Noni’s head lolled. “Denver,” she drawled. “So handsome.” The image of his torso, bare and strong, slid across her mind. “Perfect.”
“Yes. He’s perfect.” The lady tapped Noni’s cheek. “Concentrate. Where is Denver?”
Noni bit her lip as images ran through her mind. Was Denver making snow angels? “In the snow?”
“Right.” The lady patted her knee. “Very good. Where are Ryker and Heath?”
Ryker and Heath? “Denver’s brothers.” They were handsome, too. Where had that unicorn gone? The world needed more sparkles. “Let’s get a kitty.”
The woman slapped her across the face, and Noni’s head flew to the side. “Ow,” she said slowly. Did that hurt? It might not have hurt. What was a hurt, anyway? “No hitting.” That sounded right. Aunt Franny had said that once. No hitting. Was kicking okay? Probably.
“Noni.” The lady shook her arms. “Listen to me. Where is Jory?”
“Montana,” Noni said automatically. “You’re there, too.” The lady looked like Aunt Franny again.
The lady nodded, her face in a smile. “That’s good. I am there. Where is there? Where in Montana?”
“Dunno.” Noni looked around. Where was she? This was weird. Was this weird? Why were colors flying through the air? So many of them. “Why don’t they all sparkle?” she murmured, watching closely.
The lady sighed. “Are Ryker and Heath in Montana?”
“Dunno.” Where were Ryker and Heath? Wasn’t Montana close? Wait a minute. They were somewhere else. She should tell the lady. They were in a south place. Right? Weren’t they in a south place?
“Have you been to Montana?” the lady asked.
“Yessss,” Noni said gleefully.
The lady caught her breath, her fingernails tightening on Noni’s legs. “That’s good. Where in Montana?”
“To the park,” Noni said, her head starting to loll. It was too heavy. She couldn’t keep it on her neck any longer. “When I was sixteen.” The family vacation had been so much fun. Parks were fun.
The lady slapped her face again, but she just couldn’t care. Her eyelids closed. Yeah. That was better.
“Damn it.” The voice came from far, far, far away. Maybe where Prince Charming lived.
Noni snorted. Prince Charming. Dude had blond hair. She liked dark hair. Like Denver’s hair.
A male voice pierced her clouded mind. “We need to go now. Are we taking her with us?”
“No,” said the lady. She asked more questions, and Noni may have answered. There was talking, but her brain seemed removed somehow. The lady even slapped her a few more times.
Noni didn’t open her eyes.
“Sheriff Cobb said to bring the girl after you were finished with her,” the man said.
What girl? There was a girl? Noni tried to open her eyes, but they wouldn’t lift. Girl. Talia. Where was Talia? She had to get to her.
The lady sniffed loudly. “Elton chose to go against my wishes when he failed to bring in Denver. If he shall not cooperate, neither shall I.”
Neither. What a fancy word. The lady used fancy words. Noni breathed out, her chin hitting her chest. Tired. She was so tired. Where were the unicorns?
“What are you going to do with her, then?” the guy asked, his deep voice vibrating around in every direction.
“Oh, I have plans,” the lady replied. “We’ll return her to Denver in a way he’ll never forget.” She laughed then, her voice tinkly. “She’s going to get me everything I want. Soon.”
Noni frowned as darkness surrounded her. The laugh had been tinkly, but something had been off about it. “Bad laugh,” she slurred. Very bad.
Denver stole a phone off the nurse’s desk before exiting the hospital and quickly hot-wiring an old car sitting on the edge of the parking lot covered with snow. Hopefully it was owned by a patient who wouldn’t know it was missing for a while. Gritting his teeth against the pain in his side, he drove out of the lot and turned west. Cobb had said Noni and Talia were in Coeur d’Alene. But Denver wasn’t focused enough to drive through a mountain pass while it was storming.
