Page 16 of Beautiful Scars: Unshakeable (The Beautiful Scars Duet #2)

Chapter Fourteen

Sunny

The world swims in and out of focus, while my thoughts scatter and float away just out of reach.

Pain radiates through my body, but it doesn't touch me. It's all far away and disconnected.

Blood. The taste fills my mouth, metallic and familiar. Or maybe I just remember it.

Maybe it's not from now. Maybe it's from last time. Or the time before that.

The drugs make me float.

I wonder if this is what heaven feels like. I hope not.

Angel—you know, like the fish….

"...running out of time..." Garrett's voice hovers somewhere above me, the words breaking apart before they reach my brain. I know he's there—I can feel him. But my eyes won't focus on him.

Rough hands grab my arms, lifting me. My head lolls back, and the ceiling spins in dizzying circles. The movement sends waves of nausea through my stomach. I try to fight, to pull away, but my limbs are lead weights, useless and heavy. Nothing works. My head is stuffed full of cotton.

Here comes Peter Cottontail…

"…moving you… harder to find…"

Through the doorway, I catch glimpses of other women. Their faces blur together—pale smudges in the darkness. Someone's crying. The sound echoes off the walls.

Is that me? Am I making that noise? I wish I would stop. It hurts my ears.

The world tilts sideways as I'm tossed back onto a bed. Black pinpoint stars fill my vision, and suddenly I'm seventeen again, lying broken, frozen, while Levi walks away. The pain of it steals my breath.

A boom reverberates through the walls, followed by another. Like fireworks exploding on the Fourth of July, but muffled, distant.

…Oh, say can you seeeeee….

"Fuck!" Garrett's voice cuts through the haze, sharp with anger and something else. Fear? Hands grab me, dragging me up. My head spins.

"...leaving you..." Garrett's voice breaks apart. "...trust me... be back for..." The words scatter before they stick. "...never get away..."

I try to struggle, to make my body respond, but the drugs have turned my muscles to jelly. My vision is starting to go black around the edges. I fight to stay awake, but it's like trying to hold onto smoke.

And down again I fall.

…into the rabbit hole where she'll never be found…

CRASH.

Was that the door?

The light is too bright.

Blinking doesn't help. Nothing helps.

Wait. What was I...

Levi?

He looks like an angel. My beautiful, dark-haired avenging angel.

No. No, no, no.

I squeeze my eyes shut, but when I open them, he's still there.

And it's still impossible.

Don't you dare hope. Don't you fucking dare fall for it.

I've dreamed this before. I dream of him coming for me every time I fall asleep.

And every time I wake up, I'm still alone, still trapped.

It's a lie. A trick of the drugs.

It's been too long.

But his face... God, his face. It's carved with horror and something that looks like—

No. I won't let myself think it. Won't let myself believe it.

Because if this is real, if he's really here, and seeing me like this...

I want to reach for him, to call his name, to prove to myself he's real. But I can't.

If I'm wrong, if this is just another dream, it will destroy me.

The room fills with shadows—more people moving, voices shouting. But I can't look away from Levi's face, from the shock etched into every line. Even if this is just another dream, I want to tell him I'm alive. That I survived. That I always survive.

But the darkness is pulling me under again, and I'm powerless to fight it. The last thing I see is his lips forming words I can't hear as it all fades to black.

Voices drift through the darkness. I think they're meant for me. For me to hear them. Levi's broken whispers reach me first, the pain in his voice so clear.

"No, no, no, not again." The words shatter against my skin. I want to tell him this isn't like last time. That I'm just floating and it doesn't hurt and I’m here.

Someone touches my face, fingers gentle against my cheek. The softness startles me. Zane. His face comes into view over mine, and I want to smile up at him. Tell him I knew he’d come. But I can't.

"She's breathing." His deep voice rumbles above me. "Pulse is steady but slow."

Colt's voice crackles through what must be their radios, urgent updates about secured floors and captured guards washing over me in waves. I catch fragment—"upper level clear" and "no sign of Coleman."

…he's a slippery snake, that one …

I struggle against the darkness pulling at my consciousness. My fingers twitch, a small victory against the drugs flooding my system.

"Angel?" Zane's voice drops lower, meant only for me. His fingers find my pulse again, lingering longer than necessary. "Stay with me, sweet girl."

The relief in his tone when he confirms I'm alive breaks something loose in my chest. A small sound escapes my throat, barely more than a whimper, but Levi's sharp intake of breath tells me he heard it.

"Sunny?" His voice cracks on my name. "Can you hear me?"

I fight hard against the drugs, desperate to respond. My eyelids flutter but won't stay open.

Finally, I manage to turn my head towards him.

"That's it, Angel." Zane's encouragement wraps me up inside it. "Fight it."

Footsteps thunder nearby—more noise, more people. The room fills with controlled chaos, voices overlap and run together. Someone mentions a stretcher.

"Z." Levi's voice carries an edge of desperation. "Her fingers..."

Gentle hands lift my right hand, and I hear Zane's sharp curse.

"Motherfucker," Zane growls, but his touch remains careful as he lowers my hand. "We need to move her. Now."

"Sir." A new voice joins the mix. "Building's secure but we've got incoming police. Five minutes out."

"Colt?" Zane calls out.

"On it." Colt's voice comes through the comms. "Wolf's handling the local PD. Clean exit's still good through the loading bay."

More hands touch me, professional and clinical this time. The medic, I think. They shine lights in my eyes, speak in clipped medical terms I can't follow.

"Heavy sedation…" the voice is soft, kind.

"…ketamine mixed with something..."

"…stable enough..."

Stable? Am I stable? I don't think I am.

Then hands are on me. Grabbing. Pushing. Moving.

Panic claws at my throat where a scream is stuck. The last time I was drugged, Garrett...

My body tenses and flails wildly as it's flooded with adrenaline. I fight as hard as I can.

"Wait. Wait." Zane's voice slices through my fear. He moves closer, his presence solid, giving me something to anchor myself to. "Shhh. Shhh. Sunny, it's just us. You're safe now. We've got you."

I want to believe him. Need to believe him. But I can't trust it. The drugs play tricks on me. They make everything twist and blur and turn upside down.

"Let me." Levi's voice, closer now. "Please."

Instead of a stretcher, strong arms slide under my shoulders and knees. Levi lifts me and holds me against his chest and for a moment I'm back in the before. I'm safe in his arms, breathing him in, back before it all went wrong.

The words are broken glass in my throat, but I force them out as I lean into his chest. "I love you, Levi. So much."

He stills completely and lets out a deep sigh. His heart hammers against my cheek, and he starts to tremble.

"I've got you," he whispers, the words meant only for me. "I'm not letting go this time."

The movement as he stands sends waves of dizziness through me. I turn my face into his shirt, breathing in the acrid smell of gunpowder and blood.

"Stay with us, Angel." Zane's voice follows us as Levi carries me from the room. "Just hold on."

I try to fight the darkness, but it's tugging at me again. The last thing I register is Levi's arms tightening around me as he whispers, "Stay with me, Sunny. Please."