Dying Light by Kory M. Shrum Read Free Book Online Page A

the sight of Ally wet and miserable.
Her brows are pinched, water dripping off the end of her nose. It’s
still raining down on us from the sprinkler overhead.
    “ Hey, Jess. How do you
feel?”
    “ Like I just had the most
bizarre out of body experience.” I adopt a Dorothy Gale Kansas
drawl. “And you were there. And you were there.”
    Gloria gathers up her sketchbook and
adjusts her wet clothes, pulling them away from her body where they
clung to her skin. “We need to get out of here.”
    I try to sit up and my limbs are
shaky. It’s the same kind of feeling I get if I’ve had too much
caffeine and not enough food. Jittery and a little sick. It must be
the drugs, the power, stress or some combination. Ally reaches her
hands under my arms and lifts me.
    “ I’m not sure Jesse’s
ready to make a break for it.”
    “ You want to stay here
with your girlfriend.” I scratch my shoulder. A small bump presses
against my fingertip like a bee sting. Where the hell did I get
that? “Fine. Stay here with her and some dude that has no qualms
about manhandling you just to get a rise out of me.”
    Her nostrils flare. “I know you’re
scared for Winston, but don’t be mean to me.”
    I take a breath.
“I’m sorry .” It
isn’t my best apology. Certainly not Oscar worthy, but sometimes
it’s really hard work to get those two little words out of my
mouth.
    “ You’re forgiven. But I’m
right. I know you want to go get Winston, but you can barely walk.
You’re of no use to anyone like this. Let’s go with Gloria back to
her place and regroup. We’ll come up with a plan on how to save
Winston there.”
    “ We can’t stay at my place
long,” Gloria says and yanks the covers off my legs. “Jason is due
to make an appearance.”
    “ Who cares about Jason?” I
would love to have someone to beat up on right now. It’d be a great
way to relieve some emotional tension.
    Ally scowls. “He can heal a hatchet to
the back, and he wants to squeeze your brains out of your ears like
a Go-Gurt.”
    “ But what about Winston?
When we got him, we promised to keep him safe.”
    “ I know,” Ally says, and
all the sympathy returns to her softening brow and downturned lips.
“I know. We’ll get him back.”
    Gloria motions toward the door. “We
should go while we can.”
    I’m suddenly super grateful that
Gloria insisted on having her own place in the city outside of Tate
Tower. She wasn’t nearly as eager to integrate her life with
Jeremiah’s, no matter how much he offered her, and I wonder if
that’s because she knew this was coming.
    Ally pulls me out of the bed and I
place each shaky foot on the floor. After a couple of test steps, I
feel strong enough not to lean on her.
    Gabriel moves with us. “Don’t let me
fall on my face,” I tell him.
    The three of us hobble out of the
hospital ward and down the hall to the elevators. The hallway looks
darker than usual and suspiciously devoid of people. We stop
outside the reflective doors and I can see myself in the metal. I
look like hell. My hair is soaked and knotted on one side of my
head. The other two don’t look much better—all three of us could
pass for drowned rats.
    The doors open and we step in. Ally
punches a button for my floor.
    “ We need help,” Ally says
and then she sees my glare. “I’m not saying we have to work with
Jeremiah—or Nikki—I’m only saying that the three of us against
Caldwell and his army, or just us against Jason, seems
ridiculous.”
    “ Gloria is worth ten
thousand of those guys,” I say in mock offense. No way I’m going to
let her know how absolutely terrified I am of Caldwell. It’s not
what he’ll do to me , even though we’ve been down that super fun road. It’s what
he’d do to the people I love. Already he’s beat Ally half to death,
murdered Brinkley, and kidnapped my dog. What’s next?
    He knows exactly what hurts me most,
and he isn’t the least bit hesitant to apply the pain.
    “ What about