AllFreeNovel
Share Us
PROLOGUE
Red and blue lightsflashed annoyingly in front of my eyes and my hands wouldn’t work well enough to cover them, or block out the glare.Why won’t my hands work?I frowned, shifting, and a sound I didn't like or associate with myself escaped my lips.
“What do you need, Sylvie?” A deep voice I knew but couldn't place murmured in my ear, above the cacophony of everything around us.
“I need...” I struggled with words. Air hurt coming out and my breaths refused to go into my lungs like normal. I shivered. “Bright. Cold.” The keywords emerged if nothing else, and I was happy with that. “Tired. So tired.” I tried to yawn but I didn't have enough air for that, either.
“Girl, you’re staying with me. Right here. Eyes on me, right now.” A large, blurry shadow blocked out the flashing lights and I sighed my relief.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“You’re welcome,” Beau Bennett whispered back.
I watched him for a long moment. “Something–in the room. You did something.” Before the man who wanted to date me for my grandfather’s generous penny collection shot me.
Beau watched me, his lips curved in his permanent partial smile I think only I saw. Everyone else saw a cruel, hard man but I saw one hiding something. I wanted to know what.
Beau Bennett, Rippton U’s dark horse, fascinated me.
“I did. Do you remember?”
I struggled to recall tonight’s events. “We were drinking unicorns. Gin based, pink stuff, like cotton candy. I tried to make it stand up but Raleigh's drooped,” I informed him solemnly.
That unicorn took effort to create and she was sad. My roomie. Dorm mate.
Why did my side feel cold?
“And then, after the unicorn was sad?” Beau prompted, shifting so his hands trailed through my hair, massaging my temples.
I sighed. “That feels nice. Then Clark was there and he was awful. Nate, too. He wasn’t awful. Roomie was glad.” The events were jumbled. “And you. Why were you there?”
“Because someone took something that belonged to me,” he said quietly.
Too quietly. Dead quiet.
My eyes flared wide as memories fast forwarded in my head. “Clark had a gun, talked crazy. We giggled. So much giggling. And blood. Lots and lots of blood.”
“You lost a lot of blood, Sylvie,” he murmured, and pressure increased on my stomach. “But you’re okay now. I promise.”
I squinted. “How can you promise me that? You’re not a god.”
He smirked. “Not far off one either, beautiful.” He smoothed my temples again. “What happened next?”
“Nate fought...I was...” I frowned. “Did I sleep?”
“A little.”
“Okay. I got shot and I slept. That makes sense then...” I blinked at Beau, replaying the night’s events in my mind. I’d finally gotten to where he wanted me to be, and understood, but I couldn't make the words come out.
“Sylvie?”
“You–”
You killed him. Walked over, and shot him in the head. And I am grateful.
I stared up at him. “Thank you,” I whispered.
He leaned forward and kissed my temple. “You’re welcome, Sylvie. Now rest and tell me all about unicorns and gin and heartbreak. I wanna hear everything you’ve got. Just don’t stop talking.” He settled on my bed as the ambulance began to move.
