Page 86 of Jump or Fall
It was pointless. He wasn’t going to sleep.
His ear chimed. “What?”
“Get your ass to the clinic in Eight! Now!” Wells yelled, voice frantic.
Gordon bolted upright. “What happened?”
“He took Mara to the office in Six. I shot Max and knocked out Knight.” Traffic noise crackled in the background. “I’ll call Kaur and sign her in as ‘M’.”
“What happened to her!”
Silence stretched over the line. “I can’t, Gordon… Just get there fast.”
Gordon sprinted through the tunnels to the exit where he kept his bike, mind racing. What the hell happened? The thought of that sick fuck even being in the same room as her made his blood boil.
His heart pounded and his muscles screamed, but he kept pushing.
Finally, the exit symbol was ahead. Bursting through the door, he didn’t care who saw him as he hurtled toward his bike.
Good thing he’d stayed sober.
He pulled on his helmet and sped off toward Eight, cutting through alleys and slipping between cars. Someone opening their car door nearly clipped him, and he wavered before getting the balance right again.
Fuck the Naxos Free Society. He shouldn’t have listened to their shit about a trial to begin with. Knight didn’t deserve it. The urge to hunt him down now and put a bullet in his skull was overwhelming, but Mara came first. He needed to know she was safe.
Ditching his bike at the edge of Eight, he tossed his helmet aside and rushed to the clinic. Crossing Scarlet Row filled him with terror. Memories of holding his torn face together surfaced and he had to swallow the urge to scream.
Get to Mara. Get to Mara.
The receptionist was talking to someone on her earpiece, but looked up. She jerked her head toward the hall and held up four fingers.
He bolted down the corridor and threw the door open. If it was the wrong room, apologies could come later.
Mara lay motionless on the bed, her entire face covered in blood.
His heart shattered.
No. No.No.
He cut her face.
That fucking scum cut her face.
His vision blurred as he stepped closer. Three jagged cuts ran from her forehead to her cheek on the left side along with a deep cut to the right side of her chin.
Her left eye was gone.
Dr. Kaur appeared at his side. “She’ll be okay. I’m gonna need you to move over there.” She gestured toward the chairs, where Wells sat, head in his hands, arms and shirt stained red.
The doctor affixed the surgical tool and worked in tandem with it, repairing Mara’s face. Gordon never imagined the gift he’d brought to the people of Eight would one day be used on someone he loved.
He hadn’t told Mara he loved her yet. All of his self-doubt had kept him from admitting it, and now he’d almost lost her forever.
He wouldn’t make a mistake like that again.
“What the fuck happened?” Gordon demanded. “Why’d he take her there?”
Wells lowered his hands. “I didn’t know who he was bringing over. Knight just said there was someone we needed to question and to clear the office. He came in with her handcuffed and Max tailing behind. Said some shit about her having it good and all he wanted was for her to do what he said.”
