Page 113 of Shattered By the Currents

Was someone joining her in this cell? Or was she being transferred to a prison?

Her heart started to beat loud and fast.

When only Ward stepped into view, she sat up, almost groaning at the pain in her back from lying on the hard surface for so long.

Ward unlocked her cell. When she didn’t immediately stand, he spluttered, “Well, come on. Do you want to go home or not?”

“Home?” No, he couldn’t mean?—

“Yeah, home. Come on.”

Disbelief spiraled throughout her body. In what felt like a fog, she rose to her feet and crossed over to Ward. He locked the cell after her, and she followed him down the hall.

Her heart beat so wildly in her chest that she didn’t recognize the rhythm. And maybe there wasn’t one. Maybe it was just thumping any moment it could between the waves of shock pummeling her system.

Then she saw him—Connor.

He stood in the foyer, looking tall and strong and intense. The second his gaze met hers, he straightened, seeming ten times bigger even though she wasn’t sure how that was possible.

He took two steps forward and pulled her against his chest.

Oh God, the smell of him! The feel of his strength wrapped around her. She wanted to cry. The final crack of the numbness leteverythingpour in. The shock. The relief.

Tears pressed at her eyes, but she blinked them away as he leaned back. Just a bit. Just enough so he could look at her. “Are you okay?”

“No. But I’m better now I’m with you.”

He growled and tugged her into his arms again.

Ward cleared his throat. “I need you to sign a few forms, Raven, then you can go.”

“I don’t understand,” she whispered.

“I’ll tell you everything once we get the hell out of here,” Connor said quietly.

Signing the forms was a blur. Connor was never far from her side.

They’d just stepped outside, and she’d breathed her first lungful of fresh air in over twelve hours, when Nathaniel was pulled out of a patrol car in the parking lot. His hands were behind his back, his features full of rage.

He’d been arrested?

Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed on Connor. “You.”

Connor switched sides so he stood between her and Xander’s friend. “Come on, Raven.”

“You think this is over?” Nathaniel laughed, the sound almost manic. “You’re gonna pay. Both of you! You hear me? You’re going towishjail was all you had coming.”

Raven shot one last glance over her shoulder as they crossed the lot. He was still yelling and trying to pull away from the deputies as they dragged him inside.

Connor didn’t look back. He helped her into the passenger seat before moving around to the driver’s side.

“How was Nathaniel involved?” Raven asked, amazed that her eyes were still open after an entire night of no sleep.

“Ethan found large money transfers to his account and a whole lot of communication between him and Xander. He’s been part of the laundering business since the beginning.”

Jesus. She’d had no idea. But then, there was a lot she hadn’t known.

So many questions flickered in her head. But delirium was setting in. A level of exhaustion she’d never experienced before. Not just because she hadn’t slept. This was a different kind of tired. The post-fight-or-flight kind.