Midnight's Master

Chapter 12

"Mom? Listen, it’s Holly…” Like her mom wouldn’t recognize her own daughter’s voice. Holly juggled her purse, kept her cell phone to her ear with a raised shoulder, and fumbled with her car door. “You might see some stuff on the news-ah, damn-I’m okay .” Talking with her mom’s machine sucked, but, generally, it was the way they communicated.

Saying she and her mom were close, yeah, that would have been a flat-out lie. Her mom had all but closed her out emotionally since Peter’s death.

“Mom, I need you to call me, all right? We have to talk.” Do you know I’m a demon? That Peter was? Why the hell didn’t you tell me? “It’s really important.” She rounded the front of the car. “And I need you to call me, all right?” Please call me.

The squeal of brakes.

She spun around.

A black sports car gleamed in the morning sunshine. The door shoved open and Zack jumped out.

Zack. Dammit.

One rotten start to the day.

“Call me,” she finished in a whisper and managed to shove the phone back into her purse. Then she shook her head, aware that her mouth was hanging open a bit.

The last thing I need right now.

“Holly,” he breathed her name and ran toward her, arms up.

As if he’d hug her.

She jerked back. “What are you doing here?”

His arms fell. “I saw the news this morning. Saw what happened at the station. I was…worried about you.” His perfect features pinched with concern.

Holly pulled in a quick breath. “I-I’m okay. I wasn’t there when-” When poor Kim had gotten slammed with the lamp.

“It could have been you, Holly.” His hands fisted. “I told you before, working these stories- it’s not safe. ”

They’d had this argument more than a few times. “It’s my job, Zack.”

“Getting fucking targeted by a killer isn’t your job!”

The fury caught her off guard. The roar of his rage. “I appreciate your concern,” she managed evenly, “but what I do-that’s no longer really your business.” Carefully, she began to walk around him. “The work I do is important to me, and I’m good at what I do.”

He caught her wrist in a grip that was a lot stronger than she remembered. “Don’t walk away from me.”

“Don’t tell me to-”

“I’m worried about you.”

His face was inches from hers, his eyes shooting blue and deeper sparks of gold fire at her. “There’s a killer on the streets. Cutting people apart, and you’re the reporter who is dogging him. You don’t want that guy as your enemy. Hell, even I realize this is too hot.” His hold gentled, just a bit. “That’s too much of a risk. You need to back off.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“Ah, Ms. Storm?” The voice was strangely muffled, a grating whisper.

Her head turned, titlted back, and she met the stare of a tall, muscled man with a buzz cut, green eyes, and a face hard as stone.

One of her bodyguards. She’d figured they’d stop hanging back after last night. Looked like they’d already stepped up their game.

The guard looked over at Zack. “This guy bothering you?”

“What?” Zack jerked his hand away. “Who the hell are you?” He puffed out his chest and took a step forward. Probably not a good idea, because the move just made the fact that he was a good seven inches shorter and hundred pounds lighter than the Hercules in front of them all that more obvious.

The guard rolled his shoulders and smiled, as if he were really looking forward to some action.

Or kicking Zack’s ass.

Holly shook her head. Not here. The last thing she needed was this crap on her front lawn. “I’m fine.” She glanced back at Zack. “And Dr. Hall was just leaving.”

“What? No, we’ve got to talk, Holly-”

She stepped away from him. “No. We don’t.” She’d been polite, sickeningly so, in her mind. “I’m not hurt. Thanks for checking on me. But, Zack, you don’t need to come over here again. My life-and what I do isn’t your business.” When was he going to get that?

“Because you’re screwing that asshole Lapen?”

More rage. Flashing from his eyes and twisting his face. And she’d once thought the guy was so controlled.

“No, although, well, yeah, I am.” She didn’t stop the smile that curved her lips. “But mostly because we’re over, and have been since you screwed Michelle.” Her shoes tapped against the steps. “I want you to have a good life, Zack, I really do, but stay out of mine from now on, got it?”

A growl sounded. One that was very, very unlike the staid doctor she’d thought she knew.

Talk about having a close escape.

Marriage to that guy would have been the worst mistake she’d made in years.

Because if she’d stayed with him, she wouldn’t have enjoyed the pleasure of…

Screwing that asshole Lapen.

Bruce Piler waited until Holly climbed into her car and the pissed-off doc stomped away. Then he pulled out his cell phone and called the boss.

