There was no one in the halls and nothing behind the two cops. A light shone through the half-open door of the bathroom; toilet, sink, mirror.
No void of black. No razor teeth. No creature getting ready to lunge.
Yet Luca’s brain screamed for him to run. He was vulnerable. Alone. And those things were coming.
A vice squeezed Luca’s ribs. The air thinned. His inhale wheezed, his exhale hissed. Fear drove him to struggle against the tether and dig his heels into the mattress in an attempt to escape the bed.
Johnson called for a nurse, and Davies grabbed Luca’s arm before he could clamor over the railing. His foot hit the IV pole, and it smacked the O2-monitor.
“Calm down.”
He couldn’t. He had to get out of there. But where would he go? Nox was dead, and it was Luca’s fault.
A nurse joined Davies trying to wrestle Luca back into the hospital bed.
“Let me go!” He threw a punch at Davies with his IV’d hand. Davies blocked the blow, but his fingers snagged the IV line, ripping the tape loose, jerking the needle from Luca’s arm. Blood droplets sprayed the man’s pale colored shirt.
“Damn it, just calm down.”
“You killed him.” Luca twisted his frame, brought up his knee, and stomped his foot into Davie’s side. Any sympathy in the man’s face burned away under a flash of rage. Luca shoved at the nurse who’d been joined by an assistant. The man fought to restrain Luca while the nurse prepped a shot.
“Just hold him still.” The nurse pushed up Luca’s gown.
“No. No. Don’t. I can’t stay here. Please, you don’t understand.” He thrashed, throwing the pillow to the floor along with the blankets. A pinprick hit him in the hip followed by burning pain. The strength in Luca’s limbs melted away. and the room slid behind a distorted bubble where voices echoed and words took forever to reach his ears. The nurse put the pillow back on the bed, and her assistant arranged the blankets.
“I’ll be back with a new IV port. Please try to keep from upsetting him again.” She left with the assistant.
Davies stood, massaging his side. “You realize assaulting a police officer isn’t in your best interest right now?”
“You killed him.” Luca forced the words from his slack mouth. “You killed Nox.”
“The man who tried to assault those officers? Yeah, he’s dead. And unless you have a really good reason as to why you were in that car with him, I’m going to assume you’re an accessory; grand theft auto, breaking and entering, at least two counts of murder. Do you have any idea how long you’re going to sit in jail?” The man closed the distance and knotted up the front of Luca’s hospital gown in his beefy fist. “What kind of psycho guts a person and cuts off his head?”
The rage building in Luca failed to fuel his struggles, and he wound up turning his head away and burying his face in the pillow.
Davies leaned closer. Coffee and cologne perfumed the air when he spoke. “You know what I think? I think you were more than willing to ride in that Jeep. Whatever sick fuck games you two were playing, him naked and you—” Davies dragged his gaze over Luca. “—obviously engaging in some recreational time according to the rape kit they ran on you.” Closer warmth brushed Luca’s cheek. “You like it up the ass? Is that the way you queer boys work?”
Luca fought to keep his eyes open. He wasn’t so much as tired, but his body just didn’t want to respond.
“Yeah. I bet you do. You know there are some pretty nasty people in lock-up who’d be more than happy to take that ass for a ride. And unless you have something to give me to make me think otherwise, that’s where you’re going. My suggestion is to start talking.”
Luca nodded. The guy flashed him a smug smile.
Yeah, Luca would talk. He’d tell the man. Luca pursed his lips, pushed his tongue to his teeth, and forced his exhale through his vocal cords. “Fuck you.”
*****
Protect Luca. Protect him like you would protect me.
Koda’s command ripped Nox from the nothing. He sucked in a breath, expanding his ribcage. Points of agony in his lungs and heart pushed to the surface. The solid bits rolled down his ribs, hitting the ground with small taps.
Light pulsed beyond theveilof yellow covering Nox’s face. Voices spoke. Someone laughed. Rain tapped against the plasticveiland water rushed around him.
He parted his lips and dragged a breath over his tongue, picking out the flavors of multiple people, metal, oil, exhaust, weapons.
Red and blue flashers skirted past a fold in the tarp, revealing a narrow view of his surroundings. He turned his head in second increments while watching the position of the people beyond the police cars. Men in uniforms, one in plain clothes holding an umbrella.
Nox inched his head the other way. Twenty feet on his left, the side of the road met the edge of an embankment.