Forbidden Law (An Alien Love #1)

Chapter Twenty Five

Jace's POV

I returned to the hospital at six a.m., ready to spend the last time here with Skyler. Guilt bit at my insides at what I had kept from her and what she had gone through. With Rowan. My fists balled, and an elderly man in a wheelchair glanced at me. I smiled and continued to the elevators. I needed to hide my emotions better. Especially if the matter was to continue to invade my thoughts.

The humans smelled of sickness and age, chemicals wafting off their skin from perfumes and medicines. I could smell the damage these medicines wreaked, like rotting apples. I did not understand why they would do this to their own kind, or to themselves for that matter, but my reasoning deducted that they were frail creatures; of course they would do a trade off of health. Even if they were not trading sickness with health, but more the idea of it.

Choose no pain and a faster speed to death, or revel in this pain and live longer?

I shook my head and pressed the sixth floor button. A middle aged woman came in before the doors closed, promptly setting herself right next to me. She smelled of wax and fake sugar. I scooted away by bending to tie my shoe. She smiled down at me with raised brows, a manicured hand going to her neckline casually. It dipped to reveal black lace. With jittery movements, I willed the elevator faster, but by the time I reached my floor, a bead of sweat had dribbled down my spine from the strain of containing my nerves. The woman said a soft goodbye as I cringed out, fresh air soaking my clogged pores.

Immediately, I sensed panic. The humans' auras were wild with suspicion and worry, running to and fro with a small bunch of police. The pit of my stomach fell to the floor. I scanned around for any sign of Skyler's parents, but it was only the start of visiting hours. I did not see them.

"Excuse me," a nurse said, brushing past with with a small smile.

"What is going on?" I asked her before she could get away. "I am here to see Skyler Dayze. May I have a pass?"

She stopped, the clipboard hanging in a hand at her side. The smile quickly disappeared. "She's gone."

"What do you mean?"

She back tracked and drew me to the side so that we were out of the way. "She's missing. I can't say much more than that."

"When did this happen?" I stood up straight, drawing out my full height. She blanched and took a step back. Her aura snapped to green: anxiety. I stooped low so that we were at eye level, letting my eyes dilate. Intimidation would not work, nor was it right. Her eyes latched onto mine, and I purred,"Tell me. Show me. When did this happen?"

With a blank face, she nodded and took my arm. "A couple of hours ago, in the middle of the night." We went towards Skyler's room, which was half full of police and hospital staff. None paid us any attention. I glanced around; the bed was in disarray, and glass shards were scattered across the floor. The puddle of water had made its way to the window, reflecting morning beams of light to bounce off of the walls. Her broken cell phone lay in the corner.

I shut down the panic that threatened to take me over, lest I knew I would never find her. My training kicked in like a comforting wave of assurance.

But then I spotted blood.

It was a smear in the pillow, blending with shadows, and it led a small trail to the door where we stood. It was red, but my sharp sense picked out the little brown flecks of otherness. I sniffed. It was not Skyler's, but Sharve. After the relief, a ripple of fury rolled out of me, sending lights flickering and air flowing out of the room. The police and nurses looked around with confusion, but soon lost interest when it died down. This means she had fought. Only a brief flick of satisfaction distracted me before I turned to leave.