Page 45 of Suck This

That’s when the throbbing in my leg and arm started, followed shortly by the heaviness in my chest becoming an ache that I could no longer ignore.

Seconds passed. Minutes turned into hours.

I didn’t know how long it was. Possibly only milliseconds.

Whatever it was, it was too long.

“Milly?” I rasped.

My friend didn’t answer.

“Milly? Tonny? Carrie?” I moaned. “Please answer. Oh, God, I hurt.”

“Shhh,” a male said quietly. “You’ll be okay.”

“My friends!” I cried out.

The man didn’t answer.

But I heard a low curse that told me better than words.

“No.” It was a keening wail, and the man that’d stopped to help took hold of my hand and squeezed it lightly.

“No more.”

I didn’t have it in me to protest.

Then everything just… stopped.

My head felt better.

My chest was no longer heavy.

And there was a distinct taste of something in my mouth that tasted of spices and dark chocolate. Like the most delicious hot chocolate that I’d ever tasted in my life.

I opened my eyes to see the man licking his wrist.

He took one long look at me with those pretty eyes of his, and said, “Sleep.”

• • •

I gasped, lurching up and toward the man that’d saved my life. The man that’d pulled me out of a burning car only seconds before it blew up and took the bodies of my friends with it.

The man that’d starred in my dreams since that terrible night.

Constantine caught me, gathering me into his arms as if he’d done it a hundred times before.

• • •

CONSTANTINE

She felt right in my arms. Like a freakin’ dream.

One that I couldn’t have.

“You should go.” I cleared my throat and set her away from me.

“Why?” She wiped her tears.