Page 2 of Unmasked Anarchy

“It’s okay, I got you.I’m gettin’ help.”

He doesn’t move from my side as he calls 911.Instead, this man, thisangel, sits down and puts my head in his lap, stroking my hair from my face and pressing a hand to my wound, talking softly to me.I couldn’t say exactly what he was talking about, but something about his voice brings me comfort.

Slowly, I let myself slip into darkness.

Because, for a second, I know I’m safe.

1

“Ma’am,” a soft voicecalls.

It takes me a moment to force my eyes open.My vision is clearer, and I am connected to a lot of tubes, oxygen stuffed into my nose, and something pressed against my lips.I shake my head a little, taking a second to remember where I am and why.

The room is dimly lit, the soft hum of machines surrounding me.I try to move my fingers, feeling the stiffness in my joints, the heaviness in my limbs.The sterile scent of the hospital fills my nostrils, mingling with the faint aroma of antiseptic.I blink slowly, trying to piece together the fragments of my memory.

“Can you hear me?”

A man is speaking to me, and the more I focus, the quicker I realize he is a paramedic.He is staring down at my face, his eyes full of concern and a fear that tells me my injuries are as grave as I imagined them to be.He looks like he has seen a ghost—that ghost being me.

“Yes,” I croak, my throat burning, the taste of blood lingering on my tongue.

“What’s your name?”

“Sable.”

“I’m Michael.I’m going to get you help right away.You’ve been badly injured, Sable.Do you know how this happened?”

My eyes move past him to the biker, a cigarette in his hand, his eyes on mine.My breath catches in my throat as I take him in.All six feet of pure muscle and ink.He looks like a Viking straight out of a movie.His skin, a perfect blend of light and dark, mixes together in the creamiest, warmest blend I have ever seen.His eyes, as blue as the sky, shine even though it is dark out.His hair is long, and his beard is full.

He’s unfairly gorgeous.

“Sable?”

I turn my attention back to Michael.

“Someone tried to kill me.I don’t know who.I ...I was at a bar with friends.I left, and the next thing I knew, I was being stabbed.They thought I was dead and threw me over the edge.I pulled myself to the road, and that’s when he found me.”