Chapter 15

Chapter 15

RILEY

“Riley … Riley … Wake up, Riley,”a soft voice singsongs in my ear.

My eyes slowly slide open, vision clearing on an amused Grace looking down on me. “Am I dreaming again? Never mind, don’t answer that. I know I am, because you’re dead.” I close my eyes, rolling to my side, and cover my head with my pillow. “Go away, Grace, I need sleep.”

“You ruin all my fun, you know that?” she scoffs at me, pulling the pillow away.

“Hey.” I grab blindly for the pillow, catching nothing but air as Grace chuckles. Flopping on my back, I glare daggers at her pleased expression.

“And to answer your question—for the hundredth time—yes, sort of. We’re in your dream, but I am here. I am real.”

“So where have you been?” I ask her.

“This is the only way I can reach you. When you’re drug free and asleep. Unfortunately, that’s far and few between these days, so I can’t come to you as often as I’d like.” She brings the pillow to her lap, hugging it to her body as she holds my gaze.

“Well, if the guys have their way, I’ll be drug and alcohol free permanently.”

“Ha, if the guys have their way with you, you won’t be able to walk or talk for a month. They’d have you tied to the bed, gagged, and writhing in ecstasy. Boxed in by all five of those sexy hunks.”

“Someone’s been spending way too much time in fantasy land. I know of one, maybe two, that might want to make me writhe in ecstasy. The rest just want to make me writhe in pain—and no—not the toe-curling pleasant kind, either,” I scoff.

She just giggles and shakes her head at me.

“But that’s not important right now. What’s important is why you are here. You keep telling me this is real—not just my grieving mind playing tricks on me. Explain this to me, Grace. What happened to the whole rest in peace shit?”

“The how is complicated, but the short version goes like this. Like you, I’m not human, but I’m not entirely shifter, either. I’m something else completely. My guys and I are working it out. At this point in time, there’s nothing else to really tell you.”

I inhale and open my mouth to speak, but she holds out her hand, cutting me off before I can unload my questions.

“Before you ask. No, I will not elaborate on the my guys part. And no, there is nothing you can do to help. Besides, you have enough work to do. Which leads us to the why I am here.”

I close my mouth and sink into the mattress, settling in for the lecture I can hear in her lowered tone and see in the series of lines in her stern expression.

“I’m here because I’m terrified for you, Riley. You’re drunk more often than you’re sober. You’re almost always high on something. Do you even know what you’re putting in your body these days? I don’t want to make it home one day and find your name on a tombstone. I want to be able to hug your neck in person, not mourn you at your grave. I’m here because you need me.”

“Grace—” I sit up, my hackles rising, ready to argue.

“You have a circle of people that want to support you,” she says, cutting me off. “Let them help you through this.” She places her hands on my cheeks, cupping my face like I used to do to her as a kid. “I love you, Riles, but you have got to get your shit together. You’re scaring the fuck out of me. Please … For me.”

The plea in her voice cracks the wall I erected around my heart. Feelings of grief and anger leak through the guard, and I swallow it down. With the most serious expression I can muster, I lighten the mood the only way I know how—humor. “We need a swear jar. Look at what being dead has done to you. My sweet, innocent, baby sister. What a foul mouth you’ve developed. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

A genuine smile splits my face for the first time in months. Her eyes glisten as she smiles in return before wrapping her arms around me and knocking me to the bed in an embrace.

She softly speaks in my ear, “Riley, the next few months are going to be the most painful and hardest of your life. But I want you to promise me something. Promise me you won’t give up. That you’ll fight every second of every day no matter how hopeless it may seem. Promise me you’ll let your mates help you through it and that you’ll reconnect with your wolf so she can help you, too.”

Tears slide down my cheeks. I know if I make this promise I won’t be able to keep it. How do you let someone close enough to see you at your most vulnerable but not close enough to hurt you when they walk away. How do I open up when I’m scared as fuck of getting hurt again?

I wrap my arms around her and hug her tight, wishing with every fiber of my being that she was real. Reluctantly, I let her go with a little push so I can meet her eyes. Real or not, I’ll do this for her.

“I promise you, Grace. I’ll stop the drugs, and I’ll fight like hell not to give up getting through the withdrawal. I can’t promise to let the guys in, and no, I am not calling them my mates. I can’t go there, Grace. I’m sorry.”

She nods in understanding. “You will, don’t sell yourself short. Or them. It’s time for me to go, and time for you to start fighting. Don’t worry … I’ll be back.” The last part is spoken in her worst terminator impression ever, leaving me laughing as she fades into the dark. Still as corny as ever, my baby sister. Gods, I love and fucking miss you so damn much. I will see you again, Gracey, I promise you that.

My mind is set and determination cemented. For her I will do this. For her I’ll live.