“Thought you’d want to know,” he muttered. “The jerkoff paid her a visit today. I’m thinking maybe he needs a little…intervention.” And wouldn’t he like to pound the shit out of the asshole who’d looked at him like he was some kind of trash? He’d gotten too many looks like that before and they always pissed him the hell off. “If you want, I’ll be more than happy to-”

Bruce stopped, listening to his boss’s reply. “Uh, figured you’d handle it yourself.” He couldn’t quite hide the disappointment, but he knew the boss liked to get his hands dirty every now and then.

The doc wouldn’t know what hit him.

Niol waited for the esteemed Dr. Zachariah Hall in the third-floor lab of Brighton Hall.

No classes were in session. No students were in his way. Niol glanced around the classroom, vaguely curious. Sketches of the human body lined the walls. A skeleton dangled near the front of the room. Books were scattered. Lab coats hung from hooks on the walls. The thick scent of bleach filled the air, stinging his nose.

The door creaked open. Zachariah strolled in, his head down, a book in his hands. He skirted around the chairs and lab tables automatically, never glancing up. Niol crossed his arms and waited.

The guy eased to a halt. He looked up-

Niol smiled. “Boo.” He’d left his sunglasses in the car and his eyes were demon black.

“Shit!” The dick jumped and the book, anatomy judging by the bloody red pictures, tumbled to the floor. “How did you get in here? How did-”

“Easy there, Z.” His smile faded. “I came in through the door. You know, that thing that opens.”

The man’s face bleached of color. “She sent you, didn’t she? Hell, you think I don’t know who you are? Everyone knows about you-you’re-”

Niol straightened. “Oh? Just what am I?”

Blue eyes jerked toward the door, then back to Niol. “Criminal.” A whisper. “Probably a killer. I’ve heard folks talk about you, Lapen. I know. ”

The guy didn’t know jack or shit. Niol pushed away from the counter he’d been lounging against and stalked toward the guy. Old Zack flinched back with every step he took. “You think you know me, huh?” This was the bastard who’d thought to marry Holly?

Too fucking tame. She would have been bored out of her mind with this jerk.

Holly needed fire. Passion. Not a dumbass in an ivory tower coat who’d been stupid enough to let a woman like her slip away.

“I-I know you’re trouble.” The guy’s jaw jerked up. “And Holly doesn’t need you in her-”

Niol moved in a flash, coming to stand toe-to-toe with the bastard. He didn’t like the sound of Holly’s name on his lips, not at all. The hot rush of his power filled him. It would be so easy to rip into this asshole’s head. To make him forget he’d ever known Holly.

So easy.

“What Holly doesn’t need,” Niol gritted, holding on to his control, barely, “is a shithead like you trying to come back into her life.”

Hall’s lips twisted. “Because she’s got you now? You think because you’re screwing her-”

“Yes, I am-and enjoying the hell out of it,” Niol drawled deliberately.

It was the shithead’s control that snapped. In a blink. He attacked, screaming, coming at Niol with fingers fisted.

Humans.

Niol stepped aside, waving his hand to stir the air around his body. Hall missed him, but caught his psychic blast and hurtled into the side of a lab table, moaning at the impact.

Shaking his head, Niol stared down at the human. “I’m here as a courtesy, but if you want an ass-kicking…” He knew his smile was evil, because damn but he liked that thought, “I’ll be more than happy to give you one.” And he’d even do it old-school style. No power. Just brutal blows until one man fell.

He wouldn’t be the one to fall.

Zachariah was already down-and making no move to get up.

“Huh. Kinda thought that’d be your response.” He squatted before the jerk. “You had your chance with Holly. You fucked up. Now back the hell away because she’s mine now and I don’t share. ” There was a push with those final words, one that he couldn’t control.

Because she is mine.

The human blinked, then nodded slowly.

Satisfied, for now, Niol rose. He strolled toward the door, pushed it open, and ignored the slim brunette who stood on the other side, eyes wide.

He pulled out his cell phone, a new need rising in him.

Niol wanted to see Holly again. Just to make certain that she was all right. Just to…

Fuck, he wanted her.

“Bruce? Yes, that’s done. Where is she?”

The response was one he’d expected, but his fingers still tightened around the phone. “Lay back. I’ll be there soon and I’ll take over.”

