Page 79 of Kane

My father’s.

My entire body tenses and the air escapes my lungs.

And I know she knows, too.

“Kane…” she breathes, the light hitting the floor like a pin drop.

I reach out without thinking, needing to touch her. To know she’s real and I’m not hallucinating.

Her cheek is soft, but cold. Her green eyes fill with fear as some dark hair falls in her face.

She looks just like her mother. Just like I remember.

“Tori…” I breathe her name, unsure if it’s a thought or words.

And then the pain hits me harder than a brick and the world goes black.

Chapter Nineteen

Ryder

I sit in the waiting room next to Claire. Tori sits beside her.

It’s nearly four am and we haven’t heard a thing since we brought Kane to the ER. I feel like I’m going to throw up.

Is this somehow my fault? What happened?

I have so many questions, but the only thing I manage to say is, “how the fuck do you know Kane?”

Tori glances at me with her dead-eyed stare.

“It’s… complicated,” she says cryptically.

“Complicated?” I snap. “My boyfriend is in the ER, and you want to talk about complicated?”

Claire appraises me with a knowing gaze.

“Boyfriend, huh? That’s an upgrade. Date must have went well.”

I glare at her. “Are you serious right now? He’s in the emergency room!”

Tori sighs.

“Tori, if you know something, now is not the time to hold out.”

Claire reaches for my hand.

But before Tori can say anything, the doctor comes out, and I think I stop breathing.

“Is he—”

“Mister Carson is fine,” the doctor says.

“Carson?” Claire asks, looking between Tori and I.

“Your boyfriend’s name is Kane Carson?”

“I don’t know…” I say. “I never asked his last name.”