Her head started swimming, and confusion clouded her mind. It cleared for a moment as something fell to the ground. Only when she stared at the object she couldn’t make it out. It seemed miles away, even as a small part of her brain insisted it was simply lying at her feet. The world started spinning again as her heart rate picked up. She could hear each thud in her head like a drumbeat and feel the rush of blood through her veins. Her skin chafed against the cotton of her shirt, the contact both the slash of a whip and the teasing brush of a lover’s touch. Heatpoured down her body as if she’d been submerged, headfirst, in boiling water. It was hot, too hot. Reaching for the zipper on her vest, her fingers fumbled to find the tab.
Frantically, she tried and tried.
A big hand came to rest on her back, and she jerked away. Only it held her steady.
“Helia!”
She knew that voice. Didn’t she?
“Helia!”
She raised her eyes. A man, Collin, stared down at her, concern and…was that fear in his expression? She sagged against him. Everything would be okay. Collin was there.
As if through a tunnel filled with cotton wool, she heard voices. Some tense, some precise, some worried, but she took in none of the words. Something was happening, only she didn’t know what. And whatever it was made it hard to care. The bombardment of sensations she’d initially felt had turned into an assault, one that lured her into welcoming it. And the more she welcomed it, the more euphoric she felt.
Something inside her insisted she needed to fight whatever had taken over her body, but she didn’t know if she had the strength. Or the will.
“Helia, we’re two minutes from the hospital, hold on, sweetheart.” A squeeze of her hand followed. “They’ll make you better and then you can come home with me. My brothers are coming today, too. I want you to meet them,” the voice continued. A warm breath of air washed over the back of her hand before two soft lips touched her skin.
Collin.
His brothers were coming? She wanted to meet them. She wanted to meet the men who’d given him the family he deserved.
She tried opening her eyes, her fingers twitching around his.
“There’s my woman,” he said, his palm brushing her hair back from her forehead. “Don’t let go,” he continued, his words clearer now, although they still held no context for her. She didn’t know what had happened, whatwashappening, but she knew Collin was safe and so she squeezed his hand again.
“Hang on, Helia. We’re at the hospital. The doctors are going to see you now. I have to let go, but I won’t be far. I won’t leave you. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
She didn’t understand what that meant, but she didn’t want to let him go. A flurry of voices followed, none of which mattered to her. Only Collin mattered.
“Hold on, Helia,” his voice came again, this time, close to her ear, his breath teasing her neck. “Hold on and come back to me.” And then he was gone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Monk paced the waiting room, the two attendants keeping a sympathetic, if wary, eye on him.
A dart. A fucking poison dart.
He ran a hand through his hair, replaying those few seconds on the street in his head for the thousandth time. He’d spotted Helia coming around the corner and waved. She smiled, her brilliant, big smile that lit him up from the inside, and waved back.
And that’s when everything had gone to shit.
She jerked, then started fluttering her top. He’d thought it weird, but they’d all been there before when some bug or insect ended up down their shirt. But in the few seconds it took him to reach her, confusion and panic took over her body, her eyes growing big, as if a war were happening inside her that she didn’t understand. She’d been fumbling with her vest, mumbling words he couldn’t understand, her heart racing like a Triple Crown winner when he’d set his hand on her back to steady her.
Then he’d seen the dart on the ground.
Drugs? Poison? He had no idea. He’d scooped it up and handed it to the EMTs when they arrived. He’d probably fucked up any fingerprints that might have been left on it, but hewas hard-pressed to care. Helia came first, and if the doctors were going to counteract whatever she’d been dosed with, they needed to know what she’d been dosed with.
Vanessa and Harry came rushing into the room, stopping his path midstride. Behind them came Carter and Jess.
“How is she?” Vanessa demanded, hugging him.
“I don’t…” Harry gave him a quick side squeeze. “I don’t know,” he continued, clearing his throat. “She was somewhat lucid when the doctors took her in. I think she knew I was with her.”
The couple sank onto a pair of chairs, their hands gripping each other’s.
“Can you tell us what happened?” Carter asked.
