Chapter 8 The Floating Whispers Ii

• Saige's [POV]
• The ghost of a smile kicks into a real one that's so cheeky I would never have expected from such a sober-faced doctor. "Just because I went to medical school doesn't mean I didn't have a life before."
• No. I guess it doesn't.
• Maybe he was the stoner.
• "Now, are you ready to go?" When he holds his hand toward me, I take it without hesitation and let him pull me out of the room.
• As we run down the hospital hallways, we attract a few glances from the few doctors and nurses we pass. To my relief, no one tries to stop us and no one calls out to Dr. Trevor.
• Eventually, we come to a stop at a door with a coded lock. He taps out a code too fast to read, and after pushing the door open, we emerge into a parking lot.
• With night upon us, it's hard to know if it's reserved for hospital staff only, or if he's just led us through the back way to the main hospital parking lot.
• All I know is it's cold enough for the chill to penetrate the areas of my body that Dr. Trevor's coat doesn't cover. I guess it's more of a shock to the system because the hospital was overly warm. Except for the floor, which was strangely cold.
• But as he leads the way past the rows upon rows of parked cars, the bright lights of the city glitter from several feet away.
• Finally, Dr. Trevor stops beside a black car that's as indistinguishable to me as all the others we've passed so far and swings around to face me. It's not so dark yet that I can't read the seriousness stamped on his face. "I don't know what that guy wanted with you, but from the terror I glimpsed earlier, I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say it wasn't anything good, and that he won't stop looking for you anytime soon."
• After Nathan gets a direct order from Rylan to hunt me down? Stop?
• I shake my head. "No."
• He glances at my right wrist, the one with the scar in the shape of a handcuff I'll likely wear forever. "And that he played a large part in you having such a hard life."
• After a moment, I nod.
• When he reaches a hand toward me, I back up. He stops. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to show you something. Can I do that?"
• Although I examine him for any sign he's lying, I don't see it, so I nod.
• He plunges his hand into one of the deep coat pockets and draws two items from it. A black wallet and a set of keys. "Can you drive?"
• Not well, but yes.
• I nod again.
• His heavy breath ruffles the hair around my face. "Good, because trying to get a cab from a hospital..." He shakes his head. "Do you know Rosewood Park?"
• "No." But that's true of most places in the city. When I was with Rylan before everything changed—before he changed—I never left east of the city. According to him, there weren't any restaurants, bars, or stores worth visiting anywhere else. So we didn't visit them. Ever. Before that, I was with Dad, and until I knew what kind of response I'd get if I went back there, wandering down those streets would just be asking for trouble. "But I can find it."
• After a searching gaze, he unclips his pen from the pocket of his white coat and pulls out what looks like a crumpled receipt from his wallet.
• It takes him seconds to scrawl on the plain side, and once he's done, he tucks the wallet with a scrap of paper back into my pocket. "My address. My wallet, if you need to order takeout because once you see the state of my refrigerator... well, you'll understand. I have menus pinned to the front so order what you want."
• Who is this guy that is giving me his car, and wallet, and telling me where he lives?
• "You don't know me," I whisper. "Why are you doing this?"
• This time, when he stretches a hand toward me, I don't flinch. He opens my palm and drops the keys in the center before closing my fingers gently around them. "I'm just someone who wants to help. I have to get back or they'll notice I'm missing, and I'd like to make sure that guy is still there."
• When he turns back to the hospital, I grab the sleeve of his white coat. "He's dangerous. Don't..." I lick my suddenly dry lips. "Don't get in his way if he comes looking for me."
• His smile is reassuring. "I'm from New Jersey. I know how to handle myself against bullies, don't worry."
• I do worry because Nathan isn't a bully, he's a predator. Just like the rest of them.
• He makes another move to leave, but I won't release him. "Saige," I say. "My name is Saige Leo. And please listen to me, he's dangerous. Don't get in his way.Please."
• The reassuring smile kicks into a wider one. "Much better than Jane Doe. I like it."
• But he doesn't sound like he's listening to me about Nathan. "Maybe you should come with me."
• Before I've finished speaking, he's already shaking his head. "Doctors don't just disappear mid-way through their shift. I have friends in the hospital, security, and an encyclopedic memory of how to incapacitate someone with fifty different drugs. Guess what's never in short supply in a hospital?"
• This time when he smiles, it's so warm that my lips curve into an answering one as any lingering doubt about Dr. Trevor being one of the good ones melts away.
• "Thank you, Dr. Trevor."
• He squeezes my hand. "Call me Simon. Now get out of here."
• Smiling, I let go of his coat, and he backs up. "I'll see you later?"
• He nods. "I need to make a quick call, and to see if I can get someone to cover my shift so I'll—"
• The black wolf comes out of nowhere.
• I don't even have a chance to scream.
• It drives Simon to the ground so fast that he couldn't have even known what was happening.
• Before Simon can fight back or even make a sound, the wolf has its jaws around his throat, snapping it shut with a bite so hard the crack of his neck breaking pierces the quiet like a gunshot.
• I flinch.
• Tears fill my eyes. If they fall, I don't feel it happen.
• No.
• The large black wolf shakes Simon's body around as if he were a ragdoll and not a man as blood paints the ground, a white doctor's coat, and my entire world red.
• No, no, no.
• A ringing clatter makes me startle. I drag my gaze from the horror in front to my feet. Keys. Why did...?
• An image shoves itself in my head. Simon Trevor tucking his keys in my hand.
• Giving me somewhere safe to go. And now he's gone.
• Dead.
• A snarl drags me back to the present.
• I jerk my head up. Simon's dead brown eyes stare back at me, but he isn't the only one staring.
• The wolf pulls his lips back from his teeth and snarls again, low in its throat.
• Wheeling around, I weave and dart through the parked cars toward the traffic and glittering white lights in the distance.
• Somewhere to my right, a man and woman argue. Not loudly. It's the sort of nagging argument that sounds like it's been brewing for days, but now it's erupting. A scrape of nails against metal, coming from far closer to me than I'd like, makes me veer toward the couple.
• I fling myself through two cars and at the side of theirs, bouncing off it. Pain lances my sides and I gasp at the sharp burn.
• The couple snaps their heads toward me, argument forgotten as their mouths gape open in surprise.
• Spinning around, my eyes probe the dark spaces between the parked cars, but there's nothing. Maybe I lost him.
• I take off again, running faster than I have in my life, knowing it won't be enough but hoping just once something will go right.
• I don't let myself think of Simon, of Rylan, of anything but the need to get to the road just ahead, because once I'm in the light, I'm safe.
• My foot catches in or on something. Don't know what. But it's just enough to trip me. I wobble, tilt, and shoulder slam a parked minivan.
• A beat later, a hard tug yanks at the back of my gaping coat. It doesn't take me long to work out what it could be.
• Swallowing a scream, I put on a burst of speed.
• Shit, he's close. If I hadn't just... no, don't think. Run. Just run.
• So I ran.
• Inches now from the traffic-laden road, glittering lights so close I can feel the heat of them kiss my face. I don't slow because with a wolf at my back if I slow, I die.
• I hurtle out of the parking lot, stumble on the sidewalk, lose my footing and fly forward, my hands stretched out in front of me as I fall. Sirens wail, alarms blare, someone on my left gasps and then I thump to the ground, skidding as fire rakes my palms.
• Another alarm comes from closer than the others. Too close.
• Jerking my head to my right, I get a lungful of burning rubber as two large wheels scream toward me.
• Over. It's all over.
• Flinging my hands up and over my face, I squeeze my eyes shut.