Page 10 of Ace of Shadows
“No!” Ivy surges upward, grasps her trapped wrist with her other hand, and starts pulling at it with all of her limited strength. “Let me go! Help me! Someone help me, please! Let me go! Let me go, let mego, please! Doctor! Nurse! Someone please help me!”
She screams at the top of her lungs, effectively ending my interrogation just like that. The irritation fizzing beneath my breastbone worsens and my stomach twists into knots. I’d hoped we’d get through this without incident, but Ivy’s too far gone.
I blame those cunts from earlier.
She thrashes and yells, screaming herself hoarse, but no one comes.
They know better than to interrupt me.
Moving around the side of her bed, Ivy throws herself away from me, but she doesn’t get far. My hand darts into her hair, grabs a handful, and drags her back down to the bed while she wails in pain and panic.
“Get off me! Get off, get off me! No! Someone please, someone help me! Get off me, get off!”
She’s like a wildcat, throwing every available limb at me, but her weakened state prevents her from doing any real damage. It’s almost too easy to grasp her by the throat and pin her firmly back onto her bed. My hand around her throat panics her enough that she stops trying to escape and instead claws at my wrist to free herself. Her nails scrape down my thick wrist while I keep my grip firm enough to pin her. Her trapped hand turns into a claw, desperate to reach for me and protect herself but unable to do so because of the handcuffs.
“Ivy,” I say, drawing a needle from my pocket.
Her eyes bulge when she sees it, but no words escape her, only strangled squeals of terror.
I slide the cap off with my teeth and hold it up to the single light above us, then balance it between my two fingers and flick it with my thumb. Once satisfied, I plunge the needle into the elbow of her trapped arm and release the plunger.
She screams so loud, my jaw throbs and a pulse of sympathy finally makes it through my heart.
But it’s not enough.
Some things are more important than her comfort.
The drug starts to take effect almost immediately and her frantic thrashing fades. Ten seconds pass and she’s boneless on the bed with heavy eyelids, rapidly losing consciousness.
“I’m the only one that’s trying to help you,” I say as I remove my hand from her throat.
She doesn’t reply. She’s under within thirty seconds, and silence falls.
“Fuck.” This didn’t go the way I’d planned at all. As soon as those fuckers walked in here, I should have booted them, but I was curious what dogs had come sniffing after her. Lucky I was here or this mystery would have died with her.
Moving away from her bed, I slide my phone from my back pocket and call the first number in my contacts.
“Queen? It’s Ace.”
A long sigh rumbles on the other side of the phone.
“Listen. I need transport.”
“How many?”
“Just one.”
“Alright. You too?”
“No. I’ll walk. Just make sure she gets there in one piece.”
“Have I ever let you down before?” Queen asks, her voice sharp.
“No. But there’s always a first time.”
“Fuck you. Transport’s on its way.”
“Thanks.” I hang up and adjust my jacket, but just before I leave, I lift the bedsheets and drape them back over Ivy’s unconscious body.
