Page 117 of Arouse Me

Joshua screamed my name again. He was close, so close it sounded as if he were in the room. I knew Carnation would make me pay, and might very well kill me on the spot, but I had to do something to draw Joshua’s attention.

As the mentally unstable bitch stared pensively at the door, I drew my leg back and kicked her in the shin as hard as I could. She let out a scream that intensified the ringing in my ears. Then, as if realizing her mistake, she slapped a hand over her mouth and lunged toward me. My life would be over in a matter of seconds.

The weathered, worn door exploded with a deafening crack as Joshua burst into the room, gun drawn and pointed. A look of absolute shock registered on his face when he realized he was aiming his weapon at his former sub. As she raised her gun and pointed it at my head, Joshua fired. Carnation sailed backward with a shriek of pain that crashed through my thundering head.

Loud footsteps running overhead mixed with the cacophony echoing in my ears. Closing my eyes, I tried to combat the pain vibrating in my head.

“Down here,” Joshua yelled.

The agony inside my skull grew unbearable. With a whimper, I faded into the darkness.

“Come on, baby, wake up. Please come back to me,” Joshua’s poignant plea coaxed me toward the surface.

Opening my eyes, I tried to blink the blurry fog away. The light from the room felt like daggers, stabbing unmercifully into my skull. Squinting, I saw Joshua sitting next to me on the couch. A tiny smile of relief tugged his lips, but his eyes still wore a veil of fear. Leaning over the back of the leather divan, Sanna gazed at me as tears spilled down her cheeks. She softly caressed her hand over mine. Briefly closing my eyes, I savored her loving touch before realizing something cold and wet lay pressed around my head.

“Did you kill her?” I asked Joshua, licking my lips.

“No,” he murmured. His tone was contrite.

I raised a hand toward my throbbing head, but Joshua tenderly drew it back down. Static buzzed in my ears as commotion and chaos seemed to ripple all around me, making it hard to focus.

Glancing over Joshua’s shoulder, I saw Carnation tied to a kitchen chair in the middle of the room. A silver strip of duct tape covered her mouth. Drake pressed a thick pad of gauze to her blood-stained shoulder as she jerked and thrashed, fighting his attempt to offer first-aid.

A part of me wanted him to let her bleed out, while another part of me felt nothing but pity for the twisted and demented girl. Locking gazes with me, Carnation stopped struggling and shot me a hateful glare. Turning her attention on Joshua, she stared at his back; longing and rejection filled her tormented eyes.

A few feet away, a heavyset man lay face down on the floor, hog-tied and silenced with another strip of tape. White gauze had been wrapped around his thigh. Blood seeped into a bright red circle, marking the spot where Dylan had shot him. Tideway. As if resigned to his fate, he didn’t struggle against his awkward position, but the malevolent evil in his dark eyes promised retribution.

Anger chiseled Nick’s features. He looked deadly standing guard—gun aimed at the stalker, ready to blow him away if given half a chance. A shiver raced up my spine.

“Can we go home now?” I asked.

“Soon, baby. Soon,” Sanna cooed.

It seemed Dylan had appeared out of nowhere. As he crouched next to my head, he set something on the floor and leaned in close to my face. Lifting each of my eyelids, he flashed a small light into my eyes, and I winced.

“How’s the head, sweetheart?” he asked in a soft, concerned tone.

“Hurts,” I affirmed. “Can we go home now?”

“Baby, I told you already, soon,” Sanna sniffed and shot Dylan a worried look.

“She’s asked the same question before?” he quizzed my sister, who nodded. “Concussion. Don’t be alarmed if she asks it again, kitten.”

I didn’t remember repeating myself, but my thoughts felt scattered like confetti in the breeze. I could pluck them out but couldn’t hold on to them.

“This is going to be a little cold, and it might sting. I’m going to put some Betadine solution on your head. You’ve got a couple pretty good lacerations there, sweetheart,” Dylan explained as he pulled the cold, wet compress off my head.

Alarmed at the amount of blood saturating the thick squares of gauze, I gasped.

“It’s all right, baby. Head wounds bleed a lot.” Joshua’s soothing words contradicted the tension vibrating from his body. “Dylan is trying to minimize the risk of infection. Let him work on you, okay?”

“Okay.”

Dylan trickled the cold solution over my scalp, and I hissed as the liquid stung my open lesions.

The front door opened, and James rushed in, followed by two white-shirted paramedics with Ian close behind. Quickly darting a glance at Tideway and Carnation, incapacitated and guarded by two men toting large rifles, the first-aid responders exchanged a nervous glance.

“Check her out first,” Ian instructed as he herded the two men my way. “She’s a victim of the other two.”

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