” Nyx stepped in. “Shade saw that things were getting wild with some of the guys at the party, so he tried to get us out of there before it got too crazy. Unfortunately, we just didn’t get out soon enough. Before we knew it, fights were breaking out, and there were gunshots. When we finally made it out of the building, we found Jassi in the parking lot. She’d already been hit by a car.”

My mother tilted her head. “You must be Nyx?”

I could see the momentary surprise, which melted into a gentle smile. “Yes, I am.”

“I’ve heard so much about you,” my mother said as she pulled her into a hug. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Of course,” Nyx replied.

“Nice to finally meet you,” my father chimed in.

“Hey! Any word?” Ocean said as he bolted into the emergency room. “How’s Jassi?”

“We haven’t heard anything,” I told him. “She’s still in surgery.”

“Do we know who did this shit?”

“Well, hello to you too, son,” my mother said.

“My bad, Mama.” He kissed her on the forehead before looking back at me. “Do we know who hit her?” His voice was less aggressive.

“As of right now, no. Everyone’s saying they didn’t see anything.”

“Bullshit! I know somebody saw something.” Storming off, he pulled out his phone.

“Looking for the Kingston family,” a deep voice spoke from behind us.

“Right here,” my mother said as she rushed over to the man in blue scrubs. He still had his surgical cap on and a faint line from his mask creased his face. “How’s my baby? Is she okay?”

He exhaled slowly and cleared his throat. “The surgery took significantly longer than expected. In addition to multiple injuries, your daughter sustained serious head trauma, and that made things a bit complicated.” He crossed his arms in front of him. “Long story short, the swelling on her brain was so severe we had to put her in a medically induced coma.”

I felt my mother’s body go limp beneath me, and I gripped her tighter to keep her from collapsing. “Oh my God,” she whispered.

Ocean stepped forward, his voice tense. “Are you saying that my sister might not wake up?”

“I wish I could give you a clear answer. All I can say is we’re going to have to let the body do its work, and that might take some time.”

“How long?” my mother asked.

“I’m not sure.” He shrugged. “It could be a couple of days or it could be weeks. We’ll just have to wait and see how things play out.”