Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
Fred
I was well aware that I was dreaming, floating through a calm space. It was quiet and I was warm. My heart ached, but it was as if whatever was causing it wasn't welcome here. The aroma of sugar cookies tickled my nose, and the smile that tugged at my lips was a struggle to achieve… Why? No, I wasn't going to wonder that because if I did, the ache would push through.
The whiteness surrounding my vision wasn't painfully bright; it was as if a million candles were lit in a temperature-controlled area.
"Fred?" someone whispered, and they sounded familiar…safe.
"Fred, where'd you go?"
I spun around as the voice came closer, and there was a little girl. She wore a light-blue dress, her strawberry blond hair in pigtails. Clutched in her hand was a ratty teddy bear.
"Fudge." I gestured to the stuffed animal.
She giggled. "You want to hold him." She held it out and I gripped it, immediately bringing it to my nose. Sugar cookies.
"Aine."
As soon as I opened my eyes, the little girl became a woman. She stared without saying a word but grinned.
"Wake up, Fred."
"I don't want to." The ache thudded hard against my chest, and my head began to hurt.
"You have to." She stepped forward and held out her hand. "Now, wake up and fight."
"If I wake up, you'll be dead…Uncle Sean." The pain was emerging, and it was suddenly hard to breathe.
"We're okay. Please, Fred. Wake up."
I opened my mouth to say something else but she took two steps, grabbed my shoulders, and shook me. "I said wake up!"
That wasn't her voice, and in a moment everything was noisy, the pain was immense, and there were no more sugar cookie smells.
"Fred!"
I blinked open my eyes, grateful for the low lighting. Aiden hovered above me. Flashes of light came across his face, and my body kept thumping around.
"Where?" I tried to sit up, but Aiden held me in place.
"We're taking you to safety. Try and stay awake."
My brain was on fire; every inch of my body throbbed and stung. I wanted to be back in the dream.
"No, keep your eyes open, Fred!" His face turned away from me. "Drive faster."
"I'd like to not draw attention to us." Another person. I knew that voice but couldn't identify it.
"I'm tired."
"I know." Aiden held my head. "We need to get you checked out. If you fall asleep, you may not wake up."
"Morbid," I mumbled as my eyelids slid closed.
"Do not fall asleep!" Aiden's yelling pierced through my skull. I tried to move away, but he gripped me harder.
"Ten minutes," the person, who I assumed was driving—yeah, I'd figured out I was in a car—yelled out.
"Hear that, Fred? Ten minutes." Aiden ran his fingers through my hair, and it was like a lullaby. "Open your eyes."
No, I don't think I will. I let sleep pull me under as Aiden's shouts turned into faraway whispers.
This time when I opened my eyes, there wasn't any shouting, and my head was sore but not horrible. That ceiling…I didn't know that ceiling. Panic set in.
The last time I'd passed out and woken up, I'd been locked away in a basement by my father. No one had known I was there being treated like a prisoner for a long time.
I took a deep breath, remembering that I'd also been saved by Rush's friends and nursed back to health.
The blanket covering me was pulled up to my chin, and I was beginning to sweat. I dared move my head left and right, happy that the pain didn't cause my stomach to roil.
Seriously, where the fuck was I?
Above me, on the ceiling, was a wrought-iron chandelier. The metal was intricately twisted, and the candles that gave the room light were clearly not real…thank God, because being lit on fire was not on my bingo card.
To my left was a large window, and through the glass I could make out a balcony. On my right was a nightstand with an antique lamp. The chair beside it was ivory, padded, and there was a mug on the table. I could see steam rising from whatever it was filled with, meaning someone had just been here. I didn't have my glasses on, but my vision wasn't so horrible that I couldn't make out my surroundings.
I wasn't home. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. I remembered everything. The screams, the gunshots, the smell of copper. Sean's eyes…his words.
A low creak followed by footsteps indicated that I was no longer alone, but with my eyes closed, whoever was here would assume I was still asleep.
A wave of delightful cologne danced across my face. Lovely but unrecognizable.
If whoever brought me here had wanted me dead, I'd be dead already. Anyway, wasn't Aiden with me? That sent a tendril of fear up my spine, and I almost flew off the bed.
"Whoa." A hand pressed against my chest, not forcing me flat but making me halt. "Easy, there."
Green eyes and a serious expression met my gaze.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Axel. I've been caring for you since you arrived."
"Arrived where? Who do you work for?"
"I'm going to need you to calm yourself, sir. Keeping your blood pressure down is the best thing right now."
I sat up and scooted away from the man. "Keeping my blood pressure down? Do you even know what I just went through?" My eyes widened. "Where's Aiden?"
Axel cocked his head, briefly appearing confused before he nodded. "Your driver. He's in the kitchen, eating. He sat beside you through the night, and only when he saw you'd be okay were we able to get him to leave your room to eat."
"I want to see him."
"And I will gladly go get him, if you could do me a favor and take some deep breaths. I'd like to check your blood pressure…you know the drill, Doctor."
I narrowed my eyes. This Axel knew a lot about me, and I only knew he was decent-looking and smelled nice.
He stood, blood pressure cuff in hand. "May I?"
I watched carefully as he went about testing my blood pressure. When he removed the cuff, I lifted a brow. "A little high, but not dangerously. Here." He handed me my glasses. "Your glasses cracked a little; new ones have already been ordered. Your driver said to keep them nearby in case you wanted them, so you could grab them and freak out less."
I wore my glasses so much, but I mainly needed them for reading far away. "Uh, yeah, still freaking out."
Axel smirked. "But you'd likely panic more without them."
"You don't know that, or me, or anything…Seriously, who the hell do you work for?"
"Me."
I turned to the doorway, where a man dressed in a casual suit, dark-brown hair tucked behind his ears ending just below his lobes, stood. His eyes were on the inky side, but not too much so. He had a nice five-o'clock shadow going on and was quite possibly the most gorgeous man I'd ever seen.
Words…find words, Fred.
"Well, Me, am I supposed to know Me?"
He snorted, and the motherfucker smiled. "Definitely a brat."
"Excuse me?" I whipped the covers off, silently thanking whoever had put me in the bed for putting clean clothes on me.
"Do I know you? I don't think so."
"You do…somewhat." He shrugged and moved over to the bed. "Allow me to properly introduce myself."
He held out his hand, but I just glared at it.
"My name is Vincenzo Belini."
Well, fuck me sideways into Sunday.