Savage Vandal (82 Street Vandals #1) - Heather Long Page 0,21
at the older guy when he suggested sedating me.
Hell no.
I had to get out of here.
If they called my parents…
The tech with the arm sleeve tattoo and the colorful hands—they were nice hands, broad palms and thick fingers—had just asked me if I would sit down when Kestrel strode through the open door. I’d never been so relieved to see someone in my life.
I hurled myself between the other two in a rush to get to him. My driver had had my back all week. He caught me as I all but fell into him, and I had to swallow back the pain clawing up my throat.
“Kestrel.” I had to shove the words past the pain. I wouldn’t cry. I wouldn’t betray how much it hurt or the fact my stomach lurched with every swaying breath I took. How hard had Eric hit me this time? “You didn’t abandon me.”
No sooner had those words slipped out of me than I wanted to take them back.
Had they seen it?
Of course, they’d seen it. Why else would I be here with a bunch of strangers?
“You’re safe,” Kestrel soothed, and he closed his arms around me. The cage of his arms was strong enough, it pressed me tight into him without squeezing me. Even the labored huff of my breathing warned me my ribs were hurting. “You’re safe.”
No, I wasn’t. The words had me stiffening. I shouldn’t have bared a weakness, especially when I still didn’t know where I was. I pulled away from Kestrel and ignored the white-hot pain shooting up my leg. I’d performed on worse, and frankly, nothing compared to the hammering inside my skull.
Which brought me back to the question no one had answered. “Where the hell am I?” I repeated, swinging my gaze from the redhead with brown eyes so pale, they bordered on topaz, to the tech who’d installed my lock and gave me a cigarette. He had longer hair and a beard, but they didn’t detract from his appearance in the slightest. The appeal of the sexy bad boy wasn’t lost on me, but I had long since learned my lesson.
Everyone lied.
Everyone betrayed.
Everyone wanted something.
I dragged my gaze off his chilly gray eyes and looked back at the redhead. Shirtless, most of his tattoos were on display. That wasn’t a good idea either, so I swung around to face Kestrel again, suddenly aware of his hand on my arm, and that was one step too far.
My stomach revolted, and my leg buckled in the same breath.
“Fuck,” Kestrel swore, but he didn’t let me go. If anything, he caught my weight and turned me away. Redhead with the beautiful eyes slid a pan in front of me, and to my utter humiliation, I threw up into it. Every gag brought up nothing but bile—thank fuck I never ate before a performance. Usually. Luckily the burger was hours before. The worst part though was the spikes retching drove through my skull.
The world swayed, and as soon as the gagging stopped, strong arms lifted me, and it took me a minute to identify who held me. Even then, the panic clawing through me wanted him to put me down. “No,” I ordered him and had to fight crying out when I tried to pull away and bashed my arm. Pain shrieked along it to compete with the cacophony in my brain.
“Stop,” a harsh, gravelly voice ordered, and then there were cool fingers on my chin. The man lifting my gaze up was the oldest one in the room, I thought. He had a dusting of stubble over his face, and his eyes were dark and intent. While his fingers were gentle, they didn’t let me pull away. “That’s enough,” he said. “You have a concussion and a lot of other damage. I’m going to look after you, and you’re going to let me. I’ll throw these three fuckers out if that’s what you need to rest, but right now, you stop flailing about. You’re going to hurt yourself, and we can’t have that.”
The combination of command and humor helped, but the panic was a real thing shuddering inside my skin. I really needed Kestrel to put me down. He was sexy and sweet and he’d even come to the show and then he was here, but… “Put me down,” I said in a voice shaking way more than I liked. “Please.”
The man holding my chin gave me a studying look and then said, “Let me help you back onto