Fish Out of Water by Hailey Edwards

Author:Hailey Edwards [Edwards, Hailey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: BA
Published: 2016-09-17T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

That night I counted specks on the ceiling until exhaustion fused my eyelashes, but no amount of pretending made the dots stars in my eyes. I’d held out hope that Bianca would be returned to her room by lights-out, but midnight came and went without a peep from next door. Sleep crept in on quiet feet, and then he was there. Waiting for me.

“This child is a perfect tool,” he mused as he stared through my eyes down at the young girl sucking on a lollipop. “We will use her, and then we will break her.”

Buried deep in my own head, I balked at his command. “No. She’s just a kid. I won’t hurt her.”

“You will snap her neck on my command and be done with her.” He paused as other vile imaginings rippled through our shared mind. “And you will smile while you do it, and remember that I control you. You are mine to do with as I please, to discard when I grow bored with your sniveling cowardice.”

A punch of awareness burst through the wall of nightmares, and I wished with everything I had in me that Carter was here, that I hadn’t sent him away.

“Kill me,” I begged, not for the first time. “I can’t. This is— I’m not a monster.”

“You will be when I’m through with you,” he promised, a vow he would have kept if not for Cam. “You are human—” a cruel grin, “—or you were.” He left me no time to ponder that remark. “Your kind breeds like roaches who scurry at the falling night. I do this world a favor by stamping you out, one by one.”

“Pinks.”

I curled tighter, bringing my knees to my chest, shielding myself from the vicious memories.

“Harlow?”

Trembling, I cracked open my eyes. “Carter?”

He swept the sticky hairs away from my face. “Hey.”

“What are you doing here?” I sprung upright and attempted to straighten the French braid I hadn’t undone before bed. He was here, back in uniform, and as hard to read as ever behind those reflective shades.

“You called.” He tapped the side of my head. “You didn’t wake when I used the intercom, so I let myself in.” He stood to give me the space I hadn’t realized I needed. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“No.” I covered my mouth with my palm, the tang of fear bitter on my tongue. “I’m glad you woke me.”

“Want a sour gummy? They’re my favorites.” He offered me a small bag with the top shorn off. “One of the dispatch operators smuggles them in for me.”

“She’s your friend.” His fondness spelled that out to me.

“She’s immune to me. That’s how she got volunteered to handle my radio traffic.” He popped a piece of candy into his mouth. “It gets dull around here, so sometimes we talk while she’s on shift. I mentioned the gummies once, and she’s been feeding my addiction once a week for the past year.”

The flare of jealousy snuffed out as fast as it rose. Living here, coping with his past, was hard.

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