“I had to save you. Please, Mac.”
His bare skin was tacky with blood; he was covering me in it. I tried to push him away and everywhere our skin touched, mine came back red.
“Lemme go.” My hands were sticky—I didn’t realize blood could be so thick and sticky. “Kyle, let me go!”
He dropped his arms, hugging himself like he was the one who needed protection. “I would never hurt you.”
“You’re covered in someone else’s blood!” The aley swam in and out of focus.
Kyle glared into the shadows where Jimmy was lying like a broken tin soldier and a low growl rumbled in his throat. “I didn’t have a choice.”
Kyle didn’t growl. Couldn’t growl.
It wasn’t Kyle. This wasn’t real.
I scrambled to my feet. Not a good idea. The aley tilted. The wals caved in and the ground rushed up. Blackness claimed me again.
UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
HarperCollins Publishers
.....................................................................
Chapter 11
“WOW. JASON REALLY LET YOU DOWN, HUH?” AMY SAT next to me, resting her back against the brick wal. “He does that. More than you’d think.”
I wrapped my arms around my legs and pressed my chin to my knees. I didn’t answer.
There was a spot of blood on my hand. She reached out and dipped her finger in it, then grimaced. “These things are always so messy.”
Strange noises and scents drifted into the aley. Steady beeping.
Bleach. The crackle of an intercom.
Amy sighed and roled her eyes. “Guess we’l just have to talk later.” She pushed herself to her feet and rippled. Her image and the aley wals swirled together and became bright light.
Light that was accompanied by pain.
Sharp and immediate and threatening to crack my skul like an eggshel. I let out a low moan.
eggshel. I let out a low moan.
“She’s waking up.”
A white room swam into focus. Beds with railings and thin cotton blankets. A hospital. Someone leaned over me and I cringed away, instinctively, until the rainbow hair and frightened hazel eyes registered.
“Tess?” My voice came out a croak.
She brushed the hair back from my face, her touch feather-light.
“It’s okay, Mac. You’re okay. You’re al right now. You’re safe.”
She turned away and I realized she was crying. She wiped her cheek with her hand and took a deep, shaky breath. When she looked back at me, I noticed ghostly trails of mascara running around her eyes and over her cheeks.
“Ben just went to the apartment to pick up some clothes for you. He’l be back soon. We weren’t sure how long you were going to be out.”
I tried to remember what had happened, why I was in the hospital, but it was like a thick mist had taken up residence inside my brain, obscuring everything. I couldn’t decide what hurt more: my head or my throat. I tried to swalow. “Water?”
Tess glanced over her shoulder and I heard footsteps, the squeak of rubber soles on linoleum.
I struggled to sit up, but she gently pushed me back down. Even though she was being careful, it hurt when she touched my shoulders. “Easy. You’ve been out of it for a few hours. The doctors said it was shock. . . .” Tess reached for a smal, white switch. With the push of a button, the bed raised itself to a sitting switch. With the push of a button, the bed raised itself to a sitting position.
Kyle came into view, standing in the door to what was probably a washroom, a paper cup in his hand.
My stomach lurched. Something about the way he was framed by the doorway tugged at my memory.
An aley. Brick wals. Broken glass. Rough hands on my skin.
“I’m going to get the doctor, tel him you’re awake.” Tess bent down and brushed a light kiss across my forehead, but her words and exit barely registered.
Memories dragged me under. Textures and sounds and sights and smels. And blood. I couldn’t get enough air.
“Mac?” Kyle took a hesitant step toward the bed. He set the cup on a smal, wheeled table.
“Can’t.
His bare skin was tacky with blood; he was covering me in it. I tried to push him away and everywhere our skin touched, mine came back red.
“Lemme go.” My hands were sticky—I didn’t realize blood could be so thick and sticky. “Kyle, let me go!”
He dropped his arms, hugging himself like he was the one who needed protection. “I would never hurt you.”
“You’re covered in someone else’s blood!” The aley swam in and out of focus.
Kyle glared into the shadows where Jimmy was lying like a broken tin soldier and a low growl rumbled in his throat. “I didn’t have a choice.”
Kyle didn’t growl. Couldn’t growl.
It wasn’t Kyle. This wasn’t real.
I scrambled to my feet. Not a good idea. The aley tilted. The wals caved in and the ground rushed up. Blackness claimed me again.
UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
HarperCollins Publishers
.....................................................................
Chapter 11
“WOW. JASON REALLY LET YOU DOWN, HUH?” AMY SAT next to me, resting her back against the brick wal. “He does that. More than you’d think.”
I wrapped my arms around my legs and pressed my chin to my knees. I didn’t answer.
There was a spot of blood on my hand. She reached out and dipped her finger in it, then grimaced. “These things are always so messy.”
Strange noises and scents drifted into the aley. Steady beeping.
Bleach. The crackle of an intercom.
Amy sighed and roled her eyes. “Guess we’l just have to talk later.” She pushed herself to her feet and rippled. Her image and the aley wals swirled together and became bright light.
Light that was accompanied by pain.
Sharp and immediate and threatening to crack my skul like an eggshel. I let out a low moan.
eggshel. I let out a low moan.
“She’s waking up.”
A white room swam into focus. Beds with railings and thin cotton blankets. A hospital. Someone leaned over me and I cringed away, instinctively, until the rainbow hair and frightened hazel eyes registered.
“Tess?” My voice came out a croak.
She brushed the hair back from my face, her touch feather-light.
“It’s okay, Mac. You’re okay. You’re al right now. You’re safe.”
She turned away and I realized she was crying. She wiped her cheek with her hand and took a deep, shaky breath. When she looked back at me, I noticed ghostly trails of mascara running around her eyes and over her cheeks.
“Ben just went to the apartment to pick up some clothes for you. He’l be back soon. We weren’t sure how long you were going to be out.”
I tried to remember what had happened, why I was in the hospital, but it was like a thick mist had taken up residence inside my brain, obscuring everything. I couldn’t decide what hurt more: my head or my throat. I tried to swalow. “Water?”
Tess glanced over her shoulder and I heard footsteps, the squeak of rubber soles on linoleum.
I struggled to sit up, but she gently pushed me back down. Even though she was being careful, it hurt when she touched my shoulders. “Easy. You’ve been out of it for a few hours. The doctors said it was shock. . . .” Tess reached for a smal, white switch. With the push of a button, the bed raised itself to a sitting switch. With the push of a button, the bed raised itself to a sitting position.
Kyle came into view, standing in the door to what was probably a washroom, a paper cup in his hand.
My stomach lurched. Something about the way he was framed by the doorway tugged at my memory.
An aley. Brick wals. Broken glass. Rough hands on my skin.
“I’m going to get the doctor, tel him you’re awake.” Tess bent down and brushed a light kiss across my forehead, but her words and exit barely registered.
Memories dragged me under. Textures and sounds and sights and smels. And blood. I couldn’t get enough air.
“Mac?” Kyle took a hesitant step toward the bed. He set the cup on a smal, wheeled table.
“Can’t.
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