Darkness Falling: A Paranormal, MM, Friends-to-Lovers Romance by Bria Ferguson

Author:Bria Ferguson [Ferguson, Bria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Charity A Fowler
Published: 2023-07-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Lex

My head is swirling as I follow Mike back to where our classmates are gathered. I’m glad my parents and sister are safe for now, but heartsick at having to make that call. I’m in denial that Mike’s dad could be part of this, though more for his sake than any real disbelief in the man’s capacity for hatred and violence. I’ve seen the bruises Mike always tried to hide or brush off, and those were just from Mike being adjacent to queerness by standing by me and our friendship. I know his dad hates supernaturals even more than he does LGBT people, but this level of violence is not something you ever imagine coming from someone you know, someone whose roof you’ve slept under, someone who was a trusted adult through your childhood, even if maybe they shouldn’t have been.

There’s a hollow feeling in my stomach and a tickling at the back of my throat that’s either tears or screams wanting to leak out. I can hear the sobs coming from other students before we even round the corner, and I know it’s going to be bad. I can’t believe our community has been attacked like this, that so much spilled blood stains the ground, that at least several dozen people hate us this much. I hold on tightly to Mike’s hand, because I don’t want him to think I’m pulling away or that I associate him with this horror as anything but another victim of it. If Major Greeley’s suspicion is true, Mike’s dad either just tried to kill him, or hated me and my people so much that his son’s death was a price he was willing to pay to kill a bunch of teenagers who happened to be born different than him. I have fights with my parents sometimes—who doesn’t?—but I can’t even wrap my head around what Mike must be going through. I want to be supportive, but I don’t know how, at least not until we can be alone, and he can talk freely. If he’ll do so. He’s not the best at using his words to sort out his feelings and problems.

We turn the corner, and my eyes are immediately drawn to Isaac and Ronan, sitting on a bench against the wall. They both look shell-shocked, pale and trembling, and I tug Mike toward our teammates and friends. Ronan looks up at us first; his eyes are red, like maybe he’s been crying, but they’re dry now.

“Is your family okay, Lex?” he asks.

I nod. “Yeah. At least my folks and my sister are. I don’t know about the extended family. Mom hadn’t gotten ahold of anyone but her sister, yet. There were attacks in our community, though, so they’re going to go stay somewhere no one knows them for a while.”

“Probably for the best,” he says in a quiet voice.

“What about yours?” I ask because I do care even if I don’t want more bad news.

“My immediate family’s okay,” Ronan says. “My folks, my siblings.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.