Page 93 of Shattered By the Currents
The call ended, and she closed her eyes.
ShehatedXander. She hated him so badly she wanted him to hurt like he was making her hurt. She wanted him to feel all the frustration and anger and pain that he was inflicting on her life.
As if he’d heard her thoughts, his name popped up on her phone with a text.
Xander: Remember what happened to the last person you told?
What was he…
A chill swept over her skin. No. He couldn’t know she’d told Connor.
But then, he’d somehow known about the PI.
Her heart started to race, the thuds hitting her ribs so hard it was almost painful.
She raced to the interior door, barely registering that it was now closed, even though she’d left it open.
She turned the handle… It didn’t budge.
She tried again, twisting harder.Come on, come on, come on!
It was stuck. Or locked. Something.
She was about to lift her phone to call Connor when a strange smell hit the air. Or maybe it had already been there and she hadn’t noticed before. It was bitter, almost metallic.
She drew in another breath. Her throat suddenly burned, water filling her eyes at the sting.
What the hell?
She stumbled back, vision blurring and a lightheadedness threatening to drop her to her knees. Breathing suddenly felt difficult.Everythingfelt difficult.
She tried the door one more time, but it still didn’t open.
Out. She needed to get out!
She stumbled to the apparatus-bay doors. Was there a button? A key? She tried to search the wall, but the world around her twisted and turned. Breathing got harder.
She started to fall but caught herself with a palm against the wall.
Breathe, Raven. Breathe and find a way out.
Ethan wouldn’t have gone far.
She lifted her phone and tried to search for his name, but black dots danced in her vision, making focusing on anything impossible.
One breath. Two. She tilted sideways. Her shoulder hit the wall, and she slid to the floor as darkness took over.
Connor’s bootshit the ground in fast, even succession, the need to get to Raven, to make sure she was okay, taking precedence over everything else.
He’d left Zac to find the lost tourist. Thank God there’d been two of them.
An entire week had passed since Lottie’s death. A week where nothing had happened. Yet this morning, his gut had told him something was coming.
Was this it? Was this guy who was loitering around the old firehouse a threat?
Three more minutes and he’d have eyes on Raven. He could almost hear the river.
He pushed harder, branches snapping against his shoulders, a cool breeze hitting him in the face.
