Beep…beep…beep…the grating sound pulled me closer to the surface. I cracked open my eyes to find only darkness…just like I’d found inside.
I closed my eyes again and tried to shift on the hard hospital mattress. But no matter which way I turned, I couldn’t find relief.
NICK!
Her haunting screams filled my head, and I couldn’t let them go. She kicked and screamed, howling for me.
NICK, NO!
I opened my eyes once more, and that beep…beep…beep in my ear sounded like gunshots. Movement came in the corner of my eye. I jumped as the curtain was drawn back and a nurse neared, her focus buried in the open file in front of her…until she stilled and lifted her gaze. “You’re awake.”
I just nodded.
She placed the file down at the foot of the bed. “Just here to check your vitals.”
NICK!
I turned away as the nurse moved the blood pressure machine close, peeled the cuff free before winding it around my upper arm, and hit the button. The sounds. The smells. It was like the side of a blade that was running along my skin. One tilt of the hand and it’d cut me…and I couldn’t just fucking wait for that, not when Ryth was trapped in that place, behind the fences and the guns…
God knew what they were doing to her.
My pulse sped at the thought, but the panic wasn’t just for her. I needed my brothers to get her out, or fucking die trying. Because I would.
“Perfect, Nicholas.” The nurse was just too fucking cheery. And I was too savage. Especially for a place like this.
“My things,” I muttered, desperation burning inside me.
“Your phone’s in the cupboard beside you. I can grab it for you, if you like?”
I shook my head. “No…thank you.”
She scribbled the details down in my folder before tucking it under her arm. “I’ll be back in a few hours. Try to get some sleep.”
I just nodded, knowing full well that wasn’t happening.
Still, I waited for her to leave before I gripped the railing and pushed my feet to the side of the bed, wincing at the deep flare of pain as it carved through my side. Inch by inch. It felt like hell.
My breaths caught. I clenched my jaw, biting down on the groan that threatened to come, and slid my feet free, letting momentum take over. One shift of my hold to the handle that hung over my head, and I pulled myself upwards.
Agony roared through me, burning in my chest as I straightened. Christ, it felt like I’d been stabbed in the gut. I winced and looked down at the large bandage around my waist, savagery rising in me once more. That fucker…that fucker…had it coming.
I used that anger to drive me as I reached out to the cupboard, grasped the tiny key, and twisted it. My things were stacked in the drawer. I held my breath, steadied myself, and reached in, then grasped my phone and dragged it free.
No charger…
It had better have battery.
I pressed it on and almost moaned with relief. 10% battery. “It’ll fucking do.”
I scrolled through my contacts and pressed Caleb’s number, listening to it ring…once…twice…three fucking times. “Answer the goddamn phone, brother.”
I hung up, my thoughts seething. What the fuck was he doing that was so fucking important he couldn’t answer my goddamn calls? I pressed the button and tried again, that sense of unease growing inside me.
It rang unanswered…again.
My lips twitched in a snarl as I pressed Tobias’ number, and surprise, the snarly punk answered. “Yeah?”
“Where the fuck are you?” I snapped.
A groan came from the background, low and tortured, and suddenly I didn’t want to fucking know. Good. That’s all I thought. Let him hurt as many as he needed as long as it led us to Ryth. It was like letting a starving pitbull loose.
I’d use him. Hell, I’d use us all.
NICK! Her screams howled as I swallowed and snapped. “Come and get me the fuck out of here.”
“The hospital?” he snapped. “Fuck no.”
“You’ll come and get me, T, or I’ll pull on these fucking clothes and get out of here myself. Then I’ll beat your ass.”
He went quiet. Was he thinking? Christ, I hoped not.
“Fine, give me twenty,” he answered. “I just need to take care of a few things.”
A scream was muffled in the background before a thump! Then there was silence. The kind that, in that moment, made me smile. “Caleb with you?”
“No. Why?”
“Doesn’t matter,” I muttered. “Move your ass, brother. I need to fucking hunt.”
I hung up the call, 8% battery. I winced and cast the phone on the bed, turned my head and listened. She wouldn’t come back—I glanced at the monitor—beep…beep…beep. Until I disconnected that.
I turned my focus back to the drawer, yanking my jeans and boots out. What? No shirt? I remembered the blood. Yeah, probably not. The damn room swayed as I pushed up, drove myself to stand, reached around me, yanked the ties and tugged the damn gown free to leave it hanging on the cord of the monitor. I didn’t have time for boxers, so I yanked on my jeans and shoved bare feet into my boots and braced myself before bending over, pulling the laces tight.
Beeeeeeeeeeeppppppppp…
“Fuck.” The cord had slipped free. I rose too fast and the damn darkened room grew even darker, tilting to the side. “No, you fucking don’t.”
I clung to the pinprick of light in the middle of my vision and tried to breathe, and slowly…the gloom brightened. My pulse kicked. Adrenaline was my drug of choice. I used it, snatched my phone from the bed, and drove myself to my feet. I tugged the rest of the sensors free and slowly headed to the drawn curtains, then out of the room.
The hallway was blinding. I blinked, squinted into the glare, and moved further along the hallway. Movement came in the distance.
I focused straight ahead as someone called out. “Hey! I don’t think you’re supposed to be out here!”
I clenched my jaw and kept on walking, heading to a bank of elevators at the end of the hallway.
“Mr. Banks!” Came the shout as I punched the button for the elevator and glanced back along the hallway.
The nurse was hurrying toward me with a look of concern. But she never made it. The doors opened, and I was inside in an instant, pressing my hand to my side. I stabbed the button for the ground floor and prayed Tobias was on his way.
Wouldn’t matter…I’d walk if I had to.
Ten-foot-high fences and armed mercenaries filled my mind as the elevator sank to the ground floor. But the moment I stepped out into the brightly lit, empty foyer of the hospital, I caught sight of the headlights of the Jeep as it swung under the drop-off canopy.
With my hand pressed to my side, I lengthened my stride and headed for my brother. Automatic doors opened as I neared, leaving the cool night air to hit me hard. Tobias glared as I grabbed the door handle and yanked.
“You crazy ass motherfucker.” He shook his head as I climbed in.
“Nice to see you, too,” I muttered, pulling the door closed as I sank into the seat. “Now fucking drive.”
