Ultimate Nyssa Glass by H. Burke (ebook reader browser txt) 📗

or any of Rivera’s other heavies. “Let’s get to the elevator.”

A hand clamped down on Ellis’s arm, and he looked up into O’Hara’s pinched face.

“Ellis, whatever you find up there …” She exhaled. “I’m sorry I failed you, failed her, but please, you shouldn’t go alone. Not without knowing what you’ll find.”

“Then come if you want to, but we need to go fast.”

As they hurried down the hall, Ellis regretted that he’d never adjusted his chair to be able to go much beyond a walking pace. It just hadn’t been a practical need. Seriously, I’m going to fix that when we get through with this.

The doors of the elevator clanged shut. Something had blown out the automated control, but the hand-powered crank his father had installed as a backup still worked. Still, this further delay ate at Ellis.

“Here let me,” O’Hara offered.

“I’ve got it,” Ellis snapped. She recoiled. He steadied himself. “I’m stronger than I look, all right? When you only have your arms, they get … I’ve got this.”

She nodded and backed away. Ellis grasped the crank and put all his frustration into getting them to the top floor. The rusty gears groaned and creaked. When they reached the top, Ellis propelled himself out the door.

Half the lights in the workshop had all been blown out and brown lines marked where the wiring had once been. The metal door to the laboratory and office sat open and before it lay a body. Ellis didn’t give Rivera’s corpse a second glance, though O’Hara stooped over him to check for a pulse.

He hurried into the office then the lab. Shattered glass crunched under his wheels, and a small fire flickered within the broken monitor of the main computer. His eyes smarted at the trace of gas still remaining in the room, though most seemed to have dissipated through the open doors.

“Nyss?” he called. Ellis cast a desperate glance around the room. He found her curled into a bundle on top of the table.

Ellis pulled her off the table onto his lap. She lay limp against him, still warm to the touch, but so terrifyingly still. His heart pounded as he pressed his lips against hers, searching for breath. His fingers caressed her neck, desperate for a pulse. “Nyss! Nyss! Please say something.”

A weak heartbeat throbbed beneath her skin like the tick of a watch in a pocket. Relief swept through him.

Somewhere in the distance a klaxon sounded. O’Hara rushed into the room. “The police are here … is she?”

“She needs a doctor.” Ellis rolled past O’Hara, still gripping Nyssa to his chest.

O’Hara nodded. “We can have an ambulance take her to the hospital.”

“No, she won’t get the best care. Call Clarence. Have him get his private physician and set up a room.” A glint caught Ellis’s eye. His breath caught in his throat as he took Nyssa’s tiny hand and stared at the ring glistening on her finger.

“The police are going to want to question her,” O’Hara said.

“The police can go shock themselves.” Ellis scowled. “I’m taking her home.”

***

Nyssa’s head ached and her mouth tasted as if she’d been chewing on metal shavings, but pain meant life. Another sensation invaded her consciousness, a cold trickle almost like water running down her throat, but not choking her. Something pressed against her face. She flailed out and pulled it away. The cold flow stopped.

Her eyelashes weighed against her cheeks, but she somehow forced them open. She was gripping a rubber suction cup attached to a tube. Oxygen streamed from it.

For a moment everything blended together, then her vision focused, and she found herself lying in a bed with pillows plumped beneath her shoulders. The room was clean and bright with blue linen curtains and a cherrywood wardrobe.

“Nyss?”

She turned her head at the familiar voice and stared. Ellis sat at her side, his eyes wide.

“Ellis?” she whispered.

He gripped her hand. “Thank God, you’re up. The doctor said you’d be all right, but I still couldn’t help but worry.” He leaned over and kissed her.

The warmth of his touch enlivened her, and she struggled to sit upright.

“Easy,” he cautioned. “You’ve been out for hours.”

“How did I get here? What happened to Rivera?”

His brows furrowed. “You don’t know? Well, something triggered an electrical feedback that channeled through the metal doors of the laboratory, down the tube he was pumping the gas through, like it was a lightning rod. It killed him. I couldn’t tell what triggered the surge, so I assumed you did it somehow.”

“I didn’t …” She tried to sit up, but dizziness overcame her. What happened? That flash of light … Hart! Oh no! “The … the computer?” she stammered. “What happened to the computer?”

“The computer? It was blown out when I got to the lab.” Ellis’s frown deepened with worry. “The surge must’ve fried it. Why? What was on the computer?”

She shook her head, suddenly feeling numb. Hart did it. Of course, but he had to know what it would do to him … The computer’s last words flitted through her memory. Oh, Hart, I’m so sorry.

“Hey, don’t cry. Nyss, what’s wrong?” Ellis stroked her cheek.

She managed to get her arms about his neck and bury her face against his chest. “It’s … it’s a long story … Oh, Ellis, I missed you so much. I was so stupid and … and it … oh, Ellis …” A sob forced its way up her throat. She shuddered, trying to push it down, but her body still felt weak, easy prey for her ravaged emotions. Her fingers found his dark, wavy hair, as his lips connected to hers, and she held on for dear life.

How can I even explain about Hart? Hart who wasn’t him … but was somehow?

She’d have to tell him, but not now. Now she’d returned to Ellis, and she needed to concentrate on that gift.

They kissed again. He eased his lips onto her cheek, then her neck, then withdrew to look her in the eye. Twining his fingers