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“I think I’m ready to go home,” she says.
She falls asleep in the car almost immediately. I can’t even apologize to her.
27
SKYLAR
Vincent is right, even though I wish he wasn’t.
I’m in no shape to help them.
He gently shakes my shoulder to wake me up and leads me up the driveway.
I mumble a thanks, then head to my bedroom and collapse on my nest.
I’m asleep in seconds, but I’m thrust into a nightmare.
April lies on the musty, dirty mattress, her face white and her eyes sunken in. I sit in the corner of the room, my limbs frozen in place.
“You left me here,” she whispers. “You left me, and I’m all alone.”
“No,” I choke out, trying to reach her. But I can’t move at all. I can only watch in horror as she struggles to breathe, wheezing.
“They’re going to kill me, Skylar. They’re going to kill me, and it will be your fault.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. “No April, they’ll find you?—”
“You’re too busy spreading your legs for them.” Her voice comes out harsh and warped. “Too busy worrying about your Heat.”
“That’s not true,” I whisper. “I?—”
“You forgot all about her. And now it’s too late.” I open my eyes, and John’s face is inches from mine.
I wake up screaming. I twist out of the nesting blankets, falling flat on my face onto my bedroom carpet. I scramble up and run to the bathroom, where I hunch over the toilet and dry heave.
It was so real. John’s face was right there, his eyes staring into mine with a malicious glint.
April’s voice was in my head.
“Skylar?”
I shriek. A masculine voice fills the bathroom, and I grab the nearest item on the counter and fling it towards the owner of said voice.
River dodges a toothpaste tube, his green eyes devastated as he looks at me from the doorway. “It’s me. Skylar, it’s me.”
His hair is in disarray, and he’s panting heavily. “You were screaming,” he says. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I…” I swallow, struggling to breathe. My hands shake, and a wave of nausea rolls through my stomach.
I can’t breathe.
“Move,” I whisper to River, who steps out of the way as I race out of the bathroom, through my bedroom, and down the hallway.
I know what these are. It’s not the first time I’ve had a panic attack, but this one is severe.
I still see John’s face in my mind.
River’s scent is behind me, delicious and welcoming, but I can’t turn back to face him.
