Page 35 of The Wildcard

The only people who were scurrying around were the servers, the waiters, and the rest of the housekeeping staff.

Ray knew she should have kept an eye on each one of them, but she was getting tired. It had been a long day; she was thinking when she stepped through the small crowd of the staff in the living arena.

It's going to get worse, the voice in her head cried when someone bumped into her. Ray snapped back immediately, her fingers trying to wrap around the smaller figure’s wrist. But whoever it was, they were too slippery. Ray barely had time to gasp as they pressed a piece of paper into her hands and scurried away, the cloak on their head swaying with the wind. She frowned, turning on her heels to follow the figure when a loud voice called out from the hallway,

“Ray!”

She didn’t pay it any heed, instead looked down at the paper in her hand. Her brows furrowed as she pried it open quickly, her finger trembling. And froze as she read the words on the page.

‘Did you enjoy your gift?’

Holy. Shit. A sudden ringing began in her ears, loud and unforgiving.

It was then Ray fell apart. Everything, the night before, Maya’s tests, Alessandro’s expectations, June’s dead eyes, and this– this nonsensejoke. Everything fell apart. There were too many people. It was becoming too loud. Too chaotic.

Ray forced herself to breathe out, acquainting herself to the constant chatter that rose around her.

The people that kept scurrying around her.

But her heart was pounding in her chest, an acute sense of paranoia hitting her veins as all the voices around her rose like sirens.

She let out a harsh breath and stumbled to one side, bracing her palm against an invisible wall but swaying violently instead, trying to count backward in her mind and failing terribly.

Shit. Shit.Shit.

She didn’t notice him near her but felt the warmth of his hand seep against her lower back. Her body was trained, and as if it were muscle memory, Ray’s elbow jerked back. But whoever was standing behind her grabbed hold of it and pulled her closer. She breathed in the familiar cologne and would’ve almost jerked in surprise if it weren’t for the haze of her mind.

“Ray?” that smooth drawl, “What–hey!”

She swayed sideways again, her breath coming out in a harsh gasp. Those dead eyes everywhere. Those voices were in her head. Were screaming. Ray gasped out loud and Angel grunted behind her, his arm going around her waist to haul her up,

“Get a hold of yourself,” he snapped down at her, making her head tip back. She was facing him now, but her vision was blurry as he looked at her with those angry amber eyes of his.

“Too loud,” Ray breathed, managing to step away from him. Away from his cologne and hisstupideyes. They widened as he heard her words, “Too many people. Too fuckingloud.”

She couldn’t breathe when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the hallway, away from the crowd. The paper in Ray’s fist had crinkled, but she had enough wits to keep it hidden as they walked in the silent hallway.

It didn’t make it better, nothing did. Ray stumbled behind him.

“Let go of me,” she snarled but it had no effect on him. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t.Wouldn’t. A part of her whispered, or screamed or did everything,

Please, please, please–

“Let go of me,” she rasped, but then Angel turned, his amber eyes so wide in worry that Ray knew it was bad. Knew this was bad. Her world swayed–

“Woah,”he started as her eyes rolled back and she swayed to one end. One of his hands was behind her waist, firm and warm as the other held the back of her head and pulled her closer to his chest, “Easy now, Storm. Let’s breathe, okay?”

So soft. So quiet. So peaceful.

Ray didn’t breathe.

“Head here,” he said softly and gently pulled her head closer to his chest, “And now you’re blocked away from the world.”

A sob stuck in her throat, but she didn’t dare cry. Didn’t dare let him notice.

“Angel De Santos, leave me alone,” she breathed again. Coffee, whiskey, and cologne. She pushed away from him and put her hands in her hair, tugging at their roots. The numbness from before had broken and it had brought forth a damn of memories, of emotions she hadn’t faced for years. And now–

“No.” his tone was final, and her angry gaze snapped up to his.

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