Chapter 401: THAT Corpse

I pulled Whitney closer and held her. "This is only the first report. Things aren’t always what they seem at first there’s still a chance. Don’t give up on him yet. You have to believe."She nodded against my shoulder, her crying so quiet and contained it made my chest hurt more than loud sobbing would have. She had always done that kept herself small when she was falling apart, like she was trying not to take up too much space even in her own grief. No wonder Vito had wanted to protect her even when she was on the other side of everything. Some people just did that to you.

"Lewis’s already sent people to look into it," I said softly. "Don’t worry."

"Okay," she whispered. It came out like something small and tired.

I couldn’t leave her like that. With the Morrigans in pieces and Vivian stretched thin looking after Malcom, someone needed to stay. I settled in beside her, and Lewis who never would have left me alone in a hospital overnight ended up on the narrow sofa outside the suite, his long legs bent at an uncomfortable angle, looking thoroughly unbothered by it in that way he had.

Seeing him like that pulled at something in me. "I’m sorry "

He caught my hand and drew me down into his lap, wrapping both arms around me from behind and resting his chin against the curve of my neck. "Don’t apologize. Whitney is your family, which makes her mine too. We’re mates, Elena. That’s what that means." He pressed his face gently against my cheek. "Honestly after everything I’m just grateful to have you here. And now we have a child coming."

His hand moved slowly to rest over my stomach. Something about that the warmth of it, the steadiness made the whole night feel less heavy.

"Let Theo bring you another blanket at least," I said.

"Whatever you say."

We looked at each other and something quiet passed between us the kind of thing that didn’t need words. Compared to Whitney and Vito, who had run out of time before they ever got to close the distance between them, I knew exactly how lucky I was.

When Theo appeared with the blanket, I took the moment to ask about the man from the academy.

"Nothing to worry about, Mrs. Hale," Theo said simply. "I gave him something to think about. He’ll be recovering for a few months. He won’t be a problem for Ms. Whitney during that time."

"Thank you."

"It’s what I’m here for."

I moved to help Lewis with the blanket, but he waved me off immediately and made up his small sofa-bed with calm efficiency, then looked up at me. "Go be with her. I’m fine."

I knew he was saying it for my sake. I leaned down and held him tight for a moment. "Amber will be okay," I murmured into his hair.

Lewis had grown up without much warmth given freely. It made sense that he held on fiercely to the few people who had offered it. I felt him breathe slowly beneath my arms.

Back in Whitney’s room, I found her sitting on the edge of the bed with her back to the door, her face turned toward the window. The full moon hung low and heavy outside, pouring silver light across the floor and over her shoulders, wrapping her in a stillness that looked almost peaceful from a distance. Up close, her hands were ice-cold when I took them, even though spring had already arrived. Her eyes were full of something too large and too quiet to name.

I guided her gently back under the covers and lay down beside her.

"I’m sorry for worrying you," she whispered.

"Whitney." I thought for a moment, then said carefully, "I know you can’t just stop feeling what you’re feeling. But if I told you there’s a new life coming would that help, even a little?"

She went completely still. "You’re pregnant?"

I took her hand and pressed it flat against my stomach. "Something small is growing right here."

She went quiet for a long moment, then slowly lowered her cheek to rest against my belly with a tenderness so careful it barely made a sound. I listened to her breathing go soft.

"Life gets messy and painful," I said, "but even in the worst seasons, things bloom. New things. Unexpected things." I kept my voice easy, like we were just talking. "Do you ever wonder boy or girl? Who they’ll look like?"

"It doesn’t matter," Whitney said softly. "Whoever they take after, you’ll both love them completely."

"And you?"

She understood what I was doing. I felt her realize it in the small pause before she answered. Then she pressed her face into my side and said, muffled and genuine, "I’ll love them too."

I held her closer. "I’m being selfish," I admitted. "I know that."

But I couldn’t help it. I had fought too long and lost too much to find her. I couldn’t lose her again to grief. As long as we were alive, there was still something to reach for.

