Face the Dark (Hunters of the Dark #3)
Page 48
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Everyone was silent as Hunter assisted Jade in injecting the beacon into Serene’s neck. Brett looked particularly uncomfortable, if not a little pale to see Serene walking about freely. Shanna was sure she’d find his door locked up tight tonight.
Serene sat up when Jade had finished, and felt the back of her neck delicately, where it was all but undetectable beneath her skin. She looked around at the others gathered in the infirmary and smiled at them triumphantly, as if she’d won a race against them.
Natalia turned to the hunters. “Okay, everyone clear out of here. Hunter is going to be overseeing this thing with Jade, so only Shanna and Serene need to be in here with them.”
As the others filed out, Krystal gave Shanna a quick hug, which she returned warmly.
“I have that last game saved,” Quinn called out from the doorway. “I won’t be able to beat it without you cheering me on.”
Shanna smiled widely at this and nodded, not trusting herself to speak. In this, her greatest time of need, she felt very loved. Maybe more than she’d felt since her parents had been ripped from her.
“Here we go,” Hunter said. He intertwined Serene and Shanna’s hands and tied them together with rubber hose. Then he proceeded to tie Serene’s other hand to Rachel’s.
“Well, here goes nothing,” Jade murmured as she emptied a syringe first into Serene’s IV, then into Shanna’s. “Good luck, Ladies.”
“Me too.”
Shanna started and struggled to sit up. She stared at Brett, confused. “What are you doing here?”
Brett looked over at Serene. “No way I’m letting you go in there alone with that thing. I don’t trust her.”
“Brett…” Hunter cautioned.
“If she’s not planning to double-cross anyone, then she won’t mind,” Brett insisted, leaning over Serene. “Isn’t that right?”
Serene glared, but nodded.
Jade sighed. “Brett, really, you don’t have to do this. We have this completely under control.”
“We’ll see about that,” he said, pushing a table over next to Shanna and plopping down onto it. He stuck out his arm. “Hit me.”
Jade and Hunter exchanged looks.
“You realize that if this doesn’t work…” Hunter began.
“I know,” Brett insisted. “It hates men, it’ll kill me. Now hit me.”
Jade shrugged and leaned over him with a needle as Hunter tied his hand to Shanna’s free hand.
“You’re a sweetheart, Brett,” Shanna said, feeling detached from her body.
“Don’t let that get around,” Brett winked at her before settling onto his bed.
Jade’s face hovered over Shanna as her vision grew fuzzy. She looked worried, like a mother fretting over a child in the hospital. Didn’t she expect them to survive this thing?
Shanna closed her eyes.
She dreamed.