Sleuth

Finally

They had stayed up all night talking. Two nurses and a doctor had attempted to get Kyrrian to leave her newly found mate's hospital room, but to no avail. She was having none of it.

She distinctly remembered the doctor coming in, because Scottlin had just begun the story of his relationship with his father and how abusive it had been when the woman walked in with a stern glare. Kyrrian had unleashed a scowl unlike any before, after which she threatened to barricade the door if someone else barged into the room. The doctor left, with reluctance, and when Kyrrian had turned back to Scottlin Reik, he had been fighting a massive smile.

Now, she sat in the chair again, but she had intentionally dragged it to his bed side. She had her head laying gently on the bed against his leg. His hand lay on top of hers, open, and she had been staring at it for the past hour. Scottlin had fallen asleep hours ago mid sentence, too exhausted from his medicine and wounds to stay up any longer. Kyrrian ran her the finger of her free hand along the top of his hand. Kyrrian was fascinated with the way her skin crackled slightly with each minute contact with his. It was the strangest feeling, as if she had known him for ever. As if she had always known it was him and she was never even tempted by anyone else in the world. Which she knew was false.

Scottlin Reik had lived a tumultuous life. Kyrrian knew Scottlin's father had been a violent, angry man, but the way he had treated his son was abhorrent. Kyrrian had merely been overlooked, which at the time of her youth, had felt like the worst thing in the world. But Scottlin Reik proved that too much attention was just as bad. Darrence Reik had put his son through the same rigorous training that Kaddian had been through, however, when Scottlin failed, he was beaten. Darrence kept him under strict lock and key, claiming Scottlin was too weak, too embarrassing to be let out in public. Scottlin admitted that although some men only become like his father after their mate dies, his father had always been that way, and that his mother died trying to escape the territory, trying to escape him, and was killed by hunters. While he had been telling his story, Kyrrian felt only dread and sadness, and she wanted to touch him, hold him, and comfort him. Kyrrian had never been a physically affectionate person, but this bond that was strengthening between herself and this strange person was causing her to change. Even though he spoke with serenity and peace, a smile on his face, Kyrrian could tell that it had taken him years to overcome what had been done with him. All that hurt had been healed by nothing more than will power and personal positivity. As Kyrrian lay there, clasping his hand in both of hers, she wondered how Kaddian had managed to be around Lauren Hale for five years, knowing what she was to him, feeling all the things Kyrrian was currently feeling, without telling her the truth so he could be with her.

Speaking of Lauren Hale, Kyrrian wondered if her brother had visited her since she had told him about Jarren being the second murderer.

Although the idea pained her, Kyrrian gently disentangled her hand from his and quietly stood up. This was probably for the better anyway as she had heard people shuffling around the hallway outside Scottlin's room for the past twenty minutes, no doubt trying to determine how long they could wait before attempting to come in here. Kyrrian slipped out the door quietly, made eye contact with the nervous nurse, and said "he's all yours". Oddly, that phrase ticked a nerve in her, not liking that she just gave another woman her man.

Her man.

What was wrong with her?

Shaking her head, Kyrrian continued down the hall until she reached Lauren Hale's room, however, she heard soft speaking and laughing from the other side of the door. Excited at first that her brother was the one in the room making Lauren Hale chuckle, Kyrrian listened closer. Upon further inspection, she realized that the second voice was a mature sounding woman, with an accent so horrendously thick, it immediately brought Kyrrian back to the first few conversations she had participated in with Lauren Hale all those years ago. Her accent had faded since then, but you could still hear it occasionally. Kyrrian assumed that the voice was most likely her mother's, and decided to leave them alone. Kyrrian checked her phone and saw that it was eleven o' clock. Not quite lunch time, but Kyrrian decided to go to the cafeteria and try to get food anyways. As she made her way through the hospital, Kyrrian decided to call her brother. Oddly, his phone went straight to voice mail. Never, in all her life, had her brothers phone gone to voice mail.