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Chapter 23
“Stop,” Skyla begged, but realized too late that no sound actually came out. Only her lips moved slightly. Any strength that energy drink had given her was long gone, as were the reserves of the reserves she had after doing one or even two healings in a row. The only time she’d done two healings back-to-back was when she had to heal Blake, and it had taken nearly everything out of her.
When they first arrived here, a place that looked like an abandoned motel from the 1950’s, the men had deposited her and Hallie into a room on an old, stained mattress, turned on a lamp, and fiddled with a camera mounted on a tripod at the foot of the bed.
Then they walked out and stood just outside the door with their weapons in hand. The door slammed every time Vivian came in or out of the room to torture Hallie, much like the metal door at Madigan’s, but it didn’t matter. She could’ve left it wide open, because Skyla couldn’t have walked out of that room, in her condition, if her life depended on it.
She’d lost count of how many times Vivian had stabbed Hallie, forcing Skyla to heal her again and again. Rather than moving away from her friend, Skyla just kept one hand on her body at all times, willing whatever energy she had left in her to flow into Hallie. Even if it wasn’t enough to heal her wounds completely anymore.
Hallie lay on the blood-soaked mattress beside her, moaning softly under her breath, all of her strength gone after the pain she’d endured over the last two hours. Her clothes were soaked in the blood that oozed out of the many stab wounds Skyla wasn’t able to close. At least she’d managed to heal her enough to keep her from bleeding out. For now. “Stay with me,” Skyla begged in a whispered tone. Hallie’s eyes were closed, her chest barely moving. “Keep breathing, Hallie. Caden will find us. He loves you so much. You have to stay alive for him.”
Hallie gave the barest of nods, her chin moving a mere centimeter in acknowledgement, but Skyla sensed her words were only prolonging the inevitable. Hallie didn’t have long to live if she didn’t get medical attention soon, and Skyla was too weak to fight the two guys with guns, and Vivian, on her own. It was an ingenious plan on Vivian’s part. As long as she kept hurting Hallie, Skyla stood no chance of regaining her strength, and there was no way in hell Skyla wouldn’t do everything in her power to save her friend’s life.
What Skyla didn’t understand was the camera set up in the room, pointed at her. If this was some kind of ransom demand, Skyla didn’t think her father would pay to get her back. The thought hurt almost as much as she was already hurting from all the healings she’d performed on Hallie. But that didn’t make it any less true.
“He won’t pay,” Skyla said when Vivian came back into the room. “My father won’t pay.” She had no delusions that it would convince Vivian to let them go, but she hoped it would at least take some of the flare out of her smug demeanor.
Vivian chuckled, a sound Skyla had become all too familiar with. It was the same grating sound she made every time her blade slid into Hallie’s body. “These videos are not for your father. No, we have a buyer of a much higher caliber who is in desperate need of your skill.”
Skyla couldn’t have heard her right. “You’re going to sell me to the highest bidder? I thought you were FBI.” This was so much worse than she’d even imagined. And without anyone knowing their whereabouts, no one was going to find them. The place was abandoned and seemed to be out of the way of any kind of traffic. Not to mention, it was the middle of the night. Blake was probably busy with Brennan. Caden was working late, so he might not even come home until morning. And even if Skyla did somehow last until morning, she wasn’t sure Hallie could. It was likely no one even realized they were missing yet.
“I am FBI,” Vivian said. “You do know that our pay is shit, right? And you are the perfect cash cow that my friends and I have been searching for.” She stood over Hallie, raising her knife again.
“Don’t. If you kill her, I won’t need to heal her any more. I’ll get strong and it will be harder for you to control me. I can’t heal her right now. Give me some time, please.”
Vivian gave it a moment of thought, then plunged the knife into Hallie’s forearm. Hallie moaned, and Skyla’s skin tingled as her body tried to do what she willed, but the wound was deep, and she simply didn’t have enough strength to heal it.
“Seriously? That’s all you have in you?” Vivian goaded her. “Such a disappointment. And to think, I was just starting to have fun. You have to admit, this has been fun, wouldn’t you say?”
Skyla’s idea of fun at the moment was sinking that bloody blade into Vivian’s throat and watching her gag on her own blood, but since that was out of the question right now, Skyla chose to remain silent.
The slow bleed in Hallie’s new wound meant Vivian hadn’t hit an artery. Maybe now that she had seen for herself that Skyla couldn’t heal her friend anymore, she would finally give it a rest and let Skyla regain some strength.
Instead of talking or begging as Skyla had for the last few hours, she simply lay there on the mattress, her arm draped over Hallie, her fingers pressing into the wound on Hallie’s arm, blood covering her hand.
She wasn’t usually the praying sort, but in the silence of the hellhole they were stuck in, she sent up a silent prayer, hoping by some miracle someone would come for them before it was too late.
At the sound of the door slamming, Skyla opened her eyes into small slits, just enough to see that Vivian had finally left them alone. Hallie’s chest heaved quietly, and she let out a soft, barely there whispered word. “Where?”
Skyla moved her head closer to Hallie’s, until their cheeks were touching. “Where what?” She asked quietly.
“Where are we?” Hallie asked in a soft tone Skyla struggled to hear.
“I don’t know. Some old abandoned motel or something. It’s a relic of some kind. Maybe from the fifties. Definitely off the beaten path, though I think I can hear cars in the distance if I hold my breath.”
Hallie gave her a small nod, then the corners of her mouth rose just slightly. While Skyla was grateful to see her friend’s spirits lifting, she had no idea what she was happy about. They were stuck God only knew where, with no chance of getting out or being found.
“Orly,” Hallie whispered in answer to Skyla’s silent question. “Tell me more about where we are. Hurry, before they come back.”
Skyla bit the inside of her cheek to keep from shrieking out with joy. If Orly was in Hallie’s head, there was hope, the very thing she had just prayed for. “We were brought here in a cargo van. It was blue or black. It was too dark to really see. The drive wasn’t very long, or at least I don’t think it was. I passed out for a while though. Vivian had two men carry us out. They’re heavily armed. They recorded me healing you. Vivian said she was going to sell me to the highest bidder. AJ told her about me. Oh, and this place has this huge sign in the shape of Texas in front of it. I think there’s an address on it, but I couldn’t make it out when they brought us in.” Skyla stopped talking. It felt like she was just rambling to herself. “I’m so sorry you were dragged into all this. Is Orly really listening?”
Hallie touched Skyla’s hand. Skyla thought she meant to squeeze it, but the poor woman didn’t even have the strength left in her to do that. “Keep talking,” Hallie whispered. “She’s with Blake. Caden and Luke, too. They’ll find you.”
“And you,” Skyla quickly added. When Hallie started to turn her head as if to disagree, Skyla caught her by the chin to stop her from shaking her head no. “They will find you, Hallie. And you’re going to be okay. I won’t let you die.”
A tear streamed down Hallie’s cheek, and it broke Skyla’s heart. “You have nothing left to give. It’s okay. Thank you for trying so hard to save me.”
Skyla didn’t have the energy to argue with her right now, nor did she want Vivian or the guys to overhear them talking. She dared a quick glance in their direction. Through the broken picture window next to the closed door, and under a light, she spotted them huddling over some food.
