Secrets of Summer - THE SPECTER SERIES [book four]

Chapter FORTY SIX

Kirby Carter

. . t h r e e d a y s l a t e r . .

The concrete walls of the old abandoned house are stained with decades of wear and water damage and the boarded up windows block all trace of the outside world from your view, so you cant tell what time it is..

Or what day it is even..

You've been in and out of consciousness so many times youve lost count and when you're awake, you spend every agonising second wishing you weren't..

The cesarean scar at your stomach had spit in several places when Darby manhandled you out of the medical center.. The blood that had begun to weep then, now having dried, since being dragged off the jet and shoved into the back of a windowless van and driving for eons.. The sticky, searing scab has become plastered to the cotton fabric of the hospital gown you're still wrapped in, every movement incurring a sharp, stinging pull..

You sit half propped against the wall in a dark corner of the room, watching Jimmy as he works on the final touches to his replica of your Vulknut device.. He mutters to himself frustratedly as he works, his ginger brow furrowed and a perplexed expression on his face.. Clearly struggling with the complexity of completing the device..

It is extremely easy to lose track of wire placement in the Vulknut, with so many variant paths.. You had designed it that way on purpose..

For this exact reason..

As far as Darby is concerned, you're expected to be helping O'malley..

You havent been..

Not that it matters because O'malley is only a few connections away from having his device complete..

Still, you're adamant to be done with it All of it... .. Right up until you see Jimmy about to kill you both.. "HEY.. WHOA! NO NO NO!"

He freezes in place at your panicked tone.. "What!?"

You shake your head weakly.. "Don't do that.. 'Less ya wanna meet ya maker.."

Slowly he withdraws his wire positioning.. As he moves them towards the right place he looks up at you, arching an eyebrow in question, as if to ask if he is making the right call..

You turn away, not wanting to help him any further.. You had only wanted to save his stupid life..

"Summer?.." You dont look at him.. But you hear his footsteps as he crosses the room to stand beside you..

"Summer.."

You snap, keeping your eyes on the rust stained wall beside you.. If he, or Darby thinks you're going to help them anymore than you already have, they're even more deluded than you thought..

Why would you?.. What motivation, other than a speedier death, do you have?..

"My name is Kirby.."

There is a long, frustrated sigh before you hear the clink of metal on metal and you turn to look up at him, conflict in his emerald eyes, a switch blade in his hand..

Your heart rate accelerates.. Unable to take your eyes from the blade, you hold your breath..

He crouches beside you tenatively, before reaching around behind you and slicing away the sharp plastic zipties.. He then extends to you a bottle of water in his outstretched hand.. "Kirby.. I.. I didn't want it to be this way.."

You laugh wearily, the sound bitter as you rub your tender, torn wrists.. "No?.. How did you want it to be Jimmy, tell me?.."

Leaning your head back against the damp wall you close your eyes.. Your skull aches, a beating drumbeat berating your mind.. Your limbs are heavy, almost impossibly so, and you feel like you would be puking your guts up if there were any contents left in your stomach..