Page 98 of Slaughter

“Look at me.” His voice is rough but commanding.

I do as I’m told. His eyes go back and forth between mine. The room sways, and I blink rapidly.

“Bunny. Look at me.”

I am. He has two heads. Four eyes. The wall behind him seems to move in a circular motion.

“Focus on me, baby,” he urges as if he knows. “Look at me.” He lowers his voice. I blink once. Twice. That ringing is still loud but no longer overpowers his voice. It seems to ground me. “That’s it, baby. Look at me.” He nods his head once. His eyes go back and forth between mine so fast I can’t keep up with them. “Take a deep breath for me.”

I try to do as he says, but it hurts. I whimper.

“It’s not working,” he barks, looking away from me for the first time.

“It will. She needs to relax. The more she fights it, the more pain it will cause,” someone says. “Help calm her down.”

I’ve quit fighting. I’m so weak.

My head is so heavy. It falls back, and the new position makes it hard to breathe. So I don’t and the pain lessens. And the light … so harsh that it hurts my already sensitive eyes. What happened to the darkness?

“Bunny?” he snaps, and my head is brought back to face him once again.

I take in a breath, and the pain returns.

His lips part while he stares at me with those pretty blue eyes. “Come on. I need you to look at me. Listen to me. You’re safe, baby.” I blink. That ringing still loud in my ears. “Do you understand? You’re safe.” He nods once. “I got you, Bunny.”

He’s wrong. So wrong. The pain I feel proves that. I part my lips to speak, but nothing comes out.

“What is it?” he asks. “Tell me, baby.”

I part my lips and try to ignore the pounding behind my eyes. I need to tell him. He should just leave me wherever we are and run away as fast as he can, or neither one of us will make it out alive. He should save himself. I’m not worth dying for.

“What is it?” he repeats with urgency.

I blink, my eyes growing heavy. So tired. But I have to tell him. If it’s the last thing I do. I open my numb lips and warn him. “He’ll come for me.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

AVERY

“BUNNY?” I SNAP WHEN HER eyes close. “What the fuck did you give her?” I demand Franklin as he stands next to my bed. We’ve been back for three hours now, and that was the first glimpse of anything from her.

He shakes his head. “It’s not the meds. She has a concussion. She’s gonna go in and out of consciousness.”

Her head starts to fall forward, so I gently place her on her back. I stand from the bed and start to pace next to her.

“She needs to be admitted. Twenty-four-hour care. I can make a call. They can have a room ready for her when we arrive ...”

“No!” I snap.

He’ll come for me!

He fucked with her mind. Told her that even if she got away, he would get her again. And he made her believe it. Made her doubt my ability to keep her safe. Why wouldn’t she believe him? I failed her.

I don’t want her in a hospital. There are too many opportunities for someone to slip in and slip out. Too many ways for Vaughn to pay off some nurse or doctor to administer her the wrong drug, killing her instantly. If I have her admitted, she’ll have a chart. A room number. No privacy. I need her at my house with guards. Lots of them. She may have been taken from my home, but I wasn’t thinking clearly. I didn’t understand the real threat. Now I do. I’ll use Darrell as an example and then build a fucking army around her.

Franklin lets out a growl, getting my attention. “You hired me to help her. But you’re not taking my advice.”

“Because your advice is shit!” I shout.

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