No…the word rose as I surfaced. Snap. Something closed around my ankle, making me flinch. I tried to force open my eyes, but exhaustion weighed them down, keeping me under.
No! No! NICK!
I snapped awake with the words, driving myself to the surface. Nick…Nick…the image of him rose slowly in my mind. Lying on the concrete, bleeding, desperation and rage burning in his eyes. The sight was a shot of adrenaline. I forced open my eyes.
“Easy,” someone snapped at my right.
A sting came at my arm, making me wince. I turned my head, squinting at the glaring light, finding a man dressed in black pulling a needle free. Panic moved through me, making my heart thunder. “What the fuck are you doing?” I tried to push up, but the room swayed.
“Easy.” The man pushed me back down, the bed hard and cold underneath me. The spotlight pulsed. Throb. Throb. Throb.
“Let me up,” I growled. “Nick. Nick. I have to save—” The room tilted with any movement.
Buzz buzz buzz. I tried to blink with the sound, but that darkness reached for me, dragging me back under. “Gotta stayeee awwakkeee…Niiiccckkk…”
I tried to fight that cruel grip as it clutched my ankle and tugged me back down and as I succumbed to the emptiness, that grating sound echoed once more. Buzz buzz buzz…
Ryth! Nick’s screams surfaced. Faint, so very faint. RYTH!
Only darkness waited for me now, pressing down like a weight.
Until a sound drew me higher. The heaviness that weighed me down lifted a little.
A hand pressed against my mouth. “Shh,” a female whisper came against my ear. “If they find me in here, they’ll take me.”
Air trickled in when I sucked in a breath, but warmth pressed over my mouth, making me jerk open my eyes. I blinked into the murky gloom, seeing movement over me. In an instant, the room came rushing back. The sting in my arm. The panic I felt. The man…the man.
“Easy,” she urged, her voice soft and careful. “I’m gonna take my hand away, okay? Just don’t…scream.”
The hand slipped away, leaving me to gasp and stare.
“I’m Viv…Vivienne,” she whispered. “I saw them…when they came for you. You can get out of here, can’t you? I mean, not right now…but soon. Soon they’ll come.
My slow thoughts crept closer until they slipped away again. “Who?”
She stared at me. “The ones who rammed the gate.”
The gate? What gate? I dropped my hand to the cold steel beside me and shoved, wincing as agony pummeled my head. I blinked and tried to think. “Where am I?”
“Don’t you know by now?” she murmured. “You’ve come to Hell, a brand new version.” Her head snapped up, her eyes moving across the room before she moved back. “You gotta survive this place, gotta get free. They’ll come for you now that you’re awake, but I’ll find you. I’ll find you and help you get out of here. Only when you leave, you gotta promise to take me with you.” She stepped away, moving toward the door.
“Wait.” I shoved upwards, hearing something clatter near my foot as I moved. A burn came at my abdomen, sharp, stinging as she cracked open the door. “Don’t go.”
She stilled, and in the faint light from the hallway, I saw her. Her auburn hair was more red than brown. But her sad, despairing eyes held me. God, she looked desperate. “You have to take me with you,” she murmured, her voice barely reaching me. “Or I’m not going to survive.”
She slipped out of the room, closing the door soundlessly behind her, leaving me alone.
Fear slipped through me, making me try to push up from the stainless-steel table I lay on. Something clattered against the steel from my foot, the same sound from before. I leaned forward, wincing at that sting as it came to my abdomen once more, and reached out.
Something was clasped around my ankle. I yanked the thing as the sound of heavy steps came from outside. The door opened once more. I yanked the webbing harder. Panic plunged deep as two men stepped in the room and closed the door.
Darkness slipped from my mind now, leaving chilling clarity behind. “No.” I yanked the thing and when I couldn’t tear it free, I lifted my head as they came for me.
“Easy,” one of them murmured. His predatory movement triggered the memory of what had happened.
The abduction. The warehouse. “Nick.” I stiffened, as I whispered.
They leaped across the room, coming for me. I screamed, lashing out, kicking when they grabbed me. I didn’t care about the pain anymore. Didn’t care about anything but getting out of here.
They’ll come for you. Vivienne’s words surfaced as my abductors lifted my feet from the floor. I kicked and screamed until my throat burned. Still, they didn’t care, hauling me toward the door.
“Get the fuck off me!” I swung my fist.
One of them caught it as they dragged me by my arms toward the doorway. The sight of that glaring hallway triggered something in me. FIGHT! Tobias roared in my head. His savage roar giving me energy. I lifted my foot and drove it against the doorframe, pushing myself backwards.
“Stop fucking fighting!” one of my attackers barked, and thrust me forward.
I fought harder, twisting and thrashing, until I caught a blur in the corner of my eye. The blow hit me on the side of the head and exploded in my ear. I stopped fighting, dazed and stunned, giving them the precious seconds they needed to drive me through the doorway and out into the hall.
“Fucking pain in the goddamn ass!” one barked, the sound hollow and thudding in my ear.
I pulled away from them, still fighting. Pathetic movements were all I had left. I braced my bare feet against the slick tiled floor as my head thumped and boomed.
Still, they dragged me along the hallway, stopping for one of them to press an access card against a sensor before shoving me through a set of double doors. Their boots echoed in the empty hallway. I tried to look behind me as they pushed. But all I saw was the stark white walls.
They stopped at a room, pressed the card against the scanner outside the door, and pushed the handle down. Bright lights blinked on with the flick of a switch before they shoved me inside. I stumbled, throwing my arms out wide to find my balance.
“There,” the asshole who’d hit me snarled. “Make yourself comfortable. You’ll be here a while.”
I spun, rage burning inside me. “Fuck you!”
But they left, yanking the door closed behind them with a bang, leaving me alone. I rushed the door, throwing my fists against it as I stared through the glass panel at them. “Let me out! Let me out NOW!”
The asshole stared through me before he turned, giving me his back, and walked away. I slammed myself against the door, pummeling it with my fists. “Let me out of here!”
Rage came. Tears blurred them as my abductors left. “Let me out!” I punched the door. “Let me the fuck out of here!”
Warmth trailed down my cheeks as I drove my fists against the door time and time again. But my blows and pleas were futile. “Please,” I whispered, and turned, sliding my back against the door as I sank to the floor. “Please let me out of here.”
Mom’s words rang in my head, cruel and unkind. We can’t have you messing up our plans…take her…take her to the Order.
“The Order,” I whispered, my voice thick and blubbering. “Why, mom? Why?”
She’d betrayed me…again.
I drew my knees to my chest and gripped them tight. She’d betrayed me, just like she’d betrayed dad. I wanted to kick and scream for the guys, but Nick was the one who gripped my heart tight. Nick and Tobias and Caleb. My shuddering breaths stilled as that desperate look from Nick filled me once more. Blood filled my mind as the memory came roaring back. Blood that spread as he’d kicked and fought in a desperate attempt to get to me.
“Nick.” I squeezed my eyes closed. “Oh, Nick…”
