3. Dante

Chapter 3

Dante

T wo hours after Kage had barely survived surgery, Camille sat beside his hospital bed, her hand gripping his like it was the only thing keeping her tethered to reality. The machines in the room beeped in a maddening rhythm, the sound as relentless as the knot of worry in my chest.

I stayed in the corner, leaning against the sterile white wall, watching her. I should’ve felt useful, heroic even, after pulling Kage out of that car, but instead, I felt like an outsider looking in. Like I didn’t belong in the room with the raw intensity of her loyalty to him.

The crystal in my jacket pocket dug into my palm as I gripped it tighter. It was the same one I’d bought after Camille nearly drowned with Ava, Kage’s sister. She’d once told me she believed in crystals, in their power to bring positive energy, so I’d picked out a handful and brought them to her. What I never told her was that I’d kept some for myself. Not because I believed in magic rocks, but because I believed in her.

And maybe, just maybe, carrying a piece of her belief had worked. We’d been lucky enough to save her before. And tonight? I’d saved her again. And Kage.

At least, I hoped I had.

The doctor’s face earlier hadn’t inspired much confidence, no matter how much they tried to put on a brave front for Camille. I pushed the thought away. There wasn’t a damn thing I could do for Kage right now, but I could do something for her.

We’d been here for hours. She needed to eat.

“I’ll be right back, sweetheart,” I said and though she nodded, she didn’t even look at me. I headed to the cafeteria. When I came back with a sandwich, Camille hadn’t moved. Her posture was rigid, her gaze locked on Kage’s pale face like she could will him to wake up if she just tried hard enough.

“Here.” I unwrapped the sandwich and held it out to her.

She shook her head without looking at me.

“It wasn’t a suggestion, Peaches,” I said, stepping closer and gently placing the sandwich in her hand. “You need to eat. If you collapse, what good will you be to him?”

She stared blankly at the sandwich for a moment, then brought it to her mouth. She took a small bite, then another, chewing mechanically.

“Crusts too,” I said, my tone teasing.

She shot me a glare, irritation flickering through the heavy fog of her grief. “Seriously? What am I, a kid?”

I smiled tightly. “I mean, you aren’t eating your crusts, so you’re kind of acting like one.”

Her lips quirked, the smallest, faintest hint of a smile breaking through. Relief spread through me like sunlight breaking through clouds.

“What?” she asked, her voice soft but with an edge.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen you smile since we got here,” I said.

Her face fell almost instantly, guilt clouding her features. “There’s not much to smile about,” she murmured, glancing back at Kage. Her voice cracked. “I’m so scared, Dante. What if he doesn’t?—”

“Don’t,” I cut her off gently. “Don’t go there. He’s going to be okay.”

“Can you promise me that?” she whispered.

“No,” I said honestly. “But I can promise you’ll handle whatever happens. You’re the strongest person I know.”

Her head snapped up, surprise flashing in her teary gaze. “You really think that?”

“I know it,” I said, meaning every word.

There was a part of me, a dark, selfish part, that envied Kage. To be loved so fiercely, so unconditionally, it was something I'd never known. If something landed me in the hospital, would Camille sit by my bed like this, holding my hand, fear and love etched into her features?

“You really love him, don’t you?” The words stuck in my throat as I forced them out.

“Yes, I love him, but it’s more than that,” Camille confessed. “He’s been through so much. He didn’t deserve this. And his family… God, they just lost Ava…” She looked up at me in alarm. “Has anyone told his parents?”

I nodded. “They were several hours away, but they’re on their way.” I’d called the school, told them what happened, and told them to call Kage’s parents. I could only imagine their panic. I’d counseled Ava, Kage’s sister, several times before she’d been murdered by Silas Prescott, another student.

Camille exhaled shakily, her shoulders sagging. For a moment, the room was silent except for the beeping machines.

“How did you know we were in danger?” she asked suddenly.

I sat down in the chair beside her. “I didn’t. Not exactly. Just had a bad feeling. When I checked the tracker on your phone and saw you were at the overlook too long…”

"Seems to be a habit of yours. Coming to the rescue just in time. At the river, at my old dorm..." Her voice trailed off, and she gave me a sidelong glance. "Maybe your tracker isn't just on my phone, but on me."

Her tone was slightly teasing, indicating her words were intended to lighten the mood, but there was also an edge of suspicion to her words. No surprise there given I had put the tracker on her phone without her knowledge. Then again, I’d told her about it a while ago and she’d chosen to leave the tracker on. The only possible reason was because she felt our connection, too. And in a weird way, she was right about me being able to track not just her phone, but her. There was something between us, some unseen tether that seemed to pull me toward her whenever she was in danger.

“Maybe,” I said lightly, letting the moment hang in the air.

Her voice softened. “Dante, thank you. For saving us. For being here.”

Her gratitude cut deeper than she probably realized. Camille cared for me—I knew that. But she didn’t love me like she loved Kage. That truth was a blade I kept twisting deeper into my chest, even as I couldn’t let her go.

“You don’t have to thank me,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “Just promise me you’ll take care of yourself too.”

“I will,” she said, though the uncertainty in her voice made me doubt it.

She turned back to Kage. “I wish you knew him the way I do. There’s so much good in him.”

“I know there is,” I said. And it was true. Kage might’ve been ruthless and cold, but I’d seen the way he softened around her. The way he fought to protect her.

