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I wake up slowly with a loud yawn. I turn my head to the side and see Summit lying there watching me.
I give her a sleepy smile.
“Hey,” I say.
“Morning,” she says quietly.
She comes closer and puts her arm across my chest. I turn towards her and kiss the tip of her nose, wrapping my own arm around her.
We lie like that for a moment, holding each other, looking into each other’s eyes.
“Are you okay?” I ask finally, breaking the silence. “You know. After what happened last night.”
She rolls onto her back with a laugh. “Are you kidding? I’m better than okay,” she says, rolling back towards me. “What was that?”
“That was an angel orgasm, and the exchange,” I tell her.
“Well, I’ve never been happier to be an angel,” she says dreamily.
Her face becomes more serious.
“You know, it’s strange. My life was always pretty safe until I met you. Now there’s the constant threat of danger looming, yet I’ve never felt safer than I do right now lying here in your arms.”
“You’ll always be safe with me, Summit. I’ll never let anyone hurt you.”
I pause.
“Because I love you,” I say.
“I love you too,” she says with a flicker of a smile.
I lean closer and kiss her. Our lips have barely touched when a loud knocking comes from downstairs.
Summit pulls back and gets out of bed with a groan.
“I guess the others are back and no one thought to take a key again,” she says.
I watch as she slips on her panties and pulls my tee shirt over her head.
“They stayed out all night?” I ask.
“I guess so,” she says.
She hurries out of the room and I lie back against her pillow. It sure was nice to hold her in my arms, and I hope that once she lets the others in, she’ll come back.
“Lucas, quick! Help!” I hear Summit shout from downstairs.
I jump up and pull my jeans on. I’m still buttoning them as I head for the stairs.
The others burst from their rooms too. If it wasn’t them at the door, then who the hell was it? I reach the bottom of the stairs as I finally get my jeans buttoned. Summit is crouched down beside a body that lies on the floor, its face turned away from me.
“What’s going on?” Dylann asks sleepily.
“I don’t know, there was a knock on the door,” Summit says. “I opened it, expecting you guys, and she just sort of fell into my arms.”
Summit gently turns the girl over and brushes the hair from her face.
I feel as if my whole world has just fallen out from underneath me. I look at the others. I don’t know what to do or say. I don’t even know what to think.
I see my own shock on everyone’s faces.
“Do you guys know her?” Summit asks, seeing the expressions on our faces.
No one speaks.
“Guys?” Summit says, sounding worried now.
“Yeah, we know her,” Parker manages to spit out.
Summit turns her attention to me.
“Lucas? Lucas, who is this?”
My mouth opens but no words come out.
“Lucas?” Summit says. “Answer me. Who is this?”
I finally manage to form a single word. “Nikki.”
***
“Help me get her up,” she pleads with Parker. Summit’s plea breaks the spell that’s fallen across us all, and Parker crouches down beside Summit, placing her hands on Nikki. Everything seems to be happening all at once. I rush over to Nikki.
This has to be a dream.
But it’s not.
I touch her; she’s flesh and blood. A lot of blood. She’s wounded and battered and frail.
“She’s too far gone for me to save her. We need to get her to the clinic,” Parker announces.
We race to the clinic. Two orderlies rush out and RJ places Nikki on the floating stretcher that hovers between them. We are ushered into a waiting room, where we sit in stony silence. No one seems to know what to say. The waiting room door opens and Anya walks in. Before she can even begin to tell us what’s happening, Parker starts to question her. She begins with a load of medical questions that I don’t understand.
“Anya, will she be okay?” I ask.
“We’re doing everything we can but it’s touch and go. She’s lost a lot of blood. She’s been tormented in ways I’ve never even seen.”
“Where has she been all this time?” Ryder asks. “Who had her?”
“What did they do to her?” Parker asks.
I can’t bear to hear the answers. I don’t want to know what’s been done to her.
“Enough!” I shout.
The questions stop immediately. Everyone looks at me like I’m a ticking time bomb. I don’t care. It’s all too much to take in.
“I know you have questions. I do too,” I say, trying to sound calmer than I feel. “But right now, the only question that matters is this: Is Nikki going to live?”
I direct the question at Anya again, hoping for a better answer than last time. Of course, I don’t get one. Nothing’s changed in the last three seconds.
“We just don’t know yet. It depends on how much fight she’s got left in her. I’ll update you as soon as I know more.”
Anya hurries back out of the room before I can ask her what sort of percentage we’re looking at. We fall back into the stony silence of earlier. My mind is racing. Summit lightly touches my arm and shows me her cell phone. It’s a text from Rage.
Be extra careful. Word is the S&S are sending more people after you to try and kill you. Stay safe.
That’s the final straw. I feel my already frayed nerves shatter, and I jump to my feet.
“Goddammit,” I curse loudly. “Why is this happening?”
I punch the wall above where I was sitting. The paint cracks and a small trickle of plaster dust tumbles to the floor.
“Calm down, Lucas,” Ryder warns me.
“Calm down? Calm down? Are you kidding me? Nikki’s in there probably dying and now Summit’s in danger too!”
Nix stands up and comes to my side. He places his hand on my arm.
“This isn’t the place, man,” he says gently. “Let’s go for a walk.”
Reluctantly I agree. It’s driving me crazy sitting in that room waiting for bad news. We walk outside of the clinic and I begin to rant again. Nix lets me get it all out of my system. Once I’m feeling a bit calmer, I start trying to make sense of what’s going on.
“It’s probably the Shadow and Serpent assholes that took Nikki. They want us distracted so they can take Summit. What kind of freaks are they?” I say.
“It may not be them,” Nix points out.
“Who else could it be?” I ask. “They’re all freaks who don’t care who they hurt as long as they get what they want.”
“I know it’s crazy, but some believe the blood of one for the lives of many,” Nix says.
“I’ve heard that before,” I mutter to myself, trying to figure out where. “That guy, the one that attacked Summit in the parked car. He said that.”
“His name was Ashton,” Nix replies softly.
How would Nix know what Ashton said or didn’t say to Summit?
“Did you know this Ashton guy?” I ask, waiting for him to deny it.
“Yes,” he states.
“Did you know he was going to kill Summit?” I demand.
“Yes; I’m the one who sent him.”
END OF BOOK 1
THE TOREN 2: “CRUEL MERCY” IS OUT NOW!