Page 55 of Savage Saint

GENESIS

SLEPT LIKE THE DEAD…

My phone won’t stop making noise. That’s the first thing I register.

Not where I am. Not why every muscle in my body feels like I stepped into a boxing ring with a heavyweight champion and got molly-whopped for twelve straight rounds.

I’m weirdly sleepy yet restless.

Ping.

Ping.

Ping.

I groan and turn my face deeper into the pillow, dragging the blanket over my head. “Don’t wanna.”

Is it whiny? Yes.

Am I close to tossing my phone out the window? Also yes.

Whatever emergency exists in the world can survive without me for another hour, possibly two. Maybe four.

My eyes close again, body already sinking back into the mattress, when something prickles at the back of my mind. A feeling. Wrongness. I don’t know what it is, but my subconscious starts tapping harder than my notifications.

Get up.

Instead, I squeeze my eyes shut. Absolutely not.

Get. Up.

“Dios mio.” With another groan, I roll onto my back and force my eyes open. My bedroom ceiling comes into focus: white and familiar, with a large ceiling fan running on medium because I can’t sleep without it. The low whooshing of the blades is usually enough to lull me back under, but not today. Right now, it only makes me aware of how quiet everything else is.

I turn my head, and there’s my dresser and lamp. My eyes shift, and I see the closet door cracked open how I usually leave it.

Nothing looks disturbed. Nothing is⁠—

My phone rings again, a ringtone I didn’t set, but she did, and if I ignore it, she’ll only call again. And again. Won’t stop until I answer.

“Couldn’t she call later? Preferably when I’m more awake?” One hand blindly reaches out, searching the nightstand until my fingers close around it. This is definitely wrong. Too smooth. Too thin. “What the hell?”

My eyes narrow as I bring my cell up to my face, taking in the missing component.

No case. The cute plastic cover for my phone with a picture of my favorite K-Drama.

It took forever to find and get here, especially since this one had pockets for money or cards. Perfect for my night shifts at the hospital.

I sit up too quickly as the ringing stops, and immediately regret it when the room gives a few quick turns. Whoa. It takes a moment for the wave of vertigo to pass, and then I look at the phone again. Definitely mine. Also naked. Where’s my wallet case?

That thought fully wakes me up. Twisting my body, I start checking the bed, beneath my pillows, on the floor, and then look up at the scene of the theft and find everything but my cover.

And a bonus.

The ringing starts again, Mami in bold letters across the screen. I hit reject on autopilot, still too out of it to talk. Need another few minutes.

Then I look at the notification alerts. Three missed calls and fourteen texts.

Katia.