Anxiety edged my listlessness, and I tried to sit up in the bed I was lying in.
“It’s okay, Sage. You’re safe.”
Parker. He was sitting in a chair next to the bed, holding my hand.
I fell back onto the bed.
“Where am I?” I croaked.
“The hospital.”
“Why do I feel so weird?”
“You were given a drug. They weren’t sure what it is, so they aren’t counteracting it, just watching you until it wears off.”
“Ryker. Where’s Ryker?”
I started to cry, images of him being burned by that tire iron so vivid in my mind, it was like I was watching it on television.
“Shh, it’s okay.” Parker tried to soothe me. “Don’t cry. He’s fine, I promise.”
But I was inconsolable, curling onto my side and crying as though my heart were breaking.
“You gotta come, man,” I heard Parker saying. “It’s the drug. It’s making her unstable. She needs you.”
I opened my eyes, distraught now that Parker might think I didn’t need him.
“Don’t leave,” I whispered, tugging him closer. “Come here.” I pulled at him until he climbed into bed with me.
“It’s all right,” he said, drawing his fingers through my hair. “The drug will wear off soon.”
“Viktor won’t come?” I asked.
“No. He won’t come.”
I breathed a sigh, closing my eyes.
“Sage, you remember tonight, when Viktor asked you if you’d choose?”
“Mmmm.”
“Do you remember what you said?”
I frowned. “He hurt me. My hand …” It felt numb now and was wrapped in something. I couldn’t bend my fingers.
“Yes, he did,” Parker said. “Do you remember who you chose?”
“I love you.”
“Yes, you said that.”
“I love Ryker.”
“Yes, you said that, too.”
I squirmed, tears leaking from my eyes. “He was hurting you. Hurting both of you. I was afraid he’d kill you.”
“He didn’t. We’re fine. I swear to you. Just tell me … do you remember choosing? Do you remember?”
I heard the door open and gasped, jerking around in fear. But it was Ryker. He was at my side in an instant.
“I’m here,” he said, taking my hand.
I pulled him down so I could hug him, talking through my tears. “He hurt you,” I managed. “I saw him …”
“Don’t think about that anymore,” Ryker said.
“Can you stay with me?” I asked. “Do you have to work again?”
He winced, but nodded. “Yeah. I can stay.”
I relaxed again, lying back on the bed. Parker rose, but I clutched at the T-shirt he wore.
“No, don’t!” He paused. “Stay,” I said. I was afraid. Afraid to let either of them out of my sight. They’d left me before and had nearly died. They could so easily be dead right now.
Parker hesitated, then lay back down next to me. I still had hold of Ryker, who sat awkwardly on the other side of me. My fingers were wrapped in gauze and he held my hand as though it was made of glass.
I let out a deep sigh, feeling the knot of anxiety inside my chest ease. Now things were okay. So long as I could see them and feel them, I’d know they were both safe.
My eyes were heavy and I couldn’t keep them open anymore. The room spun slowly on its axis. I could feel the comforting presence of the men I loved and before I realized, I was out.
*
When I woke up again, it was still dark, but this time I didn’t panic. I could feel the steady rise and fall of Parker’s chest as he breathed. Ryker was lying on my other side toward the end of the bed, his head resting on my stomach and his arms thrown over my thighs. Both of them appeared to be sound asleep.
It was a slightly odd situation and the memory of what had come before was hazy. I remembered being upset and unreasonably afraid something would happen to them. Somehow I’d gotten them not only in the same room, but into the same bed with me.
Huh.
I trailed my fingers absently through Ryker’s hair. The gauze had left enough of my skin uncovered so I could feel the silky strands. I marveled that they were here, they were alive. All of us were. But how? They’d been tied, strung up, and the men had taken me away—
I shuddered, my mind shying away from remembering.
Everything that had happened was hazy. I stared at the darkened ceiling and tried to remember. Viktor had been torturing Ryker and Parker, electrocuting them, then using the tire iron. Parker had told him about Ryker, then Viktor had begun quizzing me.
The tire iron had branded me—so much pain—and I’d told Viktor I’d slept with both of them, that I loved both of them, and he’d wanted me to choose.
And I’d said Parker.