Destiny Gift (The Everlast Trilogy) - By Juliana Haygert Page 0,49
legs gave out. I wanted to sit on the floor, but he held me in place.
I reached under the neck of his shirt and found the necklace. I gaped, not believing it was true. “You killed the men who killed your parents,” I whispered, feeling my hands trembling under his grip.
He frowned and shook his head. “How can you possibly know that?” he asked, venom woven through his words. “You know what, we need to go. We’ll talk later.”
He dragged me to my room, letting me sit on the floor while he rummaged through my things, putting them into the suitcase. I wasn’t really paying attention. My mind was a big muddled mess—a tangled jungle—and I couldn’t assimilate what was real and what wasn’t.
Where was my phone? I had to call Cheryl, and demand she come pick me up. I wanted to go to the hospital. I needed to be admitted. I needed to be sedated. I needed Cheryl. Oh, that was right. My phone had been smashed against a wall and was in pieces on the floor.
Micah came out of my bathroom, carrying a few bottles of moisturizer and shampoo and other stuff. He threw the things into the suitcase on my bed and turned to me. “You don’t look okay.”
“I’m not okay,” I whispered. “Have you seen Raisa? I need to ask her something.”
“What are you talking about?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Shaking his head, he opened my nightstand drawer and, I guessed looking for more important stuff, rifled through it. He pulled out a piece of paper. “Is this important?”
My head pounded. My thoughts slowed. Was the card important? I raked my mind, trying to make my brain work. A hint of memory fluttered.
“Cheryl gave it to me,” I muttered. I watched, mindless, as he threw it, along with other things he took from the drawer, inside my suitcase.
After what seemed like forever, he closed the suitcase, grabbed it, and pulled me up by my arm.
“Let’s go.” He pulled me to the living room.
The front door opened before we reached it. Victor stood in the doorway.
I extricated myself from Micah and ran to him. “Victor,” I whispered his name like a prayer. “Please, help me.”
His sea-green eyes set on Micah, his pose defensive, but he let me approach, and even embraced me when I bumped into him.
“What happened?” he asked, his tone soft and gentle.
The tears came back to my eyes. I needed to get away from Micah, who’d obviously gone crazy, but I needed to get away from the visions more. I needed to get away from everything. “Take me to the hospital, please. I need a psychiatrist. It’s urgent.”
“What?” he asked, frowning.
“God damn it!” Micah cursed, gritting his teeth. “You’re worse than her.” He pointed to Victor. “Two beacons, now three, together.”
“Excuse me?” Victor asked, putting himself between Micah and me.
“What are you talking about?” Victor asked, switching his pose to menacing. “And what are you doing in here?”
“No time to explain, people.” Micah’s tone rose. “Let’s go.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” Victor grounded himself. “Neither is Nadine.”
Micah raised one eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Tell that to your friends.” He went to the window and pulled the thick beige curtains away. Huge bats hovered around the window, baring their teeth and staring straight at us.
“Oh God,” I whispered. “Is that why you were forcing me to leave?” Micah gave me an inscrutable look. Maybe he’d been trying to help me, not kidnap me. “B-but you can repel them.” I wiped away my tears. Regaining the strength in my legs, I walked a few steps toward Micah. “You can repel them.”
“True, but I’ll bet they’re rethinking their priorities. I would say that killing you two would be at the top.”
“Why?” Victor came to stand beside me. “Why kill us? And how can you repel them?”
“Enough,” Micah shouted. “Come on, pretty boy, we gotta go. Questions come later.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Victor repeated.
Snickering, Micah hurried past us. “Oh no?” He left the apartment.
Instantly, the bats advanced, breaking the windows and chasing after us. I yelled and ran with Victor to the hallway where Micah waited, leaning against the wall.
Victor closed the door behind us, and we ran to the elevator.
Micah followed us, my suitcase in his hand. “Are you done playing?” he asked, entering the elevator with us. “Can we go now?”
I was trembling, and when I spoke, my voice was too. “What are you trying to prove?”