Page 14 of The Immortal's One
The two women screech, flailing their arms. In their wild scramble, they knock me off my feet. My head slams into the floor with a sickening crack. Stars burst behind my eyes. The pain radiates from the point of impact, throbbing through my skull.
One of the women lands on top of me, knocking the air from my lungs.
“Get off,” I wheeze, pushing against the sticky floor with both palms, struggling to dislodge the drunk woman.
She knees me hard in the back of my thigh and scratches my skin through my tight top as she fumbles to stand. I’m about to shout at her to stop, but her weight vanishes before I can get the words out.
I gasp for breath, pushing myself up onto my hands and knees. The world tilts, but at least the pain in my head is starting to fade with every ragged breath.
“Are you okay?”
My neck snaps up, sending a fresh throb through my skull. I squint to focus. When my vision clears, my eyes blow wide. Des stands over me, and maybe it's the potential concussion messing with my head, but I could swear the brusque guy actually looks… concerned.
“Darcie?” He tilts his head to the side. “Are you okay?”
Mortification surges through me. “I’m fine.”
I stagger to my feet, swaying before my shoulder slams into the wall. Des doesn’t budge, offering no help to steady me.
What a jerk.
“Darcie?” Thane’s voice cuts through the haze of my mind, and I tear my gaze away from Des. “What happened?”
I point to the women who caused all this, but they must’ve fled inside the women's restroom.
“She hit her head,” Des answers when I don’t speak. I ignore the way his gruff voice sends butterflies fluttering in my stomach.
“I’m fine,” I insist again, louder this time, forcing myself away from the wall. I don’t want to be here with either of them after what I just heard. “I was just going to find Kayla.”
I take a step forward, but another wave of pain rolls through my head. I tilt to the side.
“Woah.” Thane catches my elbow when I stumble. “You’re not fine. Let me check your head for bumps.”
Before I can protest, his fingers press gently against the tender spot on my skull where I hit the floor. I tense at the touch. It’s clinical but still awkward as hell.
“You’ve got a bump here.” He drops his hands. “Are you dizzy?”
“No.” I try to step around Thane, but he shifts in front of me.
“You should sit down for a minute,” he says. “We can get you some ice from the bar.”
“I just want to go home.” The words come out more desperate than I mean them to. “I can ice my head there.”
All I want is to get away from the men who somehow know my last name without me ever telling them.
Thane opens his mouth to argue, but before he can get a word out, Des interrupts.
“I’ll find your friends.” His voice is brisk, his tone cutting. Without waiting for a response, he turns and vanishes down the hallway.
Why is he so eager to get rid of me?
A flash of irritation jolts through mebefore Thane tugs on my elbow again. This time, I let him lead me back into the crowded main room.
A strobe light flashes across my face. Pain spikes, pulsing in my temple in time with the music’s beat. The odds I have a concussion seem pretty high at this point.
Thane guides me to a tall chair near the wall, holding my arm until I’m seated. Wary eyes take me in as he steps back. It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him I’m fine on my own, but Kayla emerges from the gyrating crowd five seconds later. Her frantic eyes search the space around me.
Guilt gnaws at me. I don’t want to ruin Kayla’s night, but there’s no way I can stay here.
