Page 18 of The Night Firm

“Good. I'm going to set you down so I can pry the door open. Stay close to me.”

I nod, ignoring the panic rising in my chest and the pain spreading through me.

My lungs fill with smoke and I choke as he puts me on the floor – actually, the ceiling since we're upside down - beside him, my head pounding, my vision dancing with specks of light.

I glance toward the front of the limo, where Lily was, but she's not there. Did she get thrown out of the car when we crashed?

Sebastian grunts, pulling my attention back to him, as he uses his muscular legs to kick the door. I'm about to tell him that's not going to work, but my mouth clamps shut when the door flies off the hinges and into the street.

I stare in confused wonder and awe, the pain from my injuries subsiding at the distraction of seeing Sebastian perform superhuman feats of strength. I’ve read stories about this. About the adrenaline surge that can happen during a life or death crisis. How it can give ordinary people extraordinary strength for a few moments to accomplish the impossible. And Sebastian certainly isn’t ordinary. He’s anything but.

Before I can process much more, he’s lifting me into his arms. I grab my bag and clutch it to my chest as he extracts us from the wreckage of the burning limo. And then he runs. I expect to be jolted around like a sack of potatoes, but the motion is smooth, seemingly effortless, which is mind-boggling.

“Wait! Lily! We can’t leave her. We have to go back!”

“Lily got away," he says, showing no sign of weariness. "She knows what to do. We have to get out of here.” His pace does not slow, and I'm beginning to worry he's going to try to run all the way to our final destination.

Whereas his adrenaline may be everlasting, mine, alas, is not. It crashes, leaving me writhing in pain.

I scream as I feel the deep wound of the metal bar plunged into my leg.

Sebastian glances down at me, his brow furrowed. “You are not dying. I know it hurts, but you will live. Help is coming.”

As if on cue, I hear the sound of an approaching vehicle and glance around to see a black sedan pull up beside us. Sebastian nods to it and somehow opens the back door, laying me gently in the backseat. I expect him to take the front seat, but he surprises me by scooting in next to me, careful not to bump my injured leg.

I’m shocked to see that Lily’s the driver. She somehow got away completely unscathed and found us a new car. There’s definitely more to her than meets the eye.

Lily hands Sebastian a small black bag, flinching when she gets a good look at me.

"Is it that bad?" I ask. I feel beat up, bloody and miserable, so yes, it probably is.

"You'll be okay," she says with an encouraging smile.

Sebastian pulls a jar of green goo and a strip of leather out of the bag. “This will hurt. A lot. But then it will be better." He hands me the leather and then gently pulls my injured leg onto his lap. "Bite on this."

Still somewhat dazed, I do what I’m told, taking the leather and placing it between my teeth, thinking, is this really necessary?

It only takes a moment to realize...it's necessary.

My teeth dig new grooves into the leather as Sebastian pulls the rod out of my leg and proceeds to smear the putrid-smelling green goo over it.

The sensation vacillates from fire to ice as the ointment is absorbed into my flesh and blood. I feel infected. Feverish. The pain is so fierce I lose sense of anything else.

He brushes my hair to the side and rubs more of the ointment into my head wound. The smell is nauseating, and my headache, already a level ten, ramps up until I have to close my eyes to keep from vomiting and passing out.

I fade in and out of consciousness for some unknowable amount of time, until finally the pain eases and then disappears entirely.

With its departure, I come back to myself and open my eyes. I let out a deep sigh of relief and tentatively test sitting up on my own. Nothing terrible happens. Yay.

I extricate my leg from the delicious lap of Sebastian Night and am stunned to see that the gaping wound that was there just a few moments ago has now knitted itself back together.

“How?” I ask, any other words failing me.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” he says, though he doesn’t sound happy about it.

“That’s all you have to say? I’ll find out soon enough?” I respond, incredulous.

“Why did you take this job, Eve?” he asks, deflecting.