Page 18 of Hidden

Why was she here? I thought I’d outgrown this. “Why—”

Once again, the air moved. Without warning the scene faded around me, leaving me with a sense of emptiness and longing.

“Don’t wait so long in between visits, Mu.” Her voice circled the air. “We’ve much to catch up on.”

Her words still echoed in my ears as I sat up. My hands shook, and I clutched at the sheets, bringing them to my chin, as though they could be a shield between me and my racing thoughts.

It washer, the voice that Dr. Reed had asked me about. There was no way this was a coincidence. Even so, I couldn’t tell her it was back. Who knew what kind of things they’d do to me? And Julian, he was already so worried. If he really knew how messed up I was…

Well, there was no way they’d be all right with that.

This was something I would need to figure out on my own.

A loud thump drew my attention to the door, and I pulled the sheets tighter around me, barely able to see through the darkness of my tiny cell. “W-w-who’s there?”

The door opened, and one of the younger nurses popped in her head. “She’s awake.” She glanced back behind her, tucking her curly brown hair behind her ear. “Might as well get it over with, then you can go on break.”

“Fine,” came a deep male’s voice in response.

My heart was beating furiously now as trepidation filled me. With my every breath, the room grew more and more out of focus.

Brightness filled the room, causing spots to fill my vision, and they stepped into the room—two female nurses and a dark-haired male—pushing a cart between them. It was covered with a white towel, and there was no way to tell what was on it.

My body and thoughts had become sluggish with the continuation of my medication, but I still had enough clarity to press myself against the corner of the bed. The bronze of the barred headboard felt cold under my bare arms.

But even after they’d entered the room, locking the door behind them, the three of them never even glanced in my direction as they surrounded the cart—blocking it from my view.

“W-w-what are you d-d-doing?” I didn’t really expect them to answer—they never did. But I couldn’t help myself in asking anyway.

To my surprise, the redhead with a pixie cut peeked at me. She was the only nurse I’d seen in days who seemed to regard me with anything close to compassion. “It’s time to change your bandages.”

Really? That might not be so bad. But wasn’t it in the middle of the night?

It was hard to keep track. “W-w-what time is i-i-it?”

“Don’ttalkto her,” the brunette snapped. “Didn’t you get the memo, Tiffany? She’s dangerous. Fae cannot be trusted, especially this one.”

I blinked, stunned by the strange remark. I’d known they thought I was bad—but there’d been a memo sent out? I hadn’t done anything wrong.

“W-w-what?”

No one answered, and during my brief moment of distraction, the large male nurse had closed in on me. He grabbed my ankle, jerking me down the bed. My broken yelp echoed throughout the room, and before I could regain my bearings, my wrists had already been restrained.

Adrenaline was burning through me, and I kicked out as confusion and fear clouded my thoughts. “W-w-what—”

But then a cloth was roughly shoved into my mouth, cutting off my question. Darkness swam in the corner of my vision, and it had nothing to do with the fluorescent lights blindingly shining down on me.

“I can’t believe we got stuck with this,” the woman’s sharp tones cut through the room. “Cover her eyes already, Jayden. The Fae can steal your soul with just a glance.”

“She seems pretty harmless,” Tiffany responded, her voice soft.

“That’s what they want you to think,” the first nurse said. “Bryce Dubois is pretty to look at too. But those who’ve been bewitched by him feel differently. Don’t let your guard down, their type wouldn’t even hesitate to rip out your guts.”

My throat closed as the male nurse—Jayden—dropped a cloth over my face. Panic filled my senses—now I couldn’t seeortalk. I tried to scream, but the sound was muffled. The only thing I could feel was the cloth bindings cutting into my wrists, and a large hand pressing down on my knees.

I was going to be sick.

“If you’re so afraid, why did you take this job?” Jayden asked, there was a hint of humor in his question.