Page 70 of Stolen Voices

Another jolt, and my fingers slip off the ring. With a scream, I freefall to the ground.

A feral, “No!” roars below me, and in less than a second, my ass hits the floor with a painful thud. My head whips back with an excruciating pinch as even more pain radiates up my spine. Darkness swallows me as the scent of sea water and wood fills my nose, and wraps around me like a warm blanket.

I don’t know how long I’m out, but when I come to, it’s to the sound of Eli’s voice whispering in my ear, “Wake up, Callie. Please, wake up.”

My eyelids flutter open to find Eli’s handsome face hovering over me. His eyes glimmer in a strange mix of fear and concern. I lose myself in the striations in his irises. He looks like a god as the lights above him glow around his head. He cradles me to his chest as I come back to reality.

“Am I dead?” I whimper.

“No, princess. You’re not dead.”

“My head…” I reach up and press a finger to my temple. My brain is pounding, and my body aches like I got hit by a Mack truck. “It hurts.”

He pushes the hair out of my face, and my heart flutters. “Where?”

“Everywhere,” I moan.

His arms pull me closer. “I’ve got you.”

“The ambulance is here,” someone says nearby, but I can’t tear my eyes away from Eli.

A second later, two people dressed in white shirts and navy pants push through the crowd with a gurney.

“No.” I clutch Eli’s shirt as they approach. “Please, don’t go.”

“It’s okay. I’m right here. I won’t let you go, I promise.”

“Sir, we need to check Miss Wright.”

Eli lays me down on the mat, allowing the paramedics to do their job.

“No,” I moan as pain slices through my back. The idea of letting Eli go hurts more, making me panic.

“Callie, they need to check on you. I’ll be right by your side the entire time. Keep your eyes on me, okay?” Eli says, trying to reassure me.

“Okay.”

True to his word, he stays by my side as the EMTs lift me onto the spine board, wrapping my neck in a brace and strapping my head into a stabilizer.

A burly paramedic with a thick beard blocks my vision as he slides a blood pressure cuff around my arm, sending my heart racing in panic. My breaths come out faster, and the other paramedic covers my mouth with an oxygen mask.

My eyes search for Eli, but I can’t move my neck.

Warm fingers thread through my cold, clammy ones. “Hey, relax. I’m right here.”

Relief spreads through me as the adrenaline from the fall dissipates. The heat and safety of Eli’s hand in mine allow me to close my eyes and drift off to sleep.

eighteen

Callie

Thefloorappearsmilesaway as I dangle above the crowd. Strobe lights flash, and music blares. I try screaming for help, but when I open my mouth, nothing comes out.

The steady bass of the music vibrates around me and loosens my fingers one by one as they slip from the ring. My stomach lurches as I freefall.

I wake with a jerk, blinking back at the harsh fluorescent light overhead.

The starchy sheets beneath my hands and the steady beep of the ECG machine inform me I’m lying in a hospital bed. Memories of the fall flood my brain and make it throb.