Forsaken (The Secret Life of Amy Bensen #3)(66)

Tellar bends down in front of me. “Some poisons are lethal to touch. Some so potent even gloves won’t protect you.”

“Poisons,” I repeat, the word heavy on my tongue. “Please, God, no.” I reach down and untie the gag around her mouth, leaning down to thankfully feel a light rush of air. “She’s alive.”

“I could see her chest moving,” Tellar says, shrugging out of his jacket and using it to remove the syringe.

Trying not to think about what a drug so lethal that it can kill by touch could do if injected, I untie her hands. She suddenly jerks and gasps, grabbing my shirt. “Chad. Chad. I . . . where am I? What happened?” She starts shivering. “Cold. I’m so cold.”

“Hold on, sweetheart. I’ve got you.” I maneuver to get out of my jacket and Tellar takes it, laying it on top of her, and I don’t miss the absence of her jacket or her purse.

She looks up at Tellar, stares at him a moment, and then, as if she’s just seen him, pulls back, shrinking against me as if she’s just noticed him. “No. No. No. Who are you? No.”

“Easy, sweetheart,” I murmur, holding her tighter. “This is Tellar. Remember. Amy’s security guard.”

“I’m a friend,” Tellar promises. “I called for an ambulance, Gia. Help is coming. Okay?”

“Yes,” she whispers. “Yes. I . . . Amy?” She turns to me, her bottom lip trembling, tears on her cheeks. “Is Amy . . . okay?”

“Yes,” I say, astounded by the selflessness of her worry. “She’s okay. You’re okay.”

“No. No. I don’t . . . promise me you won’t make this for nothing. Promise me. My father . . . he . . .” She shivers and curls into me.

“I’m sorry, Chad,” Tellar says, “but we need to talk about what to tell the police.”

He’s right. I hate him for being so f*cking right. I hate Sheridan. I hate all of this, but I cup Gia’s face, forcing her gaze to mine, and her skin is icy—so very icy. “Gia.” She blinks. She shuts her eyes. “Gia, honey, listen to me.”

“Listening,” she whispers. “Can’t open . . . eyes.”

“You need to say you were mugged and don’t remember anything. I’ll handle the rest.”

“My name . . . Ashley . . .”

“No. Be Gia. I’m Chad. Just say you remember nothing. I’ll handle it.”

“Thank you,” she squeaks, more tears running down her cheeks.

I stroke the dampness with my thumb. “Why are you crying?”

“Scared. I’m . . . scared. ”

“Don’t be scared. I’m right here. Help is coming.”

Sirens sound in the distance, throwing me back in time to smoke and fire and death. I cup her body to me, pushing myself to my feet. “I need to get her to the front door.”

Tellar backs out of the stall, moving to the exit to hold it open. I rush out into the hallway and it’s a blur. I don’t see people. I don’t see things. One minute I’m holding Gia, and the next she is lying on the sidewalk with emergency personnel all around her.

“What’s her name?” a paramedic asks me.

“Gia. Gia Hudson.”

A police officer appears, and Tellar and I are giving a statement when Gia starts shouting my name. I rush toward her, trying to get her to lie down, while she tries to sit up. The instant her eyes meet mine, she relaxes and I go down between two men, taking her hand. “I’ve got you. I’m here.”

“Don’t leave me.”

“I won’t,” I promise, relieved as they start an IV. “As long as you don’t leave me. You hear me? Don’t leave me.” But she doesn’t answer, her lashes lowering, dark half-moons on her too-pale cheeks. She is unmoving, so still, that I watch her chest, savoring every tiny lift I find, every piece of evidence she’s alive.

The next few minutes become a whirlwind that finds me in the back of an ambulance, Gia having no idea I’m there. I stare at the monitors as I had her chest, terrified by how slow her heartbeat is one moment, and how rapid the next.

“Why is that happening?” I ask the paramedic traveling with us, a surehanded man in his late thirties.

“Most likely an impact of whatever drug she was given. We’re close to the hospital.”

The implication being that she needs to be there now. Holding her hand, waiting for the drive to end, I promise myself I will never feel this helpless again. Never. Again. And while killing every member of the consortium had once felt like it would invite revenge seekers and more trouble, right now that plan sounds pretty damn good.

The ambulance stops and the doors are jerked open. I exit and watch as they rush Gia into the hospital, at least five people surrounding her, and there’s no mistaking their urgency. The instant we are inside the building, she is rushed to the back room, and I am left staring at the double doors.

Alone.

“Any news?” Tellar asks, stepping to my side, and I can’t believe the relief I feel at this stranger’s presence.

“No news. She didn’t wake back up on the ride over, and they seemed to be waiting for her when we got here.”

“That’s a good thing, not a bad thing.”

“It means they knew she is in real trouble.”