Page 91 of Avenging Azalea

I slumped against the wall. Paul didn’t say they wouldn’t come for us, but it was as close to reassurance as anyone was going to get.

“Thank you, Paul. I can’t tell you how much that means to me. I’ll let you get back to bed.”

He chuckled. “Not to worry, I was already awake.” Apparently, no one slept well last night. “Goodbye, Titus.” The phone clicked dead.

Walking over to my desk, I hit the call button for Naji and then made myself a coffee from the small machine in the corner. He knocked before entering despite knowing it was unnecessary.

“Come in,” I called out.

“Do you need me,” Naji asked, stepping in and closing the door.

“Find out where Fawn’s stepfather is living. Do whatever you need to do and call in any favors required.” I turned to face Naji and took a sip of the rich, dark brew. “I’m going to kill that piece of shit, and anyone else who hurt Fawn. Get me the information as fast as you can, but this stays between us. Fawn can’t know, at least not yet.”

Naji’s eyes darkened as he nodded.

“You’ve got it,” he said and walked out.

I sat down and thought about the dozens of times over the last three years that Fawn woke up screaming, her body shaking, terror in her eyes, and each one of those memories fueled the rage burning in my chest. Calm and logical only went so far, after that…I turned into something else entirely, and Neil Carmichael was about to find out what that was.

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

FAWN

“Here you go, Mitts.”

The orange kitten had come in with a broken leg, but he was recovering well from his surgery. I set the bowls of wet food and water down before moving on to the next patient.

My phone vibrated in my back pocket, and I stupidly hoped it was Titus. Instead, Steph’s name glowed on my screen. I answered and tucked the phone between my ear and shoulder before continuing my rounds.

“Hey, Steph.”

“You still at work?”

“Yeah, for another hour.”

“Hmm,” Steph said, and I cut her off before she could come up with a reason to drag me out.

“The answer is no, but there is something I need to talk to you about.”

“We could do it over drinks. Come on, I have some big news of my own. You can tell me all about the surgery you scrubbed in on with Doc Hottie, and…it feels like forever since I’ve seen my bestie.”

“Fine, I’ll meet you for drinks.” My phone beeped in my ear with another call. “Text me where. Someone else is calling.”

“Eek! Perfect, see you later, girl.”

Steph hung up, and I switched over to the number I didn’t recognize.

“Hello?” No one answered, but I could hear breathing on the other end of the line. The hair stood on the back of my neck. “Hello, is anyone there?”

Click.

That was super weird. Then again, it always seemed like everything was extra strange after one of my nightmares.

Could you call something that really happened a nightmare, or was it a memory in dream form?

Either way, I’d been jumpy as hell all day. So much so that Matt had asked me if I was okay during the surgery earlier. Apparently, my hand had been shaking when I passed him the scalpel.