Page 21 of Beautiful Prey

John tried to pull Emery back against his seat but was unsuccessful. “Come on, Emery, you know I can’t risk you hurting her.”

Emery looked at me, eyes sharp and serious. “I won’t.” He gripped the side of his chair. “But if you let that nurse near me, I’ll hurt someone. You want me calm, then let Eve do it.”

John sighed, exasperated. He turned to me. “Your call then.”

I watched Emery, the tension setting in my shoulders, but he gave nothing away. I glanced at John. “I signed the forms. I understand the risk. Let me help him.”

“Abby, stay just in case,” John said to the nurse, who reluctantly stashed the needle away. He took a step back and Mick did the same. One guard mumbled some joke beside me and the others laughed, but I ignored them as I took the rag, antiseptic, and bandage that Abby offered.

I stepped over to Emery—closer than I’d ever been. My heart fluttered as I got close enough for him to—do what exactly I wasn’t sure. He couldn’t bite me with the mask on, but I was sure he could think of creative ways to harm me if he really wanted to. I tried to not think about it, or about the things I had seen and heard him do that night of my birthday. Tried to see him as just a man, a damaged man, and not a threat to my life.

Gently, I wiped away the blood on his neck, watching him closely. But all he did was watch me back, his eyes half-closed as if my touch brought the calm he so desperately needed. John and the others, though close, blurred, until it was just me and Emery.

I didn’t draw away in fear and disgust. I kept my mind clear and emotions in check, only treating him like a nurse might treat their patient, passive and distant. When I had wiped most of the blood away, I took the antiseptic and located the cut on the side of his head. Blood darkened his hair. I trailed my fingers across the free locks to brush them aside and carefully administered the gel along the cut. Emery closed his eyes, and I noticed his hands turning into fists at his sides, but he didn’t move. We were quiet, relaxed even, as if we’d gone through this many times, him hurting and me mending.

If only every wound was this easy to fix.

When I was through, I stepped away and returned the bloody rag and antiseptic to Nurse Abby, glad to see my hands only shook a little.

“I think we're gonna call it a day, Ms. Eve,” John said as the other guards closed in and Mick started to unchain Emery from his chair. I could still see the concern on his face for letting me get that close but also the shock that Emery had let me and hadn’t done a thing. “Have a good night, alright.”

I nodded, then glanced back at Emery who was watching me again. I gave him a small smile. “Good night.”

He didn’t say anything. Or fight when they made him lay across the ground to shackle his hands behind his back and connect chains at his feet. Head turned on its side, he looked up at me and the weary look fell away and changed to something I couldn’t bring myself to acknowledge.

So, I turned away and didn’t look back.

CHAPTER SIX

I couldn’t sleep. Not just because of the nightmares. But because of the dread that settled in my stomach.

I played our last session over and over in my mind. And had to come to terms that something terrible had happened to Emery. And that someone had hidden the truth of those awful things.

I looked over the information I had in his file. There was no trace of a doctor or medical professional who had taken him and his sister in the records. But that didn’t mean it didn’t happen.

There was no doubt in my mind that he was abused by someone who wasn’t the liquor store owner, that what he told me wasn’t just some delusion of his mind.

Someone had adopted him in secret and deleted the records. And I wanted to know why.

But knowing meant learning a truth that could break me.

When soft gray light began to filter through my window, I knew I had to get out. To leave for a while and clear my head.

As the sun came up, I went down to the main part of Bayville, to their historic city center and walked along the marina. It was quiet and mostly empty. The bay wind nipped at my skin. Downin the deep murky water, I could see only a dark nothingness and the ghost of my reflection along the surface.

He said I was sick…always so sick…But he made me sick.

I closed my eyes, the dread tightening my throat.

I took out my phone and went into my contacts, hesitating for a moment, then tapped the name I wanted to call.

The cell rang twice before being picked up.

“Eve, what a surprise, everything okay?”

“Hey, Uncle Wes, I’m fine. I’m not keeping you from work, am I?”

I heard the closing of the door on his end and a shifting of a seat. “No, no, you caught me at a good time actually. Just finished an early meeting. How’s school?”

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