Page 107 of Insidious Heart
“You won’t be going nowhere, Stevie.” Beau nails me in the kidney while I gasp for air, and when he kicks me in the side of my head, my vision bursts into a sea of white. “You ain’t going nowhere, bitch, not if I—”
Then I hear a voice that can’t be real.
“Oh, you aredead, you filthy, fat, fucking pig.”
Victor, my ghost.
My ghost came to save me.
I just hope he isn’t too late.
CHAPTERTWENTY
STEVIE
My eyes flutter open slowly,squinting against the dim light filling the room.
The strange room that is definitely not mine.
I can feel my brow furrow as I look around, taking in the stainless steel cabinets and counters, and the marker board above a sink that has my name scrawled in pretty handwriting with a date and times underneath. My blurry gaze moves to a bedside table next to me, one that I’ve seen before when we did clinicals at school, a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope sitting neatly on top just waiting to be used.
Investigating further, I shift my eyes to an IV stand, two bags of fluids hanging from it while one steadily drips down the line. My heart starts to beat a little faster when I see the monitor behind it, the pulse increasing as the blood pressure starts to rise because I now realize it’s attached tome—they both are—and if that’s the case then I must be in the hospital. And if I’m in the hospital my father is going to lose his—
“Hey, Stevie.”
I jump and quickly flip over in the bed, my panic spiking just as I meet tired, grass-green eyes. “Ember?”
“The one and only.” She smiles softly as she closes the book in her hands. “At least I’m pretty sure, anyway. I’ve been in El Paso County my whole life and I haven’t come across another Ember yet.”
“Where am I?” I sigh nervously, my anxiety dropping a bit but not enough for the monitor to quiet down.
Seeing a familiar face is a huge relief, but the reason I’m here along with the repercussions for it are keeping my very valid paranoia alive and well. And reflected in the way the heart rate monitor is steadily beeping away.
“On Kings’ property,” Ember says so matter of fact it makes my jaw painfully drop. “The VP’s property, to be more specific.”
I swallow hard, a combination of fear and a severely dry throat making it feel like sandpaper. “The… the VP of the Kings?”
She nods.
“I’m on Wulven Kings’ property?”
Another nod.
“In a building on land owned by Marbles?”
One more nod and a lift of Ember’s periwinkle eyebrow—which is new since they were brown last time I saw her—as she goes to stand. “Are you feeling ok? Do I need to go get Harlow?”
“Harlow?” I squeak out. “Why would you need to get Harlow?”
“Because I’m worried you have a concussion.”
Nervously, I chew the inside of my cheek. “Why would I have a concussion?” This probably isn’t the best way to carry on a conversation considering I’m in some sort of makeshift clinic, but I’m very worried aboutwhyI’m here to begin with, and since I’m a shitty liar, playing dumb is my only option. Even if it means this kind woman thinks I have a concussion.
“Stevie, honey, do you remember what happened before you woke up here?” Ember sits on the edge of the bed facing me, concern written all over her pretty face.
I nod slowly. “Yes…”
“Wanna tell me about it?”
