Page 60 of Conjure

Clutching his T-shirt, I breathe him in.

Leather and citrus.

“I’m sorry.” His voice rumbles like thunder, the softness in those words from his lips warming me from the inside out.

I bury my nose in his clothes and squeeze him tight, soothed by his steady heartbeat and rippling muscles beneath his creased T-shirt. “You came.”

“Of course I fucking came.” His large palm engulfs my head, and I feel so small and fragile in his embrace.

“You’re not easy to find.” He tangles his fingers in my hair and places a kiss on top of my head. “Answer your fucking phone when I call you.”

We stiffen when a throat clears behind us.

Dominic turns us but doesn’t release me, and we’re met by a tired-looking nurse who tells us that Brittany is awake and asking to see us.

We sidle into the room, greeted by a strong antiseptic scent and the repetitive sound from the heart monitor. Hooked up to an IV line, Brittany stares out the window with an empty look. Dark circles frame her eyes and her matted pink hair hangs limp around her shoulders.

Gwen runs up to her and sits in the chair beside the bed while I stay rooted, unable to look away from her bandaged stump.Due to the damage caused to her hand, the doctors had no choice but to amputate.

It’s all my fault.

I caused this.

Why am I here? I shouldn’t be here.

Dominic puts his big hand on my shoulder and squeezes tight, as if he can hear my spiraling thoughts.

His lips brush up against the shell of my ear. “Talk to her.”

The command in his gravelly voice dislodges my feet. I cross the room in a daze, vaguely aware of all the small details, like the blood pressure cuff around her arm and the smudged mascara beneath her eyes.

She looks at me, watching me closely with an expression I can’t decipher. I almost turn and run, but Dominic’s steady presence behind me stops me from fleeing the room.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper when I’m beside her.

“Why are you sorry?”

My lip trembles, and I inhale a shaky breath. “This is all my fault. I got you into this mess?—”

“It’s not your fault.” Her throat jumps on a swallow, and then she looks out the window at the darkening clouds. “I sensedit…when it was inside me. Nothing can stop it.”

Across from me, Gwen reaches out and squeezes her hand.

Brittany seems oblivious, lost in her thoughts. “Nothing can stop it.” She bounces her vacant gaze between us all. “It won’t stop.”

“Shhh.” Gwen tries to soothe her, but Brittany’s chin trembles and her eyes fill with tears.

“Not until we’re all dead. I saw it… Saw inside its mind.”

“You saw what?” Gwen asks, and Brittany fixes her eyes on her.

She remains silent for a long moment. No one breathes. We wait, watching the tears trail down Brittany’s pale cheeks.

Aron white knuckles the plastic railing by the foot of the bed, his head hanging low.

More tears fall as Brittany’s lashes flutter. “I saw our deaths.”

Dominic stiffens behind me. I peer past Brittany at Gwen, who resembles a ghost. Lily stares at Brittany’s bandages. No one speaks.