Page 126 of Lovely Darkness

“I’m not drinking this!” Maggie is complaining on the other side of the room. Sasha has bent down and is holding the little cup of blue liquid out for her to take. “No! No, no, no!” Maggie is screaming so loud, I’d definitely classify it as a shriek.

I want to scream back at her. Yell at her to shut up.

“Maggie.” Adam beats me to it. But he’s not yelling. He’s calm, arms crossed over his chest, a look on his face that says, I will find you, Donovan. I will hunt you and find you. And when I do, you will die slow. “Drink it.”

“But Adam—”

“What if,” Sasha says, and everyone directs their attention to her, “what if I take her out?”

“No!” Maggie squeals again.

“Hush,” Sasha says, putting a finger to her lips. Then she looks over at Donovan, pleading look in her eyes. “I’ll tie her up. Put her in her room. Then take the drink. You can watch me—”

“No.” And Donovan waves a hand in the air, dismissing that idea. “Everyone drinks. And once that’s done, then you can take her out of here. I underestimated her the first time.” His fingertips reach around to the back of his head, feeling for the scar. “I won’t make that mistake again.”

“What’s that mean?” Adam growls.

“I’m taking her with me,” Donovan deadpans. Like this isn’t going to set Adam off.

I wait for Adam to lunge at him the way Indie did. Wait for McKay to pull him back.

But Adam doesn’t move. He just shoots him that look.

I will hunt you. You had better kill me before you leave here, because I will hunt you.

Donovan ignores him. “All right. Bottoms up or things will get interesting.” Then he chuckles. Like the madness in his head is burbling. Overflowing. About to break free.

We glance around at each other, wondering who will be first.

It’s Adam. He downs it.

And then we all drink. Even Maggie.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO - MERC

I’ve taken the Lectra before so I know what to expect.

It is burning cold going down. It coats my throat with a slick of black ice. Then it hits my stomach and some chemical reaction that feels like the hand of God flips my world upside down and I float.

I float.

No. I laugh. This isn’t floating. This is fucked up. Instant fucked up.

A Dixie cup full of Lectra. That’s not a shot. Not an ounce. Two, at least.

Wasted.

I am fucking wasted.

But the controller in me has enough sense to look over at Maggie to check and see if she’s even alive. Two ounces.

But she didn’t drink. She’s still holding her cup. Her mouth is moving, but I can’t really hear her words. Instead I see them. They float too. Letters and letters and letters come streaming out of her mouth like they are leaves riding a river.

Then I see Sasha holding her cup too. It’s empty and she’s swaying a little. Her eyes find mine and she smiles at me.

Little Sasha Cherlin. Look at her. So pretty and—

I lose my train of thought, distracted by McKay, who bursts out laughing when Indie breaks free of Nathan and rushes up to Donovan.