Crimson Dahlia Read Online Free PDF

at
anything within her reach.
    Suddenly
that horrible, razor-like pain pierced her, and Lila collapsed on the floor.
The agony was so intense this time that she vomited. She didn’t even notice
that they’d picked her up and strapped her down to the table until the pain abruptly
ceased.
    Lila
worked to slow her labored breathing. A tall, slender woman with light brown
hair and hazel eyes entered the room. Lila suppressed a shiver at the cold
smile the woman offered her.
    “This
lovely lady, whose name is Melanie, is not our telepath. There’s very little
you could tell us right now, having been in that cell as long as you have. But
we can’t have you trying to escape. That just wouldn’t do. Melanie is here to
help with that issue.”
    Lila
regarded Maddox with a stony glare.
    “I’m
going to give you one chance. Join us. As one of our wolves.”
    Lila
was going to say no immediately, but got sidetracked by his last
comment. “I’m not a wolf.”
    Maddox
smiled. “We have ways to deal with that. But you have to volunteer for the
transformation. Your answer?”
    Lila’s
glare turned icy. “I’d rather die.”
    Maddox
gave Melanie a small nod, and she slowly approached. Lila twisted and squirmed
away from her as much as her bindings would allow, but her actions were futile.
Melanie reached out and gently tapped a finger right in the middle of Lila’s
forehead.
    Lila
felt as though she were falling, like Alice down the rabbit hole. As she fell,
she could tell she was losing herself. Losing sense of time and space. Losing
her thoughts and memories. She fought it with everything she had in her, every
bit of stubbornness. All she could think was… Hold on to who you are. Don’t
forget. Don’t forget .
    She
kept falling.
    Don’t
forget. Don’t forget.
    Floating.
    Don’t…
forget…don’t…
    Lila
shook her head. What was I thinking? Panic started to set in as she
couldn’t remember what it was. Something important. She gasped as memory
returned. Don’t forget. What’s my strongest memory?
    Lila
fought the fog pushing in on her mind. A memory to hold on to… think of
something… She took a deep breath, calmed herself and thought hard. And a
memory, vibrant and bittersweet, suddenly came to her.
    Ramsey.
     
    *****
     
    Ramsey
snapped awake with a jerk. He could feel the fire inside him burning and took a
moment to calm himself, bringing the inferno back down to smoldering embers. As
soon as he felt under control, he allowed himself to think about what had just
happened.
    He’d
been sleeping when suddenly he was standing in a thick grey mist.
    “Selene?”
he called out. He knew she had the ability to visit people in their dreams,
though she’d never done so with him.
    Ramsey
waited, listening.
    “Ramsey.” Lila’s voice,
though it sounded barely above a whisper, tore through him.
    Ramsey
took off at a sprint in the direction he thought it’d come from. “I’m here!” he
yelled. “Lila?”
    The
thick fog parted, and suddenly he could see her. Ramsey stopped dead in his
tracks.
    What
the hell?
    Lila
was swimming in a pond, laughing, looking like a water sprite. And Ramsey could
see himself there already. He was standing on the shore watching. They were
talking, but he couldn’t hear what they were saying. Ramsey tried to move
closer, but couldn’t. Then Lila pulled back her arm and sent a spray of water
splashing toward the version of him she was talking to.
    And
that’s when he’d jerked awake.
    He
recognized the scene he’d been watching. He’d lived it once... a long time ago.

Chapter
6
     
    “Ramsey?
You here?”
    The
sound of Charlotte’s voice snapped Ramsey out of his reverie.  He hadn’t
thought of that moment with Lila in the pond in a long time. He’d painstakingly
pushed the memory of that night to the bottom of his mind.
    Shocked,
he realized it was already morning. He should’ve been awake and packing up camp
a while ago.
    “Yeah,”
he called out. “Just a sec.” With