Dalir's Salvation Read Online Free Page B

“I think so.”
    Music piped through the headphones.
    Great. More bad luck. Of all the selections in the world, he’d picked tunes from the eighties.
    A song telling her to be happy failed to disguise the whirrs and pulses of the machine. Another about the final countdown kicked in just in time to join loud knocks and beeps.
    She couldn’t take it much longer.
    As the music faded, an opening guitar rift signaled the start of a new song.
    A chill crept over her. Not that one.
    A melody that had haunted her nightmares as a child streamed in. Images she’d buried burbled up, claiming space. Stealing air. The MRI transformed into a big backyard. Four children, three boys and a girl from ages seven to ten, dragged her away from the party. Her shoes had fallen off. Dirt stained her new, pretty blue dress. She struggled to break free.
    “Let me go!”
    “Shut up.” Her dark-haired stepbrother smacked her in the head.
    The girl, who had one of her arms, yanked so hard Ari’s shoulder popped.
    “You don’t belong here, weirdo. No one likes you.”
    The memory struck with the same swift blow she’d experienced back then as a child. Ari fought to catch her breath.
    A fan blew inside the MRI machine. It cooled the tears leaking from Ari’s eyes. She hadn’t recalled that horrible day in years.
    Electric-like prickles expanded over her skin.
    “There’s nothing to fear.”
    The thought, not her own, came with a light sweep along her shin.
    The voice sounded like the guy who had shown up in the emergency room. Ari’s heart beat faster. Maybe she really was hallucinating.
    The lab tech spoke through the intercom. “Ari, stay relaxed and don’t move. You’re doing great.”
    “Yes, listen to him. Stay calm, Little One.”
    This was crazy. No one was there. “Stop it. You’re not real.”
    The intercom clicked on again. “Just one more minute, Ari. I promise.”
    Once again, the deep voice invaded her mind.
    “Then why say anything if I’m not real?”
    Ari squeezed her eyes shut. She’d made him appear and now she’d get rid of him. “You’re not real because I say you’re not. Leave me alone.”
    The machine whirred to a halt. Moments later, the lab tech slid her out of the tunnel.
    No one else existed in the room but her and the lab tech. No more voices sounded in her mind. But the same masculine scent she’d encountered earlier remained.
    Back in the hospital room, Dr. Foster stood by the bed. “We didn’t spot anything abnormal. How do you feel? Anymore hallucinations?”
    “No. Can I go home now?”
    “I’d like to keep you overnight.”
    “I’m not staying.” She’d had enough of hospitals, visions and ghosts or whatever the guy was who kept appearing. “If you won’t discharge me, I’m signing myself out.”
    Dr. Foster released a harsh breath. “Can you get a friend to stay with you tonight? Someone should keep an eye on you.”
    Easy. She’d call Lauren—no. She couldn’t. Her friends were gone and she was all alone. Heaviness weighed her to the bed. Who could she ask for help?
    As if on cue, her sexy, dark-haired tormentor appeared. “Tell him you won’t be alone.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ll be with you.”
    Right. She wasn’t going to offer that up as a solution any more than she was going to tell Dr. Foster that he should skip the burger he planned to have for lunch or he’d end up with mild food poisoning. One wrong word, and she’d find herself in a psych ward.
    She forced her gaze to stay on Dr. Foster. “I’ll find someone.”
     
     

Chapter 3
     
    Dalir followed Ari and Brooke into the first-floor apartment.
    “Thank you for picking me up at the hospital.” Ari shut the door behind them. “But really, I’m fine. You don’t need to hang around.”
    If she weren’t shooting eye daggers at him, instead of the tall, slender woman, he still wouldn’t believe it. She could actually see and hear him. For the past five years, he’d only had direct