Because lately, he didn’t feel Holly was safe enough, not unless he had her in his sight.

Zachariah rose slowly after Lapen left. He knew his hands were shaking, but couldn’t seem to stop the tremble.

“Zack?” Denise’s worried voice squeaked from his right.

Denise. Hell. The girl had been giving him come-and-get-me signals for the last two months. She just wasn’t getting that he wasn’t interested. Not anymore. “Leave,” he snarled. He couldn’t deal with her now. Too many girls like her-he’d screwed up his life with them.

One mistake after the other.

He’d been so busy with them, he hadn’t seen what was right in front of him. What was in his hands.

Until too late.

Now everything in his life seemed to be falling apart.

Falling apart.

“But I saw him-you need-”

“Leave!”

Her plump lips tightened, but after a moment, she turned and fled. Shit, but she was becoming a problem.

He’d have to deal with her soon.

Her…and Niol.

Zachariah closed his eyes, but he could still see Niol’s eyes, those black pools of nothingness staring at him. Boring into him.

Holly had chosen that freak over me?

No, no, that wasn’t even possible. Sure, she had a right to be angry with him, but- that freak?

A criminal, a thug-and she’d let him touch her.

Zachariah pressed a hand to his side. The edge of the table had stabbed into him and he knew the ache would stay with him for days.

Holly had sicced her new lover on him. Let the guy come and threaten him.

Fine. If that was the way she wanted it-

He’d tried to save her, but it looked like Holly wasn’t interested in a savior.

No, she just wanted her asshole lover.

Fuck her. And fuck Lapen, too.

Those black eyes…

A shiver slid over him. He’d never seen eyes quite like that before. So empty one moment. So cold and dark, then burning with fury in the next second. No, he’d never seen eyes quite like that and he hoped he never did again.

Killer.

Kim was gone. Holly stared at the empty hospital bed, her stomach tightening. Not good.

Holly stepped back and eyed the uniformed cop who was stationed right in front of room four-oh-two at Reed Infirmary.

“Uh, where is Kim?”

He blinked, that caught-in-the-headlights, surprised-as-hell blink folks get when they don’t know what’s going on. Then he swore and dashed inside the room.

“I went to the john for two damn minutes…”

Shaking her head, she eased back. Two minutes. More than enough time for Kim to get out of there.

But why would Kim run?

Two reasons: Because she was scared. Or because she was hiding something. Holly just didn’t know what reason motivated Kim.

The cop was on his radio now, talking fast, and she knew the real shit was about to hit the fan. A patient under police protection wasn’t supposed to be able to just walk away.

But it sure looked like Kim had done exactly that.

Holly’s eyes scanned the hospital corridor as she marched down the hallway. It was just past lunchtime, and the place swarmed with activity. Patients walked up and down the hall in their gowns, pulling IVs behind them. Busy nurses bustled into the rooms. A tired blonde answered phones at the nurses’ station.

Too much activity. Made for the perfect cover. Easy to leave.

Or…easy to take someone? Holly couldn’t ignore the dry fear in the back of her throat. Because there was a chance that Kim hadn’t left on her own. And Holly hoped she was wrong about that.

After punching the button for the elevator, she glanced back over her shoulder. The cop stood outside Kim’s room, eyes locked on her as he talked. She knew that look of suspicion pretty well. Shaking her head, she turned away just as the soft ding of the elevator sounded. The doors slid open with a quiet hiss and she came face-to-face with-

Niol.

“What are you-”

His gaze raked her and he stepped forward, throwing up a strong hand to hold the elevator door open. “Where’s the girl?”

“Gone.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “The cop never saw her leave. I don’t know if she left on her own or if she was-”

Niol caught her left hand and pulled her into the elevator. The doors closed behind her, blocking out the bustle of the nurses’ station. “Taken?”

A grim nod.

The elevator began its slow descent. Three floors to go. Two. Then-

The elevator lurched to a stop.

Oh, no. She wasn’t a good enclosed-spaces person. Hadn’t been since she was six and she’d accidentally gotten locked in her mom’s armoire during a game of hide-and-seek. By the time Peter found her, she’d been a shaking mess of tears and hoarse screams.

“Niol…” She inched closer to him. He could use his powers to-

He kissed her. Caught her chin in his palm, tipped her head back and kissed her with a deep, drugging hunger.

Well, damn.

Her fingers rose and curled around his shoulders.

