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“You are. That’s what makes your weakness so disappointing.”
Turk growled and pulled free of West’s foot. He leapt up at West’s throat and Faith’s heart leapt.
But West’s reflexes were flawless. He jumped back and caught Turk with one hand. He snarled and squeezed hard, cutting off Turk’s airway.
Turk’s eyes popped. He kicked and clawed at West, but when he opened his mouth, the only sound that escaped was a soft hiss like air escaping from a tire.
“No!” Faith shouted.
She lunged at Dr. West, swinging hard.
And once again, his reflexes were flawless. He threw Turk down the hallway and crashed his right hand into Faith’s temple. A starburst filled Faith’s vision. Then everything went black.
EPILOGUE
Faith stirred and slowly opened her eyes. Shapes swirled nebulously in her vision. She groaned and tried to move, but the best she could manage was turning her head.
She heard a voice, but the sound was muffled like someone was shouting through water. She tried to speak, but her own voice sounded muffled.
A shape loomed over her. She blinked and could make out the outline of a face.
“Hrm,” she said. “What… Where…”
“You’re all right, Faith,” a voice said.
She blinked and saw that the face, and the voice, belonged to Michael. He looked down at her with pain and relief, and she felt tears come to her eyes.
“What happened?” she asked.
Her vision was still fuzzy, but she could see the exhaustion in Michael’s expression as he replied. “You went after West again. Alone. Do you remember that?”
She tensed slightly at the accusation in his voice. “Yes.”
“Well, you found him. And he beat you up again. You have two broken ribs, a punctured liver, a concussion, a broken orbital bone and bruising over most of your body. You’re lucky you’re not dead. If that liver puncture had happened a quarter inch to the right, you would have bled out within minutes.”
She absorbed the diagnosis mechanically. It wasn’t as serious as the injuries Trammell left her, but then Trammell had only wanted to kill her. West wanted to torture her psychologically first.
And apparently physically as well.
“How long have I been out?” she asked.
“Two days. We tracked your cell phone and found the cabin.”
Her eyes widened hopefully. “Any sign of West.”
Michael stared at her wearily. “God, he’d have to kill you, wouldn’t he? Before you let this go. If we let you out of here right now, you’d go after him again, and you wouldn’t stop until he killed you.”
“Michael, please,” she said. “Just tell me…”
She stopped and looked around the room. A chill crept up her neck. “Michael? Where’s Turk?”
He sighed, and she saw the answer in his eyes before he spoke it aloud. “Turk’s gone, Faith. We found you. We didn’t find him.”
Faith felt the world slip away from her. Michael turned sideways and slid upward until he passed beyond her vision.
“Faith?” Michael called with alarm. “Shit. Nurse!”
Faith stared at the ceiling as the nurse checked her. Michael continued to talk to her, but she didn’t hear what he said. All she could see was Dr. West’s contemptuous sneer.
You’re a parasite, Faith. I’m going to break you.
Dr. West’s face disappeared, and Turk’s replaced it. His big brown eyes stared lovingly, admiringly, trustingly into Faith’s own.
And now he was gone. West had taken him from Faith.
She closed her eyes and wept, each choking sob driving a nail through her injured rib.
