Page 62 of A Light in the Darkness
My eyes flick to hers, preparing to ask if she’s okay. But I don’t have to ask that to know the answer is no. Her eyes are steady on me, and she doesn’t blink as I tilt her head up again to inspect the bruising—the pattern of it. That’s not the most disconcerting thing. The thing that is most unsettling is the whites of her eyes—the blood vessels that burst in them, making her eyes red.
Horror sinks straight through me, gripping me in its claws as I stare at her, and she stares back at me blankly. That’s when I notice she hasn’t hugged me back, she hasn’t reached out for me, hasn’t said a word. I cradle her against my chest before she can see the tears threatening to form and hope she doesn’t notice I’m shaking.
“What happened?”
The nurse is looking at me like she wants to throw me out into the middle of a busy highway, but when Dimitri and Victor come further into the room, she seems to accept my presence. “I was trying to figure that out myself. The doctor hasn’t seen her yet, but from what I can tell, she was manually strangled… maybe with some kind of chain. I don’t know if it was part of a larger assault, but maybe her attacker thought she was dead and tried to set a fire. She was showing significant signs of smoke inhalation… confusion, disorientation, shock… that’s all normal with smoke inhalation or carbon monoxide poisoning. She refused a rape kit, so I can’t really tell you anything more.”
I think I may pass out—it suddenly doesn’t feel like I’m breathing right anymore. I’m scared to take any deeper breaths lest it jostle her around against me. The nurse looks around us all. “She said she felt safe with you, so I’ll give you guys a moment, but don’t try anything stupid. The doctor will be in any minute now.”
No one says anything as she walks out, pulling the door closed behind her. I watch as the senator presses a hand to his mouth, and I don’t know if he’s trying to contain a scream or vomit.
“Claire…”
I drop in front of her, not letting my touch leave her cold skin, and steady her face in my hand, making her look at me… making myself look at her.
Seeing the scars on Violet’s face had been a terror all its own— knowing that at some point in time someone had taken a blade to her skin with every intent of marking her forever. When I’d thought it was Claire, it was awful, because it meant someone had hurt her, but at least the marks were faint, fading. Now, Claire bears the evidence of a recent attack—pain that hasn’t even begun to heal.
“Tell me what happened, sweetheart.” Her lips are parted, but she doesn’t seem to try to get any words past them. She stares at me like I’m a fixed point, like I’m not moving in front of her, begging her to see me. “It’s okay,” I tell her. “You can tell me, anything. Did he—?”
“Dimitri called me while I was on my way to dinner with my wife.” Victor explains, stealing my attention. “He told me that he thought she was in trouble and gave me the coordinates. It was a friend’s house.” He shakes his head, like he can’t even believe he just said that. “When I got there, no one was home, but we have the code… we’ve known each other for years, house sat for them on occasion. I let myself in, just to see, and I could hear the fire in the basement. I—” Dragging a hand over his face, he tries to compose himself. “I broke down the door, because Dimitri said she was there, and she was.”
He turns to Dimitri, seeking an explanation as to how he knew where to find her. He presses his lips together, like he’s trying to figure out how to deliver news I won’t like. “When you sent me after her last summer, before Moose, I gave her an air tag. Told her to authorize me as a user, and if she ever felt unsafe, to turn my access on. I got a notification that she used it, but she wasn’t answering the phone, so I knew something was wrong. I was on my way before you even knew she was in danger.”
I stare at him, unsure whether I should be impressed or annoyed. “An air tag? You mean, you tracked her likeluggage?” Victor sounds appalled.
“And she just happened to have it on herandhave time to access it while she was being kidnapped?”
Dimitri lets out a measured breath. “I don’t know. I—”
“He didn’t… kidnap… me.” Claire’s words are a jumble, the cadence all wrong and the pauses for her to breathe in the wrong spaces. We all turn our attention to her, hoping she’ll elaborate.
“What do you mean?”
“He… didn’t. I went… to him.”
I’m staring at her, trying to make those words make sense, when she sucks in a deep gasp. I look around for the source of her pain, expecting that some kind of physical discomfort has broken through. I’m already turning to call for the nurse and demand more pain meds when I hear her final gasp, a release of air that got trapped somewhere in her.
It gives me just enough pause to turn back to her as she goes limp, and her eyes roll back.
I catch the back of her head before she can fall.
***
None of us have said a word since the doctor rushed into the room and called out for the staff to help him. The last woman in pushed me the rest of the way out of the room—I went easily, unable to gain control of my body—and shut the door behind them.
It’s been silent—I haven’t heard a single sound since that door shut, taking all the noise and my air like we’re in a vacuum.
“She killed him.” Victor finally says, like he’s just realized it.
“Good.” I growl. “I’ll have his body recovered so I can feed him to the fucking wolves. Fucker can restin pieces.”
“What did he do to her that she had to kill him?” He sounds like he may be sick, his voice heavy with disbelief.
I want to sink my fist into a wall, but I’m not taking the chance of getting kicked out if the nurse decides to follow through on her earlier threat. “You’re in it now. You fuckingknowwhat they’re capable of.”
“But, I— do you think he was one of…them?”
I don’t just think—I know.
