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CHAPTER 34
Marigold
My head swam, nausea roiled in my stomach, and my mouth was so dry. I pried open my eyes, trying to make sense of things. Why did I feel so awful? And where was I?
Memories started to come back to me. Driving home in the storm. A downed tree. Someone dragging me out of my car. Then everything going dark.
Panic made my chest tighten. I’d been abducted. Pulled out of my car on a side street and knocked out with something.
Had it been Preston? Did I remember that right?
I realized my eyes had closed again. Whatever he’d used to render me unconscious was obviously still in my system—and probably what was making me feel like vomiting.
Deep breaths, Marigold. Deep breaths.
I tried to breathe slowly, but fear compressed my lungs, making it hard to fill them with air. I finally got my eyes open but my vision was blurry. Blinking, I lifted my head and tried to make sense of my surroundings.
A bed. I was lying on my back on a bed, but nothing about the room was familiar. It was too dark to see much, just the light of a small lamp illuminating the space. But it looked like a loft with a pitched ceiling. My clothes were still on, as were my coat and shoes.
Had he really put me in a trunk? It seemed like he had, but it was hard to be sure. My mind was so fuzzy.
I let my head drop onto the pillow and rubbed my eyes. I hated the way this felt, like my limbs weren’t quite connected to my body and my head was full of cotton. At least the nausea was gradually subsiding.
The sudden sense that I was being watched made me freeze. I slowly opened my eyes, keeping my hands up, as if I wasn’t as weak as a kitten and stood a chance of actually defending myself if I needed to.
But it wasn’t Preston. It wasn’t even a man.
A young woman stood near the bed, dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans. Her long blond hair was down and slightly disheveled, like she’d just woken up. Even in the dim light, I could see dark circles beneath her eyes, and she gazed at me with a haunted expression.
Wait. I knew that face. How did I know her?
“You’re awake.” Her voice sounded so young.
She couldn’t have been the one to take me. It had been a man. “Where am I?”
“John’s cabin.”
“John?” Was I supposed to know who that was?
“I thought you were his girlfriend.”
“I don’t know John. Did you help bring me here?”
“No. He left me here for a while, then came back with you.”
“Is he here?”
She shook her head. “He said he wouldn’t be gone for very long. Did he use a needle?”
“I think so.”
She nodded, like she understood. “I’ll get you some water. It helps when you’re first waking up.”
The girl turned and disappeared down a set of stairs.
I sat up and my stomach protested. A few deep breaths and the nausea abated, for the moment at least. My head hurt but at least my vision was coming back.
A needle. He’d injected something into me that had knocked me out.
