I smiled. “I’ve been receiving much the same treatment as your lady. I did not do what they wanted, and I was punished for it. Severely.”
Can you tell me what you know?
“Gladly.”
46
THE VOLUNTEER
“Violet?”
The sound of my husband’s voice caused tears to sting my eyes. It wasn’t real, it couldn’t be, but it felt so fucking good to hear him. My dreams hadn’t been able to get it right until now.
“Violet? Baby, tell me it’s really you. Tell me this is fucking real.”
His voice—fuck, it was so real, so pained and broken. It was like he truly was standing in front of me. Like if I let my eyes open, I would find him hovering?—
Soft hands landed on my shoulders, my eyes shot open.
“Aus?”
Austin stood in front of me, looking relieved and panicked and pained all at the same time. He cupped my face and ran his thumb over my skin. Tears were streaming down his cheeks as he studied me.
This was real—or as real as the shower dream we had shared. He was standing in front of me, touching me, looking at me like I was his whole world.
We were in an empty room, soft light filled the open space, but I couldn’t see where it was coming from. He looked just how I remembered—shaggy black hair falling into his ice blue eyes and five o’clock shadow running over his jaw. But there were a few subtle differences. He looked more pale, tired, he might have even lost a few pounds.
I wondered what I looked like to him. Was my face still bruised? Could he see all the new scars? Could he tell my hair was thinner from the amount of times I’d been dragged by it? Was the weight I lost obvious? Or had I appeared in front of him the way I’d looked the last time he saw me?
“Where are you, Nightshade?”
“In the mountain. I don’t know how much time we have, but I’ll tell you as much as I can.”
I started with the most important things Niko had learned. He already knew who took me so I moved on to the devices that cut off powers gained bythe incident—how they worked and where they were. I stressed he couldn’t turn them off. It would throw the whole base into lockdown if he even tried. But it was okay to leave them.
Officer Stupid had the devices pointed at each other which stopped powers from the outside being used on the inside and vice versa. That was why Niko hadn’t been able to leave and the rest of his shadows hadn’t been able to find me, at least that was my theory.
I explained he wouldn’t be able to use his powers as he crossed the perimeter but they would return a minute or so after he got inside. I also told him to keep his ice buried deep inside him when he crossed. Stupid Shit was prepared for Austin to come for me and had the devices ready to alert ifAvalanchemade an appearance.
I was surprised he remained so calm. He just kept hold of my hands and ran his thumb over my skin. Occasionally, he asked if he could hug me—after the second I told him the answer was always going to be yes, he didn’t have to keep asking, but he did.
“I miss you,” he whispered into my hair. He was holding me so tight, yet gentle—like he was afraid he might hurt me.
I slid my hands under his shirt, running my fingers over his back and soaking in his warmth. “I miss you. Every second.”
He pulled back slightly, just enough to cup my face again. “What… What have they been doing to you?”
“I don’t… Not yet, okay? Once I’m out.”
“I’ll be there, the second I wake up, I’m coming for you.”
“No.”
“No?”
“No. You need a solid plan and back up. Plus… I haven’t… I haven’t seen the sun in weeks. I don’t—I’d rather come out at night. Please.”
“But—”
