33

Rev and Preston joined me in the waiting room as I paced up and down waiting for news. It seemed like forever as people came and left and finally after two hours a nurse walked right towards us and asked us to follow her.
We followed her into what looked like a small office and waited five more minutes before the doctor joined us. I had felt the second snap and my tears were very close to the surface. I hated crying in front of other people and I never showed weakness to anyone.
“Mr. Grey, your sister, her husband and their baby were brought in by ambulance. They were involved in a five car pileup on the highway. We did everything we could, I’m really sorry for your loss but none of them survived,” he said as I felt my grip on reality shatter.
“No,” I said as I grabbed him by the front of his scrubs.
“Lucas,” Rev said as he pried my hands loose and the doctor left the room.
“They’re all dead,” I whispered as Preston sank to a chair and I saw tears in his eyes.
“Lucas, I’m sorry,” Rev whispered as he pulled me against him and held me tightly.
“I want to see them,” I said and pushed Rev away from me.
I followed Chris’s scent down the corridors as Rev trailed behind me. I faintly heard Preston on the phone as I pushed the doors of the morgue open much to the surprise of the coroner and two aides. He was about to protest but I was already pulling the sheet back as I looked down at Chris.
She had multiple injuries across her chest and on her face. I couldn’t think clearly and I felt everything inside me break as I covered her up again. The next bed held Jax and his left arm had multiple lacerations. In my mind’s eye I could see him trying to protect Chris. He had blood all over his face and many cuts that I could see. His nose was also broken, probably from the airbag.
The last one had my hands shaking as I saw the small outline of Jade’s body under the sheet. She was unmarked but her head was at an odd angle, she had broken her neck and died instantly. Her little body had no other injuries and I was thankful that she had gone quickly.
I picked her up and that’s when I lost control of my emotions. I slid down to the floor with Jade in my arms and cried. Rev was kneeling in front of me, his hands on my shoulders. I had to let go of her when security entered the morgue and I was forced outside.
“There’s nothing here for you to do, it was an accident,” Rev said as he led me back upstairs and I saw Jesse’s tear ridden face as he walked towards me. He grabbed me in a hug and we just stood there as people watched us. We were both crying and trying to come to terms with this new reality.
“I don’t care who you have to bribe, have Jax’s car towed to our facility and checked. I want to know if this was an accident or not,” I said to Preston.
“You think someone took them out?” Jesse asked me.
“I don’t know Jesse,” I said honestly.
I couldn’t be there anymore. There were too many memories mingling into one awful present. My parents death and now Chris and Jax and little Jade were dead too. They were too young to be dead and something inside me was breaking.
Rev drove home slowly as I clutched the plastic bag of their personal belongings on my lap. I had no idea where Jesse had gone and I couldn’t even think of what to say to him. Rev had to physically pull me out of the car.
I stood in the foyer with the bag in my hands as Rev consoled Hannah. She was grief stricken like me, we all were, we were a family and we just lost a big part of it. Rylee had tried to console me but I couldn’t react and I just gripped the bag tighter when she tried to take it from me.
Two days later our mechanic Raul stood in my office. I had a stoic look on my face and I hadn't slept yet, I couldn’t. Rylee and Jennifer tried everything to get us to eat as we all fell into a major depression like state. Jesse didn’t answer his phone but I had men watching him, he was mourning like we were and I couldn’t blame him for withdrawing. I wish I could withdraw.
“What did you find Raul?” I asked him.
“Sire, the vehicle was really damaged in front. The brake lines were either cut or they snapped, there’s no way to say for sure, there’s too much damage,” he said to me.
“So we’ve got nothing,” I said as I stared at him.
“I’m sorry Sire,” he said and lowered his head.
“You may go,” I said to him and turned my back on him as he left my office.
“Maybe it was just a freak accident,” Preston said.
“Have all the arrangements been made?” I asked.
“Yes,” Rev answered me and I nodded.
“We should get ready,” I said and turned back to face them.
I left my office and walked down the hall to my room. Rylee had just placed a tray on the table by the sofa and she turned when she heard me.
“You have to eat something,” she said to me.
“I’m not hungry,” I said.
“Lucas, you’re the Sire, you can’t crack even if you feel you can’t do anything else,” she said softly.
“I fucking know!” I yelled and she lowered her head with a sigh.
“Just eat please,” she said.
“I’m sorry,” I said with a sigh and sat down on the sofa.
