Page 143 of Perfect Rhythm

I continued reading, trying to understand what happened, and trying to see if he was okay. But he was far from okay.

He was dead.

According to the article, his body had been thrown several feet away from the car and was torn apart on impact.

“Oh my God,” I gasped, showing the picture to Shade. “Have you seen this? They're saying Eli was driving while drunk and lost control of the car. He’s dead.”

Shade glanced at the screen, smirked, and casually looked back down at his phone.

I blinked, my stomach tightening at his reaction.

Granted, I knew he didn’t like Eli, but I never expected him to lookpleasedby his death.

“Shade?” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

He didn’t look my way.

Leaning forward, he planted a soft kiss on my cheek. “Nyx, I’ll never have sympathy for a nigga that ran my sister over and left her for dead.”

My mouth fell open. “Hold on...what?”

“You heard what I said.”

“I...I did. But?—”

“Yeah, it was him,” he muttered. “And that’s all I’m going to say about it.”

I paused, my mind drifting back to the hospital and the way Ocean stopped talking when he noticed me outside with Shade.

It wasn’t just because he didn’t want me to overhear their conversation. It was because it was about Eli.

I slammed my hand against my mouth, reality settling in. “Shade, did you and Ocean?—”

Shade’s phone lit up, and he answered before I could stop him. “What’s up, O?”

“Yo, is Nyx with you?”

“Yeah, she’s right here. You’re on speaker.”

Shade angled the phone toward me.

“Hey,” Ocean said quickly. “Have you talked to Skye?”

“I did earlier. Why?”

“Because she’s not at the crib, and her fucking door is wide open.”

“What?” I hopped out of Shade’s lap. “Are you sure she’s not there?”

“I’m fucking positive,” he said. “But all her shit is still here. Her purse. Her phone. Her keys.”

A chill rushed through me as I met Shade’s eyes, voice cracking. “Call the police. Call them right fucking now!”

To be continued...