In a flash, a teenage girl, eighteen or so, stormed into view, decked out in sleek black gear.
The second the doctors laid eyes on her, their hearts skipped a beat.
She looked sharp, even lethal–way scarier than Dane Grayson ever dreamed of being.
Those icy eyes of hers pinned them in place, like their blood might freeze solid just from her stare.
The head doctor snapped out of it first, his face darkening.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” he roared. “Get out of-”
“Crack!” He didn’t finish.
A scream tore out of him as he went flying, slammed into the wall by a brutal kick.
The nurse drawing Zach’s blood gaped, wide–eyed.
One second the girl was at the door; now she was right there, looming over her.
The nurse’s hand tightened on the nearly full syringe, pure instinct.
But then a small, steely hand clamped her wrist and twisted–gentle, but firm.
“Ow!” she yelped, pain shooting up her arm.
Her scream echoed through the room, shrill and desperate.
Raven Valor didn’t even blink. She yanked the needle free from Zach’s arm with care.
She then darted to the blood–processing machine nearby, sliding the bag in.
In seconds, she had a fresh transfusion line ready, slipping the needle back into Zach’s vein with a surgeon’s precision.
Blood flowed back into him, and the fog in Zach’s vision started to clear.
44%
68)
Blood flowed back into him, and the fog in Zach’s vision started to clear. He squinted, struggling to focus through heavy lids.
“Raven, sis, is that… you?” he mumbled, his soft voice even weaker now, sweet as melted candy.
He’d seen her picture. This girl didn’t look exactly like it–older, harder–but something in his gut said it was her. The sister Grandma swore was gone forever.
Raven’s hand faltered on the syringe, just for a split second.
Then her face–usually a frozen tundra–cracked open, a ray of sunlight breaking through.
“Yeah,” she murmured, voice soft. “It’s me.”
She reached out, her hand brushing his fluffy hair, rubbing his head.
At the door, three of Raven’s longtime crew stood frozen, exchanging looks.
Raven was all smiles on the regular, sure–but they knew it was a mask, a con.
This? This warmth? They’d never seen it on her face before.
1/2
22:22 Fri, 11 Apr
Chapter 3
While they gawked, a pack of burly bodyguards in black swarmed the entrance.
Then Dane Grayson stepped through, with this don’t–mess–with–me look all over him.
He clocked Zach’s blood flowing back into him and sneered, “Well, isn’t this cute.
His voice was low, murderous.
Lately, he’d been too quiet, he figured. People had forgotten what happened when you crossed him.
He tilted his head toward his head bodyguard.
“Take them down. Clean it up,” he said, flat and emotionless.
“Yes, sir,” the guy barked, nodding fast.
With a wave, he shouted, “Get them!”
Thirty seconds later, however…
Every last bodyguard–including the captain–was sprawled on the floor, groaning like they’d been hit by a train.
44%
68)
Dane stared at the three figures now circling him–Raven’s crew. For once, a flicker of surprise broke through his stone–cold mask.
These three looked like nobodies, average soldiers. But damn, they could fight.
Not that it fazed him much.
He sized them up, calm as ever.
“Three million bucks a year, each,” he said, voice smooth and icy. “Be my security. Or die. Your call.”
The three blinked, caught off guard.
Raven, still focused on her brother’s transfusion, finally looked up. Her eyes raked over him like he was the world’s biggest idiot.
“Dumbass,” she shot back, her tone dripping with mockery.