Rylee walked over to me and sat down on my lap wrapping her arms around my neck. She laid her head on my shoulder and just held me. I closed my eyes and I could feel her beating heart against me. I had gone into a paranoid mode refusing to let her leave the house.
I picked up the fork and took a bite from the roast beef on the plate and Rylee smiled briefly as she looked at me. I ate about half of the food on the plate and leaned back against the sofa and closed my eyes.
“You have about ten minutes before you have to go shower,” Rylee whispered in my ear.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you,” I said to her again.
“It’s okay, everyone deals with grief in their own way. You just go back to your default setting,” she said.
“What’s my default setting?” I asked her.
“Irritation, anger,” she said and I smiled briefly.
“How are you holding up?” I asked her suddenly feeling a bit guilty that I hadn’t even asked if she was okay during all this.
“I didn’t know Chris or Jax that well, but they were our family and I can feel the loss of that bond, I can feel what you feel and that hurts,” she said.
“I should go get ready,” I said as she stood up from my lap. She walked over to our closet and I heard her rummaging inside.
“Shave too,” she yelled from inside.
I shaved and showered and found the suit Rylee had picked out in the dressing room. It was dark grey and fitting for how I was feeling. It was just past eight pm and we would be starting at nine pm. Rylee was dressed in a dark grey knee length dress a shade lighter than my suit.
“Ready?” I asked her.
“Unfortunately yes,” she said and took my hand.
I had Raul stationed at the house and he went over our cars every time we left the house and returned to ensure that nobody else’s vehicle was tampered with, not that I had any evidence to make me think that Jax and Chris’s car had been tampered with. I was just being paranoid and I knew it.
We walked out of the house to the back area of our property where some of us trained and where our dragons could separate from us without being seen. I watched the somber faces of the lair and heard people’s regrets as they came up to us.
“Sire Lucas, we are very sorry for your loss,” Elder Gareth said as he gripped my hand firmly.
“Losses,” I said.
“Excuse me?” he asked.
“Losses, we lost three lives,” I said to him.
Their bodies were in the middle of the room, the baby tucked in between Jax and Chris. They looked asleep except for the bruising and swelling of their faces but Jade looked ethereal as only a baby could. My heart broke again as I watched them.
“Dragonkin of the Grey lair, tonight we gather together to bid farewell to Jax, Christina and Jade Sterling,” Elder Gareth began.
“I call upon Sire Lucas to join the deceased and leave his parting gift to follow them into the afterlife,” Elder James said.
I took off my jacket and handed it to Rylee, rolling up my sleeves as I made my way forward to where the three Elders stood. I had to do this for my parents just a few years ago as well and I could feel Baz as he shared this moment with me.
“I hand you this knife, made of dragon stone, to make a cut on your body and let your blood as a Sire protect the departed souls of your lair,” Elder Peter said.
He handed me the knife and I made a small cut on my palm. The first drop fell on Jax’s forehead and I moved on to Chris and then Jade. I made my way back to Jax as I pressed my thumb into the drop of blood.
“Jax Sterling, I hereby grant you the protective powers of my blood to serve you in the afterlife as a member of the Grey lair, to fulfill your journey as protector of your own.”
“Christina Grey Sterling, I hereby grant you the protective powers of my blood to serve you in the afterlife as a member of the Grey lair, to fulfill your journey as nurturer of your own.”
“Jade Sterling, I hereby grant you the protective powers of my blood to serve you in the afterlife as a member of the Grey lair, to fulfill your journey as a beacon of light to others.”
“We now pray for the blessings of our gods to grant passage to their children seeking refuge from the darkness. May they watch over us from above and guide us on our journey on Earth, let us find inner peace and remember the love that they shared with us and spread forth only goodness,” Elder Gareth said.
There was a mandatory ten minutes of silence as we stood with our heads bowed and I had to shut my eyes tightly to keep the tears from falling. I had known all three of them their entire lives and I felt Jesse as he moved next to me and placed his arm around my shoulder as the Elders placed the torches on their bodies to let them burn.
“We’ll get through this eventually,” he whispered.
“How?” I asked him.
“I don’t know Lucas, I’m too broken at this point to even think beyond tonight,” he said.
“Take a few days, there’s something I need to discuss with you, things we need to do but I’ll wait until you’re ready to push your mourning to the back of your mind and can focus on saving the living,” I said to him.
“There’s always someone that needs saving,” Jesse said.