Page 13 of Ballistic

A lightness claimed my chest as I was lowered into warm waves of bliss. I had no awareness of where he’d taken me, only that I felt swaddled in heat, and the chill no longer stuck to my bones. Soft cotton trailed over my forehead, my eyes, my face, leaving behind a cool clean scent. Like citrus.

The blur sharpened into focus, and I stared up at warm brown eyes.

Familiar eyes.

5

Dax

Carrying a bag filled with chicken soup, smokes, bread, and a few other things I’d grabbed at the liquor store, I made my way up the staircase to my apartment. A sound echoed down the stairwell, like faint screams, and I jolted forward, jogging the rest of the way up. I slammed through the apartment, tossing groceries and keys onto the counter as I passed, and dashed down the hallway toward Nicoleta’s room.

On the bed, she lay writhing. T-shirt hiked up to her stomach. No panties. She hadn’t been wearing any when we pulled her out of that storage facility.

“What’s wrong?” I edged toward the bed with cautious steps, catching sight of a scant amount of blood trickling down her arm.

“Do you hear them?” Still squirming on the bed, she shifted her eyes back and forth.

I stopped to listen. “Who?” Maybe she’d heard something outside.

“The swine. They’re coming for me. Don’t you hear them?” Panic rose in her voice, and I tried to make sense of what the hell she was talking about. Tesarik’s men? Maybe reliving some of the shit she’d gone through? “My mother let them in. They’re coming!”

“Nobody’s coming. You’re safe here. I promise.”

When I approached the bed, she kicked out her leg, nailing me square in the nuts. The pain shot up my groin, damn near into my throat, as I stood bent forward, cupping my balls. “Motherfuck!”

As the pain subsided, I inched closer, avoiding her flailing feet, and examined her cuffed arm. Couldn’t see a damn thing with all her wriggling, so I loosened her bind.

Without so much as a hello, her fist flew at me, knocking me in the nose on an explosion of tingles that watered my eyes.

I pinched the bridge of it to settle the shots of pain still firing through my sinuses and shook my head. Goddamn, Rhys hadn’t been lying. That shit hurt.

Wrangling her arm, I held her down and noticed she’d somehow scratched her arm. Nothing serious from the looks of it, but I took a moment to massage her forearm, elbow, and biceps while her arm remained un-cuffed.

She stilled on the bed and turned her head toward me, eyes half-mast. “Please. I need my pills.” Pleading eyes captured mine, holding me hostage for a moment as I continued to massage her. “You can fuck me, if you want. I’ll let you do whatever you want.”

“Nicoleta …” I’d gotten her doses of Hedonic down to about a quarter of a pill, and had hoped to start weaning her off the shit. I knew it wasn’t her talking, but the drug. Still, didn’t help me forget that it’d been two months since I’d last been with a woman.

“You like anal? I’ll let you fuck my ass, if you want. Please … I need my pills. I’m sick. I can’t take it anymore.” Tears filled her eyes, and she curled her fingers around my arm, digging her nails into my muscles. “Just give me one.”

“You don’t need them anymore. You’re getting better.”

Brows pinched, she shook her head, eyes brimming with betrayal. “I’m not better. I’m not better!” Her hips circled and undulated against the bed, her bony legs spread wide in offering. “Just fuck me and give me a pill.”

I lifted her arm back toward the restraint and secured the latch. “No deal,” I said, pulling up the sheet to cover her lower half.

Was shitty what they did to them. I imagined the guards took them up on the offer, if the girls had ever gotten to that point. I’d be willing to bet they intentionally withheld the drugs to keep them that way.

“I hate you. I fucking hate you!” She kicked out again, knocking the bed against the wall.

Hands braced at the footboard, I pulled the frame far enough away to keep from making noise and stared down at her. “Hang in there, Nic. It’s almost over.”

6

Dax

For six days I watched over her, as she slogged through detox.

In that time, the girl seemed to go in and out of lucid moments, some more violent than others. Much as I hated doing it, I’d kept her restrained to the bed, otherwise she’d have been tearing at her skin, or trying to eat the fucking pillow.