His tongue pushed into her mouth, a warm, wet slide that had her nipples hardening. What the man could do with that mouth.

What I want him to do.

His head rose, slowly, and his eyes burned with heat. “I needed to taste you.” Almost guttural.

Not words that a woman heard every day. Talk about making her feel sexy.

And making her forget the fear that had kept her up the few hours before dawn.

Holly licked her lips, tasted him, and managed, “Can you get the elevator moving again?”

A slight narrowing of those black eyes and the elevator kicked to life once more. “Sorry, love, I’m not good at waiting for what I want.”

So he’d just stopped an elevator for her. She took a second, then managed to uncurl her fingers from those glorious shoulders of his. “I’m not so good…with tight spaces.”

A smile that could only be termed wicked lifted his lips. “I am.”

Oh, damn.

“Relax, Holly. You don’t have to fear anything when you’re with me.”

Tempting words, but she couldn’t let go of her control with him. Not yet. Her shoulders straightened. “I wasn’t afraid.” When he’d kissed her, she’d gotten too turned on, too fast, for fear.

A ding, then the doors slid open, revealing the bright walls of the hospital lobby. She hurried out of the elevator and into the area that was a good ten times busier than the fourth floor. So easy to disappear.

Niol followed right on her heels. A dark shadow following her and clearing her path.

“We’ve got to find Kim. Get her to talk to us about the attack.”

Niol paused in front of the sliding glass entrance/exit doors. “Innocent people don’t run.” He slid his sunglasses onto his nose.

“They do if they’re scared,” she shot back and tried not to notice just how good the man looked. Pitch-black hair shoved back, chiseled jaw. Shoulders so wide they stretched the fabric of his shirt.

Down, girl.

Now wasn’t the time for a sex overload.

“We need to find her,” she continued doggedly. “She might’ve seen her attacker. She might know-”

“She ran from the cops.” Niol shook his head. “That means she has something to hide.” He stepped forward and the doors swished open.

I know.

“This Kim-maybe we’re looking at her situation all wrong.”

“What-what do you mean?”

“She might not just be an accidental victim in this mess.” He glanced over his shoulder at her as she marched after him. “Maybe she was the target.”

Holly hadn’t thought so. At least, not until she’d seen that rumpled and very empty hospital bed. Because at that moment, she’d had the same suspicion. If the woman had stumbled onto a crime, wouldn’t she want a cop’s protection? “What would make her run?”

“I think she’s going to have to tell us.”

The sunlight was too bright. Too harsh. Holly squinted against the light, lifting her hands. “The cops will head straight for her place. If she’s there, they’ll find her and take her in for questioning.”

“She won’t go home.” He stopped, hands lightly curled near his sides.

“Out of town?” On the first bus? In the first car she could find? Because she was scared? Or hiding something?

Maybe both?

“Come back to Paradise.” His face was blank and those dark lenses only threw her reflection back at her. “I’ll use my contacts and see what I can find out about her.”

Demon contacts. It was why she’d sought him out in the beginning. Those contacts-Holly knew she’d never have as much pull in the Other world as he did. But…“Niol, do you think Kim’s a demon?” Her voice was hushed now, because there were ambulance attendants close by and a bleeding teen who was being ushered inside by his frantic-looking mother. His shoulders rolled. “Never met her. Hard to say.”

Never met her. “It’s true, then? Demons can recognize others on sight?”

He caught her hand and Holly really tried to ignore the hard skitter of her pulse. “Didn’t recognize you.”

As far as she knew, no one had. Mom, call me, dammit. “Carl said he could see through the glamour other demons used.”

An inclination of his head that could have been a nod. “Works like that for most.” A pause. “Not for you.” There was something in his voice that gave her pause. A curiosity. Puzzlement.

What am I to him? The stark thought had her freezing. In the beginning, the sexual attraction between them had been undeniable. But now…

Now, what was happening? What did Niol want from her?

“You’re different. Your power doesn’t reveal you to others. It works to conceal you. Perfect camouflage.” Okay, now the guy was sounding-what, impressed? “Low-level power, but still one that would let you slip by the strongest of our kind.”

Her nails dug into her palms. She was still not quite jumping on the I’m-a-demon bandwagon, but the low-level reference grated. Like she could help her power scale. “We’re not all level-ten badasses.”

Silence.

