Page 88 of Surrender (Angels Halo MC Next Gen)

Anya touched his arm when he trailed off. “It’s okay,l’venok. I’m not going to break if you mention your brother.”

“Christian,” he muttered, thrusting his hands into his slack pockets. “He’s called me Christian at least a dozen times this week.”

I took a big swallow of my coffee then reached for another packet of sugar. “Sammy hasn’t mentioned it, but she gets upset every time she talks to her dad. Whether he calls or texts, she gets really quiet afterward.”

“It’s been hard on her,” Anya said with a sad shake of her head. “When he gets tired, he forgets that she’s grown now and he thinks she’s snuck out of the house. But if he sees her, he thinks she’s me, and he gets severely agitated.”

I drained my paper cup and tossed the trash into the recycling bin. “Let’s go back up. I don’t like being away from her.”

As we stepped back into the elevator, an alert went off on my phone. Frowning at the sudden noise, I pulled it out and swiped my thumb over the alert message. It wasn’t one I’d set up, but because I’d mirrored Samara’s phone, the camera feeds she’d placed to watch over Abi were linked to my cell too.

“What is that?” Anya asked, trying to peek at my phone screen.

“It’s nothing.” I flicked through each location, trying to figure out where the alert was coming from.

“That sounds like the alert I have on Nova’s cameras,” Ryan told his mom.

“You have cameras on Samara?” Anya laughed. “What is it with you boys? Don’t you understand the value of personal space?”

“No…” I couldn’t find anything on the feed that stuck out. Pocketing my phone, I shrugged. “I do have cameras on Sammy. And an app on my phone that mirrors hers. As well as one that lets me see anything on her phone’s camera. But that was from something else.”

“What apps do you have?” Ryan asked with interest as the elevator doors opened. “Do you only see from the rear camera or the front?”

“I can switch between both.”

“Damn, I need to look into that,” he muttered to himself as we walked down the corridor to Samara’s room.

I didn’t tell him it was his wife who had helped me put that app on Samara’s phone. Or that she’d installed all the cameras I still had access to of Samara’s bedroom and many of the places she frequented in New York. I wouldn’t have doubted that Nova already had the same app on Ryan’s phone and he wasn’t aware of it. She was as crazy possessive of him as he was of her. Just as Samara and I were with each other.

Anya opened the door, and I followed her in with Ryan right behind me. But as soon as I stepped inside, I felt the energy around us shift. Dread slithered up my spine, and a hollow sensation took root in my chest. My gaze went straight to Samara.

Or where she was supposed to be.

With all the lights off except for one by the window to cast a soft glow, I could easily see that the bed was empty.

CHAPTERFORTY-SIX

samara

Head pounding,I reached out in search of Elias. All I needed was for him to touch me, and I would feel better. Just his hand in mine and all the pain would go away.

Not immediately feeling him, I cautiously lifted one eyelid. A lamp was on across the room, but even that felt too harsh for my aching head. Moaning, I pulled the blanket up over my face. “Elias?”

No answer.

Make it stop.

Make it stop.

Make the pain fucking stop.

“Elias, I need you,” I mumbled.

Only you can make the noise and the pain and the crazy ease.

Moaning, I started to lift up when a voice stopped me. “You should try to sleep.”

I froze, unable to figure out if I didn’t recognize the voice because of my pounding headache or because I simply had never heard it before.

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