I had come to comfort Whitney, but somewhere between the moonlight and the quiet and the warmth of her beside me, sleep pulled me under before I knew it was happening.

When I opened my eyes, the room was full of morning light. The window stood slightly open, and the white gauze curtains moved slowly in the breeze.

Whitney was gone.

I sat up fast, my heart lurching, and went straight to the window. Then I saw her out on the tree-lined path below, standing in the dappled spring light among the cherry blossoms.

And Luther was with her.

I stood there for a moment, watching. Something unsettled moved through me that I couldn’t pin down cleanly.

"You’re awake." Lewis appeared in the doorway with food, his expression calm. "Eat. Theo’s watching them don’t worry."

"That’s the third time in two days," I said, not quite managing to keep the edge out of my voice. "That’s not a coincidence anymore."

Lewis sat down across from me. "I looked into the Donovans. Private hospital, medical equipment company solid operation, not the biggest in the field but well-established. Luther grew up abroad and only came back this year to take over the family business. That hospital is theirs, so his presence there makes sense."

"It makes too much sense. Which is exactly what bothers me."

"If he’s working an angle, then we let him play it and see where he goes. We’ll know more that way."

I accepted that and moved on. "What’s the Commander’s full name?"

"Craig Ligendza."

"A Ligendza and a Chandler." I turned it over. "No obvious connection to the Donovans."

I couldn’t stop the question from forming. Who exactly was Luther?

"Stop overthinking and eat," Lewis said.

"Alright." I picked up the spoon. "Carl a couple like that would have descendants. Where do you think they are? Still in the city, or somewhere like Bloodshade, the way they are?"

Lewis leaned forward slightly. "I asked Marc. The Bloodshade organization today is run by someone called ’Ed.’ Below him are four factions, each named after a different mythical creature. Based on Marc’s intel, the faction called ’Emerald Dragon’ lines up with when the Commander and his wife disappeared from Snowville."

"And Dark Rose?"

"Operates under Emerald Dragon. Either she is the Commander’s wife, or she’s Libby my sister."

The Hales still hadn’t surfaced in any of it. That absence felt like its own kind of answer, though I didn’t know what the question was yet.

I finished breakfast quickly, freshened up, and went downstairs.

The tree-lined path outside was soft with falling blossoms, a few petals catching in Whitney’s hair as she stood in the morning light. Luther was in front of her tall, unhurried, a dark shirt visible beneath his coat, the prayer beads at his wrist catching the light as he reached toward her. He looked like someone who had never once been rushed by anything.

"Dr. Donovan," I called out.

Whitney turned. Luther lowered his hand without any sign of embarrassment.

"Riley," he said pleasantly.

"Quite the coincidence," I said, making no effort to hide the dryness in my tone.

He accepted it with an easy smile. "I was called in for emergency surgery last night. I finished a short while ago and happened to see Starling on my way out." His gaze dropped briefly, almost casually, to my midsection. "You’re at the hospital again are you feeling alright?"

"Perfectly fine. Don’t let me interrupt your day."

After confirming Whitney was clear to leave, we completed the discharge paperwork and headed out. I dropped her at the Morrigans residence, where Vivian came rushing out before we’d even fully stopped, ushering Whitney inside with both hands and a string of relieved words. She urged me to stay and talk, but I was tired in the slow, bone-deep way that didn’t respond to politeness. I thanked her, declined, and got back in the car.

I leaned into Lewis’s side on the way home, letting my eyes close. Even a gentle night left its mark now that I was carrying the baby. I needed rest.

We didn’t make it home.

The police were waiting.

I stepped out and recognized the face immediately. "Captain Tucker. What’s this about?"

The captain looked at me carefully. "Mrs. Hale a male body was recovered on Sheppey Lane last night. Witnesses have placed this young lady at the scene of an altercation with the deceased earlier that evening. We need her to come to the station for questioning."

I went completely still.

The man with the glasses.

He was dead.