The light stroke of the wind against her cheek.

“You’re right, and I’m very glad for that fact. Trust me on this, you don’t ever want to know what it’s like to have level-ten power.”

The stench of ashes filled her nose. Not just ashes. Flesh. “No, no, I don’t.” That much power would push a person to the edge.

And the line between good and evil was, she knew, all too thin already for most.

Having the kind of power that would let you kill and control others at will-too darkly tempting and terrifying.

“How do you do it?” The words came out, tumbling from the reporter’s curiosity and the woman’s helpless fascination. And from her concern.

Living every day with his powers-that was a dangerous weight that she knew not many could handle.

A weight that would make some break and slide headlong into the waiting darkness.

His mouth tightened. “You don’t want to fucking know.”

“Yeah, yeah, I do.”

The hands that had rested so easily at his sides fisted. “My mother ran out on me when she learned just how strong I was. Her latest dumb-ass boyfriend made the mistake of trying to hit her when I was in the room.” A muscle flexed along his jaw. “I looked at the bastard, just looked, and threw him though the window of our house. We were on the second floor.”

Oh, God.

“I’d never done anything like that before, didn’t know I could. Demon power kicks in with puberty, and it kicks in hard. Don’t know what the hell you’ll get until then. My mother stared at me like I was a fucking monster, and she was a demon, too. ”

Holly didn’t speak. For the first time in her life, she wasn’t sure what to say.

“The bastard was okay. Lucky for me, he’d landed on the neighbor’s bushes. Broken arm. Bruised ribs. Scared to death. He ran, never looked back.” A rough sigh. Almost, broken. “Then she did, too. Dropped me off at my grandmother’s and never fucking looked back.” He took a step closer to her. “Because she couldn’t handle me. She saw into my soul that day. She saw what I could do, and I terrified her.” His voice shook with fury.

And pain. Pain that cut deep.

When had she ever thought the guy was cold? Emotionless? He burned with feeling. So much feeling.

She wanted to touch him. To soothe him. Stupid, but-hell. Her hand lifted and brushed against his cheek.

“If you knew all I’d done, you wouldn’t touch me.” A growl of rage but one that held a ring of truth. A tone that told her Niol believed exactly what he was saying. “Wouldn’t let me touch you.”

She swallowed. Where they were, who was around them didn’t matter anymore. This, this mattered. She was seeing the man now, hearing him. “I know some of the things-”

A laugh, bitter and cold. “If you knew everything, you wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.”

Maybe she should turn away. Maybe she should run from him as fast as she could.

The sun seemed to burn her skin. The wind tousled her hair. No sweet touch anymore. A painful brush of air.

Maybe she should run.

And then maybe, maybe she should stay. Because when she looked at Niol, she didn’t see evil.

She saw only him. “You’ve killed.” Holly knew that. “More than-than once.” She only had proof of the one killing, but her gut told her there were more deaths.

“Yes.” A hiss like a snake from the mouth of a man.

So much power. What would it do? To know that you could kill with a thought. Control with a whisper.

She’d gone to church every Sunday when she’d been a kid. Sat in the pews and listened to the priest talk about temptation and walking the devil’s road.

“It’s so easy to walk that road.” She could still hear his voice, the tang of a southern accent rolling the vowels and softening the consonants. “The darkness is strong and strength-it is temptin’…”

How tempting?

“You don’t want to know.” His voice, gravel rough.

Her lips parted. He hadn’t-

“You don’t want to know the things I’ve seen, the things I’ve done,” he said. “Not really. Deep down, you want to pretend that I’m not bad. That I’m good.” A grim shake of his head. “Love, I’ll never be good.”

But he wasn’t evil, either. Her instincts screamed this to her. Niol, though, he was trying to make her afraid.

Of him.

Now why the hell would he be doing that?

“I never said you were a white knight, Niol.” She would have been blind to have made that mistake. “I know what you are. I knew exactly what, who, I was taking into my bed.” His past, no, she didn’t know all of his secrets, but one day, she would.

“You didn’t-”

“I wanted you.” Her chin rose. “Still do. Sins of your past and all.”

His nostrils flared and he turned his head to the left, then the right, searching the parking lot. “Too many humans here.”

Yeah, this was the last place they should be talking about secrets.

“Come with me to Paradise,” he said again and the words were low, whispered.

And Holly really, really felt like a tempted Eve right then.