“ So much good,” she emphasized before wincing slightly. “I mean, I know you saw what he did but…”

"You mean kill Silas?" I said, my voice flat. "He went easy on him, killing him. If it had been me, I'd have drawn it out. I'd have made him suffer for what he did."

Her eyes rounded. Camille shook her head, a small frown creasing her forehead. "That's not you, Dan?—"

“That’s where you’re wrong,” I interrupted her, my words slipping out sharper than I intended.

“Silas killed Ava and tried to kill you. Nothing is more precious to me than you, Camille. I’ll happily kill anyone who threatens you. You don’t know what I’m capable of."

That wasn’t completely true. She’d seen me beat a man at the Devil’s Engine bar when he’d grabbed her. But even though I waited for her to respond, she didn’t. It should have comforted me that she didn’t automatically go there; instead, it made me fear that she was blocking out that side of me.

She wanted to think I was good.

I had good in me but that was mixed with a whole lot of bad, too. If Camille refused to see that, we had no future together, especially given the secrets I was keeping.

“Well, I'm fine, Dante. I pray that thanks to you, Kage will be fine, too. I can’t lose him.”

“You won’t. But I understand your fear. Losing someone you care about is the most painful thing in the world.”

She’d lost enough people to know. Her mom. Ava.

Me? My jaw tensed as the memory of Rhianna flashed through my mind. Her limp body and pale face, her eyes open but vacant…

“Dante?” Camille’s voice pulled me back to reality but the hollowness in my chest remained. She looked at me closely, her brow furrowing in concern. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” I muttered, avoiding her gaze.

“Dante…” she said. “Look at me.”

I did, sighing at her piercing gaze. “I was just thinking about someone.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

I shook my head.

“I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t take no for an answer if I had something bothering me,” she said softly.

She was right. I’d tell her talking would make her feel better and then I would coax it out of her. The difference between us, however, was nothing she could tell me was going to make me feel better. Nothing I did was going to change the past. I could only make sure it never happened again.

“I was just thinking about how much this whole situation sucks,” I finally said. It wasn’t a complete lie. I hated seeing Kage lying in that bed, unresponsive. Part of me hated how I’d do anything to make Camille happy, even if it meant letting her love someone else. Most of all, I hated that she was too good for me. She just didn’t know it yet. One day I’d have to tell her, though, and I knew that day was coming soon.

I stood, walked toward Camille, took her hand, and gently pulled her up until she was standing. I kissed her forehead and hugged her. She snuggled into my embrace, curling her arms around me and leaned her head against my shoulder.

Suddenly, the door to the hospital room swung open. Officer Conroy, the man who’d interviewed us right after Kage killed Silas, stepped in along with another uniformed officer. I kept my arm around Camille’s waist as the late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the sterile white walls, adding a grim tone to the already tense atmosphere.

Conroy's gaze landed first on Kage then on me before moving to Camille. "We need a statement about the events leading up to Mr. O'Hare's admission here," he said, his voice flat.

Camille's grip on my hand tightened.

“We already gave a statement to the officer who came to the scene,” I said. It had taken me leaving Camille with Kage and roaring up and down that mountain road on my bike before I’d gotten a strong enough signal to call 911, but luckily that hadn’t taken more than five minutes.

“Yes, you did. Now I want to hear your statement,” Conroy said calmly.

I glanced at Camille then nodded subtly, encouraging her to speak. She took a deep breath, her voice steady but laced with an undercurrent of anger and fear as she told Conroy exactly what had happened. As she spoke, my muscles tensed at the nightmare she was describing. Once again, I was flooded with fury and the need for vengeance given the real possibility that she and Kage could have died.

"Officer Davis was the one we told you about, the third attacker, only he blamed you for it,” Camille murmured. “And when I sensed he was lying, he shot Kage. He chased us in his patrol car and now his body is at the bottom of the cliff. His gun, too.”

Conroy scribbled notes, his expression unreadable. "And how did you sense he was lying about me being the attacker?”

I gritted my teeth, forcing myself not to interject. I didn’t like people doubting her.

“I just did. And when he turned around, I saw the scratches on the back of his neck. The ones I’d left on my attacker, which I’d also told you about.”

“Did he confess that he was the one who he attacked you?”

“His confession came in the form of him pulling his gun on us,” she shot back, her confidence unwavering. “And I’m sure when you test his gun against the bullet that was in Kage, you’ll feel just as certain as I do that Davis was a criminal.”

“All that means is he shot Kage. It doesn’t prove why.”

The other officer in the room shifted uncomfortably, exchanging a glance with Conroy. Conroy closed his notepad, his jaw set tight. “We'll investigate immediately. If you remember anything else, Camille, contact me." He handed Camille his business card then hesitated. “I’m sorry this happened to you.” His gaze went to Kage. “And I hope Mr. O’Hare recovers.” With that, the two officers left as abruptly as they had entered.

Once the door closed, Camille slumped against me, her body trembling slightly.

“You did good, Peaches,” I murmured, my lips brushing the top of her head, careful to avoid the bandage covering the new stitches at her temple. “It’s over. You’re safe now.”

“It’s not over,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “Not until Kage wakes up. Not until he’s okay.”

I cupped her face in my hands, forcing her to meet my eyes. “He’s going to wake up. He’s too damn stubborn not to. But until he does, I’ll be right here. With you. Always.”

She nodded, leaning into my touch for just a moment before turning back to Kage. I stayed close, watching her, knowing that no matter how strong she was, she’d need me to be her anchor in the storm.

Whatever it took, I wasn’t going anywhere.