by May Dawson
“Does he haunt all the bathrooms or just the lady’s?” I said. “Can I go to a bathroom in another hall?”
My heart was still hammering, beating so fast that the bottom of my throat ached, but suddenly I could imagine a way to trick Dr. Parrish into letting me of this hall. I desperately wanted to know the layout and security for the rest of the building.
I would listen to what she had to say about my sister. But I was not going to wait to be released for good behavior.
She shook her head. “You can’t leave this hall. Not during the day.”
“Not during the day.” That was cryptic, but she was already walking away from me towards Ryker.
She turned to say, over her shoulder, “Now you’ll have a face to put with the voice.”
For a second, I was confused, and then Ryker winked at me behind her back. Did she really not know that Ryker had been there in my driveway? I’d have to chalk another point up for the idea that maybe he hadn’t been there with her little kidnapping team.
Which left… what?
For now, knowing that he didn’t want me to give away our meeting, I held out my hand. “I guess we should meet for real now. I’m Ellis. The one who screams like a little girl, apparently.”
He took my hand in his. He had a firm handshake, his palm dry and warm. “Ryker. What happened?”
“I saw a ghost in the mirror,” I said the words flatly. I was curious how he’d react.
“Oh yeah, we call him Roger,” he said. “Roger is kind of a prick. Sorry about that.”
“Ghosts are real.” There was wonder in my voice. I’d never believed in anything I couldn’t see and touch. I had only begun recently to wonder if ghosts could be real.
“Ghosts are real,” he repeated.
“Where’s your brother?” Dr. Parrish asked, her tone impatient.
“Well, you can bet he’s within five hundred feet, since we aren’t allowed to leave the hall.” Ryker’s tone was innocent.
“Mm-hmm.” Dr. Parrish brushed past him. She pushed open the door to the room he stood in front of. I glanced in and saw a long, white room like mine, and it had the same scent of fresh paint.
“Six rooms like this,” Ryker said. “I don’t know if she mentioned that on the tour. I wonder when she’ll fill them.”
She turned on her heel, exasperation written across her face. “I am trying to help you. I’m sorry that you can’t trust me.”
“That’s funny coming from someone who keeps us locked up in a haunted mental hospital.”
“Because you and your brother and your delusions are a hazard to the rest of the world.”
“The world,” Ryker repeated. His eyes were on mine, light and mocking.
It wasn’t funny to me. I was here because my mother thought I was dangerous.
I had never meant to start any fires.
Weeks ago, I’d found my mother unpacking groceries like frosted flakes and strawberry yogurt and also four fire extinguishers onto our long white granite kitchen island. Before that there had been the fire at my high school the night before graduation, the graduation I hadn’t wanted to attend anyway. I couldn’t bear the thought of walking across the stage without Ash. A neighbor had called my mother with the news, and the color had drained out of her face, her eyes on me as she hung up, even though she didn’t accuse me.
And of course, there was the fire that engulfed our car after the accident. The first responders had dragged my sister’s body out of the car and started CPR in the headlights of an ambulance. But one of them had found me, sitting under a canopy of brush just a hundred feet away from the accident. Unharmed. At least, my mother thought of me as unharmed. I didn’t remember any of that. Not the accident, not the hospital. Not even prom, which we were coming home from before the wreck.
“Ellis?” Dr. Parrish asked, her voice full of concern.
I tried to smile like I was okay.
There was the creak of a door behind me, and Dr. Parrish’s lips tightened as she looked at something over my shoulder. I turned to see what it was.
A tall, broad-shouldered guy with long blond hair pulled back into a wet ponytail came towards us down the hall. He was naked from the waist up, a towel wrapped around his hips. I quickly raised my eyes to the ceiling before I could stare, but good lord, his body was a vision that stayed with me: a broad chest that gave way to a narrow waist, six-pack abs, and muscular shoulders still beaded with drops of water.
“And this is Levi, the socially inappropriate,” Dr. Parrish said. To him, she said, “You know this is a co-ed floor now.”
“I know.” Levi flashed a devilish smile at us; he had faint dimples in his cheeks. “Why do you think I’m wearing the towel?”
He held his hand out to me to shake, and this close, I breathed in the fresh scent of his soap and aftershave. And as sexy as he was, the delicious way he smelled reminded me I was streaked with dirt and disheveled. Not remotely in the same league.
He started to introduce himself, but I accidentally cut him off. “You took a shower? Was there a ghost in there?”
“No,” he said. His eyes met mine, a tiny smirk playing at the edges of his lips. “Roger wouldn’t be nearly as interested in seeing me shower.”
I groaned. “I really want…”
“We’ll clear Roger out for you,” Levi promised.
“Levi.” Ryker said. He cut his eyes towards Dr. Parrish meaningfully.
“Not giving away any trade secrets here,” Levi said.
“I have so many questions,” I said.
Dr. Parrish rested her hand on my shoulder. “And you’ll get all the answers you need, Ellis, I promise. Even if it takes time.”
I could practically hear Ryker’s eyes roll.
At the end of the hall, there was the rattle, like the sound of locks tumbling open, and a heavy door swung into the hall.
“Dinner time.” It was a new voice, a man’s voice, and he pushed in a gray plastic, wheeled cart.
The doors behind him closed. As if there were a guard out there.
He pushed the cart to the door of the lounge, and then crossed his arms over his chest. He was a slender guy, dark-eyed and quick, wearing scrubs.
“This is Nurse Tom,” Dr. Parrish said. “He helps out around here. Nurse Tom, Ellis.”
He nodded at me in greeting. “Pleased to meet you.”
“Why don’t you all have dinner?” Dr. Parrish gestured towards the lounge. “It’s almost time for lights-out.”
Levi leaned against the wall, looking pretty damn comfortable with himself for a guy with a towel that could fall off at any moment.
“Maybe Levi could put some clothes on first?” I suggested.
“Great idea,” Dr. Parrish said. “I want you to get some rest, Ellis. We’ll talk more tomorrow. And start your lessons. It’s been a long day.”
“Yeah,” Ryker said. “And what she’s not mentioning is that the nights are long here too.”
“Ryker,” she said. “Maybe tonight, you shouldn’t try to escape.”
“Where would the fun be in that?”
I looked between them, thinking about how Ryker had promised me I would be safe even if I let them those men kidnap me. We’ll escape together. But maybe Ryker hadn’t told me the truth.
I couldn’t trust any of them.
Ryker gestured me ahead of him towards the lounge, and when he brushed his palm against the small of my back, as if he were guiding me into a five-star restaurant, I felt a shiver of heat from his touch.
I glanced at him over my shoulder, surprised by the jolt of electricity I felt between us. I wondered if he felt the same way.
He just winked at me again. “It’s going to be okay,” he mouthed.
I wasn’t overwhelmed by hope.
To read the rest of Wild Angels, find it at books2read.com/angels
About the Author
May Dawson’s first crush was Indiana Jones, and it wasn’t just for Harrison Ford’s rugged good looks. She�
��s always been drawn to adventure, and she found it in Bali and the Antarctic, traveling widely before she settled down to raise two red-haired munchkins/hooligans. These days you can find her embracing a very different kind of adventure: love. Living it. Writing it.
http://eepurl.com/c_yMPf
[email protected]