Strength-it is temptin’…

Screw it. She’d always loved taking a bite of forbidden fruit. Her head moved in quick agreement.

Finally. Kim Went exhaled and unclenched her fists. Holly and her demon lover were finally heading toward their cars. Talk about having a lovers’ quarrel at the worst place and time.

She hunched her shoulders, feeling the harsh rub of the scrubs she’d snatched chafe against her skin. But her only choice of clothing had been the garish green scrubs or her paper-thin hospital gown, complete with ass-exposing window. So she’d chosen the scrubs. She’d grabbed them, then hightailed it out of the hospital while the oversexed cop had stopped to flirt with the nurses.

Her gaze shot across the lot. A busy intersection waited on the other side of the street. A few taxis idled near the far corner. She could get over there, jump in one and figure out how to pay the cabbie later.

Priority one-get the hell out of this town.

Her head pounded like a bitch, but Kim knew she’d been lucky. That crazy-ass woman who’d attacked her had meant to kill, not just bruise.

Talk about one lucky break.

But if she didn’t get out of there, right then, she might not be so lucky again.

The nutjob’s voice screeched in her mind. “I’ll fucking kill you, demon! Fucking kill you!”

How the woman knew Kim’s secrets, damn, she didn’t know. She’d always been so careful about using her glamour. Her powers were practically nonexistent, so she’d been blending in with humans, knowing they fit her more than demons, since she’d been thirteen.

But that screaming bitch had known.

How?

Many of the other demons she met didn’t even know what she was. Something she’d learned early on-the weaker demons were sometimes able to slip right past the radar of those on the more powerful end of the spectrum. Maybe that was just old Mother Nature’s way of balancing the system. You couldn’t hurt what you couldn’t see.

There were days when she thought her ability to blend in was her power.

And she’d be using that talent real soon. As soon as she got out of this city, she’d blend in and disappear.

I’ll be safe. Soon.

The minute Holly’s taillights left the lot, Kim ran, fast and hard, for the cabs.

Talking to Holly wasn’t an option. The chick would be pissed because Kim had broken into her office. Not like she’d go out of her way to help her, now.

And Niol-that demon wasn’t exactly known to be the helping sort.

Two cabs pulled away from the curb.

No.

One left. So close. Shiny yellow coat of paint. So damn close.

Kim reached out-

And saw the whirl of a long, black skirt from the corner of her eye.

She jerked her head to the left and met the bright stare of a smiling woman. “Oh, sorry!” The woman murmured, smile dimming. “Was this your cab?”

Kim’s throat dried up. She stared at those too-sweet features. Into the eyes that seemed to sparkle with good will.

No. Dammit, no.

She knew that face. The lighting last night had been dim, just a bit of a glow from the parking area trickling through the blinds, but no way would she ever forget that face.

“T-take it.” Kim stumbled back. The pavement bit into her bare feet. Hadn’t been able to find shoes to steal.

The woman glanced down at her toes, a frown pulling her brows low. “Are you all right?”

Get away.

“Hey!” The call came from the cabbie as he stuck his head out of the driver’s side window. “You ladies want a ride?”

Kim’s gaze shot to him. Help. Her lips parted.

The woman stepped closer to her and raised her hand as if she were going to hug Kim-

The hard prick of a needle shot into her arm.

“My friend’s not feeling so well,” the woman said, turning her head toward the man. “I think we’re going to sit out here for a bit. Thanks, though.”

The bright sunlight seemed to weaken. Kim shook her head and tried to speak. Help. Her tongue was huge in her mouth, swollen and twisted. She couldn’t talk. Could only stare-no, try to stare. Too dark.

The drumming of her heart filled her ears.

No.

“If she’s sick, I can help, I can-”

Help.

She barely heard his words over the slamming drumbeat.

“We’ve got a ride coming, don’t worry about us.” Sharper, now. “You can leave. He’s-he’s right there.”

No, don’t leave.

Please don’t leave me.

Maybe Holly was still around. Surely she wouldn’t let this crazy bitch take her.

Kim’s knees buckled.

Or Niol. She’d take him over this-

The woman’s arms caught her, held her tight. “It’s okay, I’ve got you.”

I’ve got you.

Tears slid from Kim’s eyes.

The cab rolled away. She heard the squeak of the tires.

No, no, she wasn’t going to be lucky again.

Darkness.