Insidious(118)
“Sir—”
“Take her to the compound,” he reiterated, shooting a warning look at Russell. “The rest of us will meet you there shortly. We have some questions for our new friend here.”
Blaine choked out a laugh. “As much as I’d thoroughly enjoy that, you won’t get anything useful out of me.”
“Oh, I beg to differ,” said Mr. Reynolds, eerily calm. “And even if that is the case, we’ll certainly take pleasure in having you as our guest.”
Adam turned our backs to them as I could hear what I knew now to be flesh frying. Blaine gnashed out a grievous, bitten down scream.
No, no, no, no.
Kill him. Kill him now.
My nerves were so sensitive that the bitter October air hit me like a thousand pins prickling all over my body as Adam carried me outside. He pulled me closer to his chest as a violent shudder ran through me. People raced past us to head inside, but I couldn’t make out anyone’s face. I could barely move.
Where was Reese? Had Blaine been lying about sparing him? What about Carly? Did Daniel catch up with her?
I must have said something out loud, because Adam whispered softly, “They’re okay.”
Adjusting my weight in his arms, he unlocked the back door to his Jeep Wrangler and set me inside. I lay across the seats, still convulsing from the pain and the cold. Adam draped his jacket over me before climbing up front. All I could see were streetlights and the tops of trees whiz by as we drove to God only knows where. I’d been clinging to the hope that Adam would give me whatever painkillers he claimed to have, but he finally admitted he couldn’t give them to me. He didn’t want to risk having the drugs calm me enough that I’d involuntarily let the virus take hold.
It felt like an eternity had passed by the time the car finally came to a stop. We were in a parking garage. Adam gently eased me from the backseat, taking me inside whatever building the structure was attached to. Cold fluorescent lights loomed overhead, and all I could see were cement walls and ceilings. Where were we? A military compound?
Adam took us upstairs to a small room and laid me down on an old mattress. There weren’t any windows, and the light was from a desk lamp. “You’ll be safe here. The building’s been fortified to protect from attack, so none of Blaine’s guys will get in.”
I didn’t have the strength to ask more as I desperately bundled up in the worn comforter. Adam went to the armoire in the corner and pulled out a couple more blankets to cover over me. The pounding in my head grew worse. Even with my eyes closed, the room kept spinning. Adam’s voice eventually trailed off as I couldn’t fend off the exhaustion anymore.
***
My insides danced in a flurry of nerves, but there wasn’t a trace of the fever. I stood facing a wood paneled wall, flinching at the familiar hands brushing my skin. I turned just enough to glance behind me at the black tousled locks and gleaming pale blue eyes in the candlelight. The desolate room chilled my bare legs, but Blaine’s touch scorched my skin. What was he doing here? Why was his hair back to its natural color? And it was so much longer, the ends nearly brushing his shoulders. His fingers combed through my own hair, sweeping it away from the right side of my neck. Where he had bitten me. Why wasn’t I running? Why wasn’t I screaming? My body refused to listen to me, acting on its own accord.
He pulled down the collar of my linen gown past my shoulders, exposing my entire neckline. When had I changed clothes? Blaine’s lips pressed to the back of my shoulder blade, slowly moving their way up my neck as his hands caressed my waist. He whispered something warmly in my ear, but the words were lost on me. What was this? How did he get to me? Why wasn’t I afraid?
His breath cascaded down my jaw, and a traitorous impulse took hold of me. I angled my head and raked my hand through his tangled mane as our mouths met. His fervor had taken control, because his kiss deepened as he turned me around to stand square with him. Tearing off his shirt, he drove me back against the wooden wall and I moaned from the ecstasy his mere taste gave me as his hands dropped down to my thighs.
“STOP!” I finally reclaimed my voice, only to bellow out into the cool compound room.
“Kat? Kat!” Hands gripped my shoulders, and I shot up from the mattress, furiously batting at them. “Kat, it’s me!”
Finally regaining my senses, I looked up, seeing Adam standing over me. I collapsed back into the bed, feeling everything from the sheets to my clothes completely soaked through. I was wearing my outfit from earlier, my Sex Pistols tee clinging to my sweaty frame. Every bone in my body shook and quivered. Fire still ran through my veins, but my outer core was frozen. The only thing that felt warm was the mass of tears now rolling down the sides of my face, absorbing into the already damp pillow. The sight proved to be enough of an assurance for Adam, because he sat down beside me, the old bed groaning under his weight.