But you can’t ever be sure about things like loyalty.
“These are the girls your husband kills, Wendy. That’s who that was.”
“What was she talking about? Who’s coming?”
“I don’t know who. I wasn’t lying about that. It’s hush-hush.”
“Then how do you even know someone’s coming?”
“Because she’s not my first. I’ve been handing these girls over to people for years.”
Wendy doesn’t have time to ask any follow-ups because we exit the woods and Nick sees us. “What the fuck! What the fuck!”
That’s what he says, over and over.
I swear to God, Nick Tate is tiresome to the nth degree.
I can’t wait until he’s gone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE - DONOVAN
“Where am I?” It takes me a moment to focus. Then I recall that there are people here who shouldn’t be. Then I see her face from across the room. Two faces, actually. One I know well. One I do not know at all. “Sasha Cherlin. As I live and breathe.”
She stands up hurriedly. Quick enough that her chair topples and makes a crashing sound that bounces off the high ceilings.
Oh. I recognize these ceilings. I’m in the old part of the house. I always did like this room. I shake my head. “What the hell did they do to this room?”
“Donovan?” That comes from the one I do not recognize. When I look at him, he narrows his eyes. “Or Carter?”
“Carter. That bastard. No. It’s me.”
“How do we know that?” he asks.
I flip the covers off my body, pull the IV out—ouch—and I’m about to swing my legs over the side of the bed when I realize there are railings there. Machines are beeping behind me, and the unknown man is rushing towards me like he means business.
“Hold on there, Merc.”
What?
No.
Merc?
And why am I talking like that?
“Carter?” This comes from Sasha. “Is that you?”
“No! It’s me!” And it is. That’s my voice.
But then, “That’s right, Sasha.” He says her name with flair. In a mocking tone.
“What the hell is going on here?” I ask. “Why has the old family room been turned into—What are you doing?” The big guy—Merc. I know that name. He’s dangerous. He’s got a hold of my arm and he’s trying to shove the IV back in. I pull away. “How did I get here? What’s going on? Where’s Indie?”
And that’s when I remember. That’s when it all comes back to me.
Indie in the woods. Aiming her gun right at my head. Nathan was there. Adam was there. McKay was there.
And he was there too.
“He?” I hear myself say out loud. But it’s not my voice. It’s him.
He stole Maggie.
“You stole Maggie.”
“Carter,” Sasha says again. “You need to stop. Right now. Go back—”
“No.” I feel the anger inside me, even though I’m not the one speaking. “No. I will not go back. You—”
She rushes towards me, fist raised, and punches me right in the face. For a moment I’m dizzy and confused. Then her voice floats back into my head.
“Hurry,” she says to Merc. “Hurry!”
He’s got the IV in. Sasha is taping it to my hand, even as I try to rip it back out.
“One sec,” Merc says. He hangs a bag on the IV stand to my right. Then…
Bliss.
Oh, this is nice.
I close my eyes and I float.
The last thing I hear as I drift back into the darkness is Sasha Cherlin’s voice.
I remember her.
I know her.
She has secrets.
So many, many secrets.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR - MERC
I’m holding the new IV bag in my hand trying to figure out what just happened. Then I say it out loud. “What the fuck was that?”
“That was Mr. Couture,” Sasha says. “Both sides of him, I think.”
I shake my head, check his vitals, consider waking up Cerene and letting her know that she put the wrong fucking bag of drugs on this IV stand, then reconsider. Because the old bag—which is spilling clear liquid out onto a stainless-steel tray where I dropped it—is clearly labeled as the drug Doc has been using.
Someone fucked with it. And if it’s Cerene, I want to wait until Doc is back to confront her.
And if it isn’t, I want to wait until everyone is back before I start talking about it.
It could be any of them.
But one thing is clear—someone in this house fucked with Donovan’s drugs.
“Well.” Sasha lets out a long breath. “That was exciting.”
She’s watching me carefully. Like she’s waiting for me to say something. So I do. “Someone switched his drugs.”
Sasha looks at the bag with squinty eyes. “They did?”
“Yeah.”
“Cerene?”
I just had this conversation in my head, so I’m not exactly excited about having it out loud again. I change the subject. “That was them, then?”
“Yeah. I think so.”
“What were they doing? Fighting for control?”
“Maybe.”
“I wonder who won?”
“Carter, I think.”
“What makes you say that?”
“His accent. It’s American. Donovan kinda has a British accent. He grew up in the Caribbean.”