Hawk. In the last week we'd gotten used to the power going in and out. "This is the first time you've heard the alarm since it was installed?" I asked Parker. She nodded. "What are the odds this has to do with the power going out again?"
"Given that the alarm system has its own power, separate from the house? I doubt the power outage tripped the alarm, if that's what you're asking. But it doesn't mean someone is trying to break in."
Staring at the screen of her phone, she made her way back to the couch. Just as she was turning to sit, we heard it. A voice in the hall, familiar but indistinct.
Parker froze, waiting. We heard it again. Closer, definitely a woman, a voice I'd heard before, but still too muffled to make out the identity or what they were saying. Parker thought she knew. Whirling to face the door, she called out, "Sterling? Are you okay?"
"Parker, wait!" I don't know what tipped me off. It very well could have been Sterling out there. No reason to think it wasn't.
Except that Hawk had told us to stay in our rooms. Sterling had her reckless moments, according to the things I'd heard, but she wasn't stupid. She wouldn't be roaming the halls when Hawk told her to stay put. Unless she thought she had a good reason. Or...
I lunged ahead of Parker, shouldering her away from the door, knocking her outstretched hand out of the way. Then I heard it too. Sterling, calling for Parker. Fuck.
My fingers closed on the brass handle of the door, and I was out.
I fell over like a log, my muscles locked stiff. I couldn't blink, couldn't talk, couldn't think. Seconds of nothing, followed by a fiery pain surging up my arm, spreading through my body, my brain in a centrifuge, spinning, thoughts cascading, nothing making sense.
My frozen body sank into waves of pain, bees on bladed wings slicing through every nerve, my muscles cramping in agonizing surges. I blinked, a shadow falling over my eyes, something wet on my face, and all was still. Black. The blare of the alarm forced its way through the cacophony of sound in my brain.
And her. "Nash! Nash!" Parker, screaming, her hands fluttering over me. I tried to bat them away, terrified whatever had me in its grips would transfer to her. "Nash, stop! Stop! Just stay still. Breathe. Take a breath for me."
Her cool fingers brushed my hair off my forehead. My lungs unlocked. My vision cleared. Muscles that had seized and cramped so furiously went limp. I'm not sure I could have moved if I'd tried. I didn't. I lay there, letting her soft strokes ease me back into the world.
When I thought I could talk without squeaking out sounds of pain, I whispered, "What happened?"
"Are you okay?" Parker's hair trailed over my skin, silken soft, her warm hazel eyes wet with tears.
"Think so. Going to lay here for a minute." Or a year. I wasn't sure I could sit up yet.
"What happened?" I repeated, this time at a normal volume.
"I don't know. I–" She shot a glance at the door. "I think you got shocked. Like you grabbed a live wire. You touched the door and went down. And you–" She shook her head, stroking her fingers over the line of my jaw. "It sounded like it hurt." Her voice caught. I grabbed at her hand, squeezing hard.
"It did, but I'm okay." I thought I was telling the truth. I was definitely telling the truth about the pain. And I was fairly sure I was okay. "What happened to my phone?"
"I don't know. It was in your hand. I think you dropped it." Parker shoved hers at me. "Use mine."
Taking her phone, I tapped the call icon and pulled up Hawk.
"Status?" he barked.
"It's Nash," I said slowly, hoping my brain and my vocal cords would stay online long enough to fill Hawk in. "Not sure exactly what happened, but I think the door handle in Parker's suite just shocked the hell out of me. I went down like I'd been tased." I said it before the thought was fully formed. I'd been tased once years before, and while this hadn't been exactly the same, it was pretty damn close. Just a lot worse.
"Shit. Are you okay? Still in her suite?"
"I'm fine. And we're not going anywhere near that door. But Hawk? There was a voice outside the door. It sounded like Sterling. Check on her?"
"On it. Stay put. I'll head up there and deal with the door."
I handed Parker back her phone. Desperately hoping I wasn't about to fall flat on my face and scare the hell out of her, I braced my hand on the floor and levered myself into a sitting position. It felt like lifting an elephant, every muscle in my body wrung out as if I'd just finished a punishing workout.
"Water?" Parker asked. I don't know if she was just trying to be helpful, or if I looked as thirsty as I suddenly was.
"Please," I said, my voice hoarse. A moment later she was pushing an open water bottle into my hand.
"Do you want anything else? Tea? Or–"
I shook my head, patting the carpet beside me. "Just sit here with me for a minute."
