Page 184 of Forgotten Prejudice

Annoyed by the way he dismissed the severity of Kai’s violence, I dodged between cars, trying to get to him faster.

“How on earth is this bastard raising his fists to you, again, not the point?” I nearly hissed out my words, my blood pounding in my head, making it hard to concentrate.

“I should have never told you about that part, so just let it go, alright?”

Let it go? Oh, Ashton! How the hell am I supposed to let this shit go when you’ve just told me Kai had raised his fists to you?

It was one thing for him to hit Ashton when they were teens, but they were both adult men in their thirties. Over my dead body would I let it go—

“Soren.” Him saying my name so firmly forced my mind to quiet down and listen. “I think Kai relapsed. Not that it justifies his behavior, but it means he might endanger himself. Yes, he was wrong to act the way he did, but what would it help to get mad at him now if he gets himself killed?”

From what Ashton told me earlier, Kai had been missing since their fight this morning. If you asked me, he was probably drinking his ass off at some bar, but Ashton didn’t care and was determined to track him down.

“It’s not your fault,” I said, pretty sure he was taking the blame for how things went south.

“It doesn’t matter right now. Just get over here quickly, okay?”

“Okay.”

Twenty minutes later, I pulled my car to a stop in front of Kai’s building, where Ashton had told me to meet him. The rain had stopped for a minute, so I quickly got out, slamming the door behind me. Ashton emerged from where he was shielding himself from the rain, his face pale.

“Thank God you’re here,” he said after tossing himself at me. “I’m so fucking worried, Soren.”

Moving my hand to the back of his head, I held him close. His body was freezing—probably from waiting outside. “We’ll find him,” I promised him before letting go.

“Let’s check his apartment,” I said, leading him into the building. When he called me earlier, he said he was too scared to go in there alone because of what he might find. That was why I came so we could do it together.

“When was the last time you were here?”

Taking the keys out of his pocket, he shook his head. “I don’t know, two, three weeks, maybe? We usually hung out at my place.” Realizing I might not like hearing what he just said, he turned to me. “Soren, I’m—”

“Don’t worry about it. Just open the door.”

He nodded, pushed the key in, and turned it before opening the door. The place reeked like Kai hadn’t bothered to open a window in weeks, which wasn’t a good sign. Ashton’s shoulders tensed, so I rubbed his neck before encouraging him to step in. The empty bottles of liquor, along with cans of beer scattered around the place, confirmed Ashton’s suspicion about Kai relapsing, and even though not one bit of me cared for Kai, seeing this still hurt my heart. Yes, I wasn’t a fan of him, and even though in the past I might have said some controversial things regarding his sobriety, seeing that the guy actually had relapsed was sad. He had a job, family, and people who cared about him; he was in a good place, or so we thought.

“Kai,” Ashton called as he began searching around the house.

While he did, I scanned the place myself. I picked up one of the bottles and sniffed it. The strong scent of booze burned my nostrils, and I quickly put it down on the coffee table. I paused when I noticed traces of white powder left on the dark wood next to rolling papers, which were often used for weed.

That’s just… sad.

“What is it? Did you find anything?” Ashton asked from behind me. I quickly turned around, hoping to hide the drugs from him, but he rounded me.

“Oh, shit.” He crouched down next to the table, his face pale. “How could this happen without me noticing?”

That was a big question most people asked themselves after some tragedy occurred. The thing is… we often missed the signs, not realizing they were there until it was too late. But just because you didn’t see something didn’t make you responsible.

Crouching beside Ashton, I placed my hand on his back. “What’s important now is to find Kai, darling, so don’t allow guilt to stop you from it.”

Ashton turned his head until our eyes met. So much sadness coated those pure emeralds he had for eyes, and all I could do was offer him a small smile.

“Okay.”

Holding my breath, I cupped his nape and pulled him close. Kissing his forehead, I held still for a second before pulling away and giving him a small nudge. “Come on, let’s go find him.”

We drove around the city, checking places Kai used to hang around. Yet, no matter how many restaurants and clubs we stopped by, we had no clue where to find him. The rain was only getting worse, and the closer we got to twilight, Ashton’s nerves grew stronger.

We were back in the truck after checking Kai’s gym in case someone there had seen him when the phone rang.