Page 95 of Scorned

“Dreams. Many . . . dreams.” His incoherent words made no sense to me.

I leaned into his ear, being as quiet as possible. “You just need blood.”

If I had any chance of getting him out of here, he needed to feed now and I had no idea where Erik was with the blood bags.

I tapped my earbud, knowing my team could still hear me. “I found Luka in Forensic Pathology. I need blood now.”

Not sure if anyone would be able to find me quick enough, I slid my hand into the top of my T-shirt and pulled my necklace out, pushing the pearl which would send my location to my friends.

As I waited for them to find us, I searched for a way to release Luka, and noticed his arms and legs were tightly secured with large metal cuffs. His bloodstained wrist caught my eye and I ran my finger along one, pulling the skin taught. Silver spikes lined the inside of the cuffs and were digging into his flesh, and when I noticed that the bed he laid on also had spikes covering it, digging into his backside, my stomach twisted in knots.

I took a breath and shoved my emotions back, keeping my tears from falling—or maybe, I was keeping myself from falling apart.

I scanned the area, looking for blood . . . a chainsaw . . . a miracle . . . anything to help me. Other than Luka’s shiny bed, the room contained nothing more than a laptop on a rolling pedestal, a cabinet, and a cart with . . .

I froze.

Upon the rolling cart laid a metal tray filled with surgical instruments. Memories of Mannie and his tray covered in torment goodies flooded me, causing a tightness to settle in my chest. Luka had saved me from being tortured to death that night and I needed to do the same for him.

“Sage . . . safe.” He let out a groan that conveyed his pain, and despite Ravage’s warnings, I knew what I had to do.

I had to feed him.

I pulled back his lip, inspecting his teeth, and his fangs weren’t visible. Even if I tried, he wouldn’t bite me.

“Fuck,” I whispered to myself before yanking a surgical blade from the tray, hoping it cut smoother than the dagger strapped to my thigh.

The edge of the table he laid upon didn’t contain spikes, and I prayed the five-inch strip of flat steel was enough for what I was about to do.

With a deep breath, I crawled onto the cold table and straddled Luka, keeping my knees on the edge so the spikes didn’t injure me.

“Not real . . . dream girl.” He blinked his pale blue eyes repeatedly as if he was swatting a fake version of me out of his head.

I mustered enough strength to control my intense emotions, and took a deep breath, slowly exhaling as I lifted the sharp scalpel. My hands trembled intensely and the blade shook too, as if it was an extension of my body. My eyes locked on the silver sheen, the sharpness scaring me, yet ultimately commanding my respect.

“Please don’t kill me,” I whispered, unsure if I was talking to Luka or to the scalpel.

This was going to either be the best or the worst decision of my life.

Ready to do what needed to be done, I laid the blade across my wrist, took a deep, shuddering breath, and . . . a door slammed shut in the hallway, halting my actions.

Needing to hide fast, I scrambled off Luka to the side of the bed closest to the wall and hunched down on the floor out of sight. Being a solid platform, unless someone walked behind it, they wouldn’t see me.

My heart raced at the sound of six beeps from the security pad before the door opened. Someone entered the room and high-heeled shoes tapped against the marble floor.

“Dream girl,” Luka whimpered.

“Is Sage visiting you again?” a woman asked, and I held my breath at the sound of my name.

“Not real.”

“At least you get to see her in your head.” She giggled, and it sent furious anger to the depths of my soul.

After the sound of her digging in the cabinet stopped, the wheels of a cart squeaked as she pulled it across the room.

“Dream girl.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Dream girl.” Another giggle, then more shuffling sounds.

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