Brown eyes threw her back to the past.
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE LIGHT BURNEDher eyes. Ruby clawed her way through the disorientation, unsure how much time had passed, where she was, where she had been.
“Holy shit, there actually was someone here.” A hand gripped her shoulder, shaking gently. “Ma’am? Can you hear me?”
Someone else, louder but further, responded. “It doesn’t make any sense. There’s no way she could’ve been under the concrete. She’d be dead. What the hell is going on?”
“There was a wooden box in the ground. She was in the box.”
Rubble surrounded her. Nothing but rubble and men in hard hats. The walls collapsed. The ground crumbled. What was happening?
“Ma’am?”
It was a reflex, the way she shoved away from the man. His hand was on her shoulder then hers was on his chest then he was across the room, crumpling onto the ground. Had she done that? There was no way. She was strong, but not that strong.
Where was Andy?
She scanned the room of faces, but none of the men were familiar.
Andy’s dea—
No.
She shook the thought away. Andy wasn’t dead.Where the fuck is Andy?
The faces stared back at her, trepidation oozing from their very beings.Whydid they look so afraid?Was that man here?
She tried to stand. Her legs buckled under the weight. Looking down, she found them covered in deep cuts. Upward. Her arms covered in the same, pieces of wood splintering into the skin.
“Don’t move ma’am. An ambulance is on the way.”
The men didn’t matter. She barely heard them.
“Where—” She tried to speak. It came out more like a croak. Something wiggled with each flex of her neck, bobbing just to the side of her throat.
“Don’t try to speak, there’s a, uh, piece of wood—” One of the men gestured toward her neck.
Her hand trembled as it brushed against the sliver. She grabbed it and tugged, blood flung from the wound, splattering. But only for a moment. The warmth of blood seeped through her fingers. When she removed her hand, it didn’t hurt and no liquid remained.
“Demon.” The man claimed her attention. He stood, trembling, his hands clutching the cross hanging at his neck.
Me?
No, it couldn’t be her. It was him.Edward. She had to find him. If she found him, she could find Andy.
Red hair in the flame. Andy had red hair. Andy is…
The men around her held flat boxes in their hands. One had a light that shone on her. A flashlight of some sort? Another pressed it against his cheek and whispered at it.
“Where am I?”
“Hampden and Tenth.” One of the men crouched beside her, passing her a fast food napkin. She ran it against her legs. Once the dried blood soaked through the tissue, she realized the wounds had healed, leaving only pink, puckered skin. “We justtore down the building that was here. Owner wanted it flattened. But… ma’am. How did you get under the concrete?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
The same man took her bloody napkin and handed her another. “You were in a wooden box under the concrete. Owner said there was something he wanted retrieved after we tore the place down, but none of us expected…” He trailed off, interrupted by the sound of sirens.
