Page 35 of Savior

“And?” Slim pushed. “Care to share that with the class?”

“I don’t exactly know the prick’s name, but I can tell you what he looked like. Maybe you can get it back to Mikey and the club.”

“And how exactly do you expect me to do that?”

I shrugged my good shoulder. “I don’t know… can’t you go haunt them or some shit? Turn off a few lights? Maybe write it in blood on the walls?”

“Think you and I both know I ain’t a ghost. I’m up here.” He tapped the side of his head. “When you wake up, I’m gone.”

I clenched my jaw. “Thought I was awake.”

“You really think after the beating your body just took that you’re awake?”

A scream echoed off the walls in another part of the building, and I lifted my head. “Was that a woman?”

Slim nodded. “Sure as fuck sounded like one.”

Celia.

I thrashed against the mattress, fighting to free my wrist from the restraints. “Help me get out of this, Slim. We gotta get out of this room.”

My vision blurred, and the ringing in my ears returned. “Shit… I can’t see. Give me a second to let this pass, and we’ll go, okay?”

When the room remained silent, I lifted my head, blinking until the fog cleared. The chair beside the bed sat empty, just as it had the entire time I’d been lying here.

A tear slipped free from the corner of my eye and ran into my ear.

I’d lost him again.

As if it wasn’t bad enough that I was tied up like an animal, life had decided to provide a cruel reminder that no matter the outcome here, my best friend was never coming back.

The woman screamed again, the sound piercing my skull in a thousand places. I no longer cared about breaking free to help her, I just wanted it to stop.

The ache in my neck intensified until all I could do was lie perfectly still, keeping my breathing shallow as I watched the blindingly white ceiling.

“Grey,” a voice shouted from nearby. “You’ve got company. Wake up.”

Cobra had done it; he’d gotten in my head, his voice ringing loud and clear through the empty room. I was going to die hearing him taunt me from somewhere above.

“J-Jamie?” The woman cried. “J-Jamie, h-help us!”

I closed my eyes and breathed a soft sigh of relief when I realized it wasn’t Celia or my girls.

Something brushed against the sole of my foot before an arc of electricity jumped through me, torquing my body like a pretzel. My legs curled up under my ass as my hips arched up toward the ceiling. The arm that I’d been careful not to move now jerked involuntarily out of the sling, forcing a low growl from my lips.

When I opened my eyes, the room was no longer empty. Cobra stood grinning near the foot of the bed, waving a cattle prod as if it were a flag. The screams that I’d heard in my head sounded again, this time much closer than they’d been before.

I panted through an agonizing breath before turning toward it. Norma sat against the wall; arms bound in chains against her chest.

“J-Jamie,” she moaned. “H-h-help him.” She pushed her chained hands away from her body. I lifted my head and followed the line to where Richard lay on the concrete. Blood poured from a wound on his head. If he wasn’t dead already, he would be soon enough. There was no way Saint planned on keeping all of us alive.

Cobra held up his arms, still gripping the cattle prod in one hand. “I thought you might be getting lonely and decided to bring you a couple of friends.”

Norma continued her sniffling from the corner, her eyes pleading for me to rescue them. It took every bit of strength I still possessed to laugh. “Friends? You and your buddy Saint ain’t been doin’ your research.”

Her eyes narrowed as they met mine, not realizing that I was doing the only thing I could to save her ass. I’d lost all respect for her and Dick when they stole my children from me. It didn’t mean I wanted to see them die, though.

Richard chose that moment to rejoin the land of the living, jerking up off the floor with a loud groan. “Norma,” he slurred, struggling to make his way toward her. “It’s gonna be okay.”

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