Their voices go in and out for a while as the pain spikes and recedes. It turns into background noise. A quiet, comforting murmur. At least I’m surrounded by people when I die. I think I’d rather die than continue to live with this pain.
Perhaps I’m being a baby. Is it acceptable to say I’d rather die than have to run for my life again?
The world fades. The pain throughout my body turns into a dull throb. It doesn’t ever go away, but I’m so damn tired, so stressed, that I fall into a restless sleep. Imaginary-Voss is right there. I can smell him. His scent fills my lungs and head. I bury myself in that scent, appreciating that if I’m dying, this is the last thing I remember.
I’m not dead.Interestingly, I feel relieved that I’m not dead. I reserve the right to change my mind, but I still smell Voss. If I’m going to remain alive with the throbbing pain in my side and pulsing ache in my ankle, at least I can hallucinate Voss.
Fingers run through my hair, and for a minute, I’m confident that this is part of my stressed-out mind, but when I open my eyes, the world around me is far too familiar, and not in a good way. Except… Voss is here.
I pull back so I can look into his face. “Voss?”
Voss smiles. “Hey, you.”
“You’re… real?”
He presses his forehead to mine. “I’m sorry it took me so long to get here.”
“But… I don’t…. how are you here?”
“When we get out of here, I’m going to put a GPS tracker under your skin. Relying on others to lead me to you took far too long.”
His words don’t make much sense. I’m too tired to untangle that mess.
“Voss.”
He sighs, his arms tightening around me. “Everything is okay now, baby.”
“Baby. Where is Axl?”
I feel his smile as he turns his face into my hair. “Come on, Brek, be reasonable. I wouldn’t bring my infant into this mess. He’s waiting at home for us.” I feel his laughter as he holds me to him.
“Who is this guy?” someone murmurs. “He keeps talking like they’re getting out of here.”
Voss pulls away a little, and I can look into his eyes once more. He’s actually here. How is that even possible?
“You ready to burn this place down, Brek?”
“Is that an option?”
Behind me, someone chuckles.
“It’s an option, though we’re going to trynotusing fire. Weareon protected land. I don’t actually want to contribute to the wildfire problem on this continent right now.”
“I don’t—how are we going home?”
Voss kisses my lips lightly, and my eyes flutter shut. “First, let’s take a look at where you were shot. Make sure you’re not going to get an infection before I can get Doc here to tend to it. Then we’ll begin plotting the downfall of these fuckers.”
I nod. Honestly, I think he’s lost his mind. He has no idea what he’s gotten into. I’m not even sure how he got here.
Voss helps me sit up. There are two guys on the floor by my bed. Both are covered in tats. One with long hair and steely eyes, the other with short hair and a grin.
“This is Azlan and Wade,” Voss introduces. “They work for my dad.”
“Oh.” I look between them and then take a breath. “Wait, what?”
Voss grins. He leans in, pressing his lips to my ear and whispers, “Time to let you in on a little Van Doren secret. I should warn you—this means I’m keeping you forever. We keep our secrets close.”
Shivers cover my body, and I smile.
