Total pages in book: 179
Estimated words: 167819 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 839(@200wpm)___ 671(@250wpm)___ 559(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167819 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 839(@200wpm)___ 671(@250wpm)___ 559(@300wpm)
“She’s in trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?” I ask, my heart racing.
“I found her unconscious. Her breathing is rapid, she’s burning up. I can’t get her to wake up.”
“What—”
“She’s overdosing,” Tyson speaks.
“Fuck. Hold her head,” Gunner barks at someone.
Overdosing? No. She may do drugs, but she knows her limits. There’s no way she would take too much. She’s smarter than that. “What’s going on?” I snap. “Gunner?”
“She’s vomiting,” he states. “Hold her head, Sarah.”
“I’m trying,” I hear her cry.
“Can you get her to Blackout?” Tyson demands, doing another U-turn.
“Blackout? She needs a hospital,” Gunner argues.
“I’ll take care of it,” Tyson assures him. “Gavin can meet us at Blackout.”
I look at the address again. “They’re closer to our house. So are we.” Blackout is on the other side of the city. I understand why Tyson suggested it, but she could be dead by then.
Tyson nods. “Send him the address and we’ll meet them there.”
Gunner hangs up and I go to call him back, wanting to stay on the phone with him, but my cell vibrates, alerting me of a text.
UNKNOWN: We know where your loyalty lies. Let’s see about hers.
“FUCK!”
“She’ll be okay,” Tyson says.
“Fuck. Fuck.” I fist my hands before running them through my hair. “It’s the Lords. They want to test her. Fuck!”
Tyson doesn’t seem surprised. Why would he? This is what they do. They see someone in a vulnerable position and use it against you. Only the strongest get to wear the crest. Only the ones they deem worthy get rewarded.
“One thing at a time,” Tyson speaks. “Send Gunner the address to the house.” Then he picks up his cell to make the call we need.
_______________
I’M PACING THE living room of the house with Gavin. He works for the Lords. Tyson called him to meet us here. Thankfully he was closer than we were and was already waiting for us when we arrived. Tyson stands over in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows looking out into the dark woods.
The front double doors open and I rush to them, thinking it’s Gunner with Elli but it’s Chance. I go back to pacing.
“I got the text,” he states at our silence.
I don’t have time to think about that right now. Her loyalty won’t matter if she’s already dead when Gunner arrives.
“Where do you want her?” Gunner calls out, rushing into the house with an unconscious Elli draped across his arms. A crying Sarah enters behind them.
“In the bedroom,” Gavin commands, pointing to the hallway. I hurry in front of him to lead the way for Gunner where Gavin is already set up for her.
Gunner places her on the bed and her head rolls to the side. I don’t miss the fact that she’s still dressed in her jeans and a T-shirt. Which makes me think that whatever Holland planned on doing with her wasn’t sexual. He didn’t want to fuck my little demon, he wanted to kill her.
“Elli?” I demand, grabbing her face. It’s clammy and cold, her skin is pale, lips blue. “Elli?” I shout her name, shaking her, but nothing. No response at all. It makes my chest tighten.
“What did she take?” Gavin asks, running his knuckles up and down her chest bone, but still nothing. She moves like a rag doll with his harsh movements—lifeless.
Gunner holds on to a sobbing Sarah who stares down at Elli. “I don’t know. I found her that way.”
Gavin looks at me and then to Chance who has followed as well. “What does she normally take?”
Running a hand through my hair, I say, “Uh, ecstasy, cocaine…” I try and think of everything I burned and have seen her have in the past. “She had some benzos.” Chance doesn’t know. He’s not around her enough so he stays silent.
“Fentanyl?” Gavin questions. “Opioids?” He lifts her eyelids and I get a look at her beautiful ice-blue eyes; the pupils are constricted.
“No.” I shake my head. “She wouldn’t—”
“Tyson, hand me the Narcan that’s in my bag,” he interrupts me, not believing my answer.
Tyson rips open the package and hands the nose spray to Gavin. I hold her clammy hand while he tilts her head back. Placing it into her left nostril, he pushes the plunger into her nose.
“Help me turn her over,” he orders, stepping back from the bed.
I grab her shoulder, rolling her toward me.
“Place her hands under her head.” I do as I’m told. “Tyson, bend her left knee, making it to where she can’t roll onto her stomach.”
We get her into position, and I kneel down next to the bed, staring into her eyes. They’re somewhat open, seeing nothing. The makeup she went out wearing tonight is smeared across her gorgeous face. Had she been crying? Did she try and call me? She needed me and I wasn’t there for her.
“Now what?” I ask Gavin, licking my lips nervously.