Page 77 of Poison's Kiss
Chapter 16
Betrayed
I don't know what I was thinking when I told Kane I'd ride with him. He's as fast behind the wheel as Gage. My knuckles have turned white.
A three-hour drive to Pine Shore has turned into a forty-five-minute drive in his Mercedes.
He skids to a halt in front of his house, hauling ass out of the car, leaving me far behind when the door to the front shuts before I've even fully made it out of the passenger seat. When I make it inside, I cover my mouth to hide my gasp.
Amy is a bloody mess from head to toe. Her eyes are weak, showing death's closeness, as her labored breaths come out in wheezes. Sierra coos to her, trying to calm her down, as she strokes her tangled, matted hair that has been splattered by her own scarlet stains.
Her wrists are bandaged, but the blood is seeping through the once white strips. Her throat is bandaged as well, though it's not bleeding as badly her wrists. A blanket covers her as she shivers, acting as though she's freezing.
Suddenly, Dray's in the room, kneeling beside her and pressing his hand to her head.
"I won't be able to heal all of this in one sitting, but I'll be able to save her life. Kane, get her some blood. She's going to need it."
He nods and rushes over to the art room door. My stomach twists as he disappears into it. Apparently, they have a secret fridge I overlooked in the dungeon. I could have figured all of this out a little sooner had I been more persistent in my exploration that night.
He returns almost as quickly, and I watch as the bleeding from her wrists seems to stop. Her breaths become more natural and easier as she sucks in air.
Dray staggers back, proving he's just exerted too much energy to have not exhausted him. Amy is still weak, but she's able to sit up with a slight wince. Sierra almost cries as she keeps her arms around her, making sure Amy feels cared for.
Kane hands her a glass full of blood that she sips appreciatively. He then moves over to sit down next to a weary Dray.
"Start at the beginning," Zee says from behind me, his jaw clenching as he comes to take a place at my side.
I never even heard him come in. I notice Dice is with him, though he's fortunately keeping his perverted humor on mute.
"I never saw anything much. It was all so... unexpected. I was walking through the house after having gone to the mall. Nothing seemed out of place, everything smelled clean - no unusual scents - and I didn't sense any presence here at all. I walked down the steps to the underground room, still not sensing, smelling, or noticing anything out of the ordinary.
"Just as I reached the bottom, a slight sound startled me enough to force me to whip my head around, but I was met with a powerful slam. It wasn't physical, but it felt like a punch from a damn Cyclops or something.
"Before I knew what was going on, my eyes were covered, my hands were bound, and then I felt the pain of the knife slicing through my wrists. What kind of knife slices through our skin?"
Her sobs threaten to creep up on her, but she chokes them back, trying her best to hold it together.
"There are several different forms of blessed weapons," Dray offers, thinking deeply about it as though he's looking for answers.
Amy takes a steadying breath before continuing. "I could hear an echoed whisper as she chanted-"
"She?" Kane interrupts. "Did you recognize her voice or see her face?"
Amy shakes her head, preparing herself to continue once more. "Like I said, it was an echoed whisper, almost as if there was more than one voice, but only one person was there. It's hard to explain. I thought I was going to die, but then the door burst open, and I heard Sierra calling. She smelled my blood, and she knew I was in trouble."
Kane looks to Sierra in that instant. "Did you see her?"
For a brief second, Sierra's death glare flashes to me before her softer look finds Kane.
"Just a glimpse from the back. She ran out of here, and I couldn't chase her because Amy was bleeding to death. I had to save her. All I saw was long blond hair, almost the same length as Alyssa's. Almost the same shade, too. Same build, same height, same weight-"
"I get it," Kane growls. "Alyssa was with me, so stop dropping your unhelpful hints."
Sierra narrows her eyes at him, but his glower doesn't waver. It almost feels like he's standing up for me, but I've been standing up for him since all of this started. I suppose he feels as though he owes me that much.
"So they're setting me up now? Like they tried to do with you when it came to Heath and Thad?" I ask curiously, pointing my questions at Kane. "They're tired of failing with you, so they want to take a stab at me and see if they can provoke action that way?"
Kane grips his head as he leans over. "Fuck."
