Page 77 of Edge

“Okay,” I said and drifted back into oblivion.

I openedmy eyes and immediately closed them when the bright white light pierced my skull.

“Lights,” I rasped.

“She’s awake!” Irene shouted. “What was that, Evie?”

“Lights. Bright.”

I heard shuffling, followed by a click. “Okay,” she said. “They’re off.”

I hesitantly opened one eye to make sure the offending light was gone before I slowly opened both eyes and looked around the room. Irene and two big scary guys were staring at me. I recognized one as Carbon, but I wasn’t sure who the other one was.

“Um, what happened? Where’s Edge?”

“Oh, honey, we’ve been so worried about you,” Irene said and reached for my hand. That’s when I realized she was in a wheelchair.

“What happened?” I repeated and tried to clear my throat. My voice sounded weird, and my throat was really sore.

“Do you want some water?” Carbon asked. At my nod, he brought the straw to my lips. Those first sips of water were amazing.

“Thank you,” I sighed. “Now, will one of you please tell me what happened? And where the hell Edge is?”

“Snarl showed up at the diner and shot everyone there, including you and Edge,” Carbon said.

I closed my eyes at his words. “No,” I whispered. “No, no, no.”

“Everyone’s okay,” Irene quickly added. “Well, they will be. Edge is in the room next door.”

“What about Snarl?”

“He’s dead,” Carbon said. “Dice took him out.”

“Please thank him for me.” The relief I felt was overwhelming, and tears started to stream down my face.

“You can thank him yourself,” Carbon said.

I turned my head toward the door to see Dice entering my room. He came directly to me and took my hand. “It’s so fucking good to see you awake and talking.”

“Thank you,” I said softly.

“You don’t need to thank me. I did what anyone else would’ve done,” he said.

“She was thanking you for Snarl,” Irene clarified.

“Oh,” Dice said. “Um, you’re welcome.”

“What did you think I was thanking you for?” I asked.

“Saving you,” Irene answered for him. “You stopped breathing, and he did CPR until the paramedics got there.”

“Dice,” I whispered and squeezed his hand. “Thank you.”

He blew out a slow breath. “I’m just glad you’re doing better. You gave us quite a scare.”

“Okay, will one of you please tell me everything that happened?”

“I will,” Dice said and pulled up a chair. As I listened to him talk, parts of that morning started to come back to me. I remembered seeing Snarl staring at me through the front window, and I remembered telling Edge not to go after him. And then I remembered Snarl standing over me and yelling at me.