Page 68 of Cruel Savior

"Gas. Jesus Christ. What will he do next?"

"Right? At least they're all not dead."

That definitely was a bright side. Not that any of this felt fucking bright. This asshole was into some dark shit, and I really didn't want to find out what he had planned for her.

"We need to wake them up. Got any ideas?"

"Yeah, but last time I checked I don't carry around smelling salts in a first aid kit."

"Wait. Do you have a first aid kit in here?"

"Yeah." I dug behind the rear seat until I could grab it and pull it out. I handed it over.

He grabbed it and dug through it, but I doubted he was going to find anything. A paramedic I was not, so I didn't bother with much more than what it had come with and refills of the basics like bandages and antiseptic.

"Aha!" He pulled out what looked to me like a nondescript little package, ripped it open and held it up to his nose. "This should work." He crunched up his nose.

"What the fuck is it?"

"Ammonia. Who do you want to wake up first?"

I looked around the cab and noticed the computer still sitting in Tel's lap. "Wake his ass up. He's our best bet at finding her. He's got all the information on the properties that Izzy gave him. Hopefully, he had enough time to narrow them down.”

JD shoved the little opened package under his nose, and nothing happened.

"Shit!"

"Give it a second. It's not magic." He waved it around, hopefully activating whatever it was in that scent that would wake up his big brain.

After another thirty seconds or so I was ready to scream. I couldn't shake the idea that we had very little time to find her before it was too late. I was about to dump one of the bottles of water I kept in the floorboard when he finally twitched.

"About fucking time, sunshine. Time to wake the hell up."

Tel moaned. "What the hell happened?"

"I was hoping you'd tell us." JD hauled him up so he was sitting instead of slumped to the side, but his head still lolled out of control.

"I—I'm not sure."

"Well, you'd better think of something because Mandy is missing, and I'm going to go stark raving mad if you can't point us in the right direction. Did you find anything else about those properties Izzy gave you?"

"Yeah. I—uhh—think so."

"Here drink this." JD shoved a bottle of water into his hand and helped him pull it to his mouth. "Try waking Izzy up. Maybe she can add to this conversation," JD suggested.

I practically ran around the front of the truck to her door and yanked it open, catching her before she could fall out. "This is fucking ridiculous. I am going to kill that asshole with my bare hands the second we find him."

"Get in line," JD growled.

If he hurt her...

I couldn't function with that image in my head. Instead, I grabbed the small package from JD and pushed it under Izzy's nose. She moved almost immediately. Whatever they'd been hit with, either she didn't get as much or it didn't have as much of an effect on her.

"Izzy. Open your eyes, beautiful."

"Houston?"

"No. Axel. But he's right here. He's fine."

---