Page 142 of Ink Deep Devotion

“I’ll call the boss.”

“I’m going to have my nurse give her an IV.”

“Why?” The guard questions.

“She needs fluids and to relax.” The doctor stresses,“Your presence did this, so it would be best if you stood outside so she could calm down.”

With a hesitant look, the guard stands outside the door, keeping it slightly ajar.

“I hate men like that. Big bears just hovering over us.” She gives me a friendly smirk and heads to the door to bring her nurse inside.“I’ll go add my notes to your chart.”

As soon as the doctor is gone, I tell the nurse,“I don’t require any fluids.”

“Are you sure? It will make you feel better.”

I roll my eyes,“Only freedom will make me feel better.”

“What if I can give you that?” Her voice drops to a sly whisper.

My tired eyes jolt open to see a familiar face I haven’t seen in years.“Avery Hailstone?” We attended Silverstone together.

“In the flesh.” She smirks, then looks over her shoulder. The doctor is still talking to my guards. Wait, she’s not talking; she’s distracting them.

“I haven’t seen you since The Cleansing,” I mutter, my body on alert as she hangs the IV bag up and then unwraps the line.

I’ll never forget that night, but Avery was a small detail I haven’t thought of in a very long time. She stood by me and Dante when Dash was forced to fight. She stopped me from running after Dash when he left with Cassandra. She had a hungry look in her eyes. She wanted to escape our world, but she didn’t want to run; no, she wanted to set it on fire and watch it burn.

The night of The Cleansing.

I take a step forward, but a hand grabs my shoulder, spinning me around. I ball my fist and swing, aiming as high as I can. The figure ducks and I miss as expected. Only it’s not Cillian or Dante; I spot them leaving the clearing, and a new pain enters my bleeding chest.

“Let him go,” the person holding me back says. I look up to see Avery Hailstone again—my classmate who wanted to fight and bet on Dash to win.

“Dash doesn’t want her. He… he is lying. He didn’t sleep with me as a game. He’s lying.” I ramble.

I don’t have time for this. I step to the side. I need to get to Dash.

Avery grabs me again. I swing my fist again, but she dodges.“What are you doing?” I snap as I rush towards the tree line. Where is he? Is he sprinting back to the dorms to fuck Casandra?

I swear to God, if he touches her that way, I won’t forgive him!

“Helping you.”

“You don’t know me,” I growl. It’s so dark now that I can barely make out the trees as I weave my way through them.

“I know,” Avery replies,“but I was you once.” Her words make my feet trip on a branch. My knees hit the ground hard, and my palms rub and scrape the soil, cutting me.

“Where is your line, Mila?”

I push myself up.

“Are you going to chase him forever? Watch him push and shove you away with his actions?”

I spin around.“I don’t need your help! Leave me alone.”

“You will be alone if you keep this up. Men like Dash will take the best of you; he’s like a tide. He will come in and sweep parts of you away. Day after day until you are eroded and nothing is left.” I can hear a haunting pain mixed with her words.

“So what should I do?” I hiss in annoyance as my eyes scan the forest for Dash.

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