Reckless Radiance by Kate Roth Read Free Book Online Page B

now one of them was standing above her telling her everything was okay. He was breathing, speaking and staring at her.
    Choking out a final cry, her hands rose to smear the warm tears from her eyes. She lifted her head and planted her gaze on Russell.
    “How?” she asked.
    He shook his head slowly. “It is…complicated.”
    With his sweet voice in her ears, her chin began to tremble and though she thought she didn’t have enough tears left, she let go of another sob. This time Russell dropped to his knees beside her, his closeness comforting and frightening her all at once.  
    “I’m so sorry you had to see that.”
    She shivered as she stared into his enlivened face. Valerie remembered the first time she watched Gabriel have a seizure. It was a trauma she’d never experienced and sitting in his hospital room later, he’d said the same words. Sorry you had to see that. Her trust had been placed in those hollow words and now they threatened her sanity.
    She breathed in deep and lifted herself off the ground with a new burst of energy. With her feet under her, she smoothed out her clothes and exhaled the air she’d been holding in her lungs. Time to get it together. Time to deal. When Gabriel died, she ran away. Russell had died and her plan was the same. This time she was being forced to deal with it. Whatever crazy miracle let Russell sit up unharmed in her trunk—maybe it was just as much for her as it was for him.
    “Come on,” she said plainly, turning to head back to the driver’s seat.
    Russell stared at her carefully. Her eyes widened and she gestured for him to get in the car. When he turned away from her, she gasped at the sight of the hole in his shirt. There was a slight difference of color in a large circle on the back of him. Though his shirt was black, she saw his blood as a darker, shining wet patch across his back. Valerie ran to him and he turned. Their bodies were almost touching and without thinking, she raised her hands to the buttons on his shirt, tending to him. He looked confused as she unbuttoned his shirt all the way, careful not to touch his skin.
    “You’re covered in blood,” she sighed.
    Russell nodded gently and pulled out of his shirt. She held back another gasp when she saw the wound on his chest. It was pink and horribly bruised but it was healed. Healing. Russell caught her looking and folded his arms.
    “There’s a blanket in the--,” she started but he cut her off.
    “The trunk. I know.” His voice was barely a whisper but carried a touch of a grumble.
    She tossed the bloodied shirt in the trunk and pulled the blanket out, handing it to him before closing the lid, hurrying to get the car started. Russell tucked into the seat next to her, looking uncomfortable.
    Silence sat between them for a few minutes. The road in front of them was dark the further she drove into the country and away from the interstate. Her own breath was keeping time with Russell’s and suddenly she looked at him, half-expecting he wouldn’t be there. It would have almost been easier if she’d turned out to be insane. But there he was, beautiful and silent, staring out the window, giving a heavy sigh.
    “Do you want me to take you somewhere?” she asked.
    “Where are you going?” he asked quietly.
    “My parent’s house. It’s not too much farther. I could take you somewhere else, though. If you want,” she replied.
    His head moved and she glanced back at him watching sadness wash over his face. “I don’t really belong anywhere,” he said in a daze.
    “I need you to tell me what’s going on,” she blurted.
    He turned to her slowly. “Everything is going to be all right.”
    “Tell me how you’re not dead, Russell. Or even hurt,” she growled the words in drawn out determination, her patience suddenly gone.
    “That is not a good idea while you’re driving,” he replied.
    Valerie huffed and stifled a scream. He was quiet beside her. Almost as if nothing had happened. How could