Read Lost Avalon: A Finding Nolan Novel for Free Online Page B

her arm.
                  “Worse. I’m his manager. Now get out of my way.” I pummeled my way straight through her and into the apartment. It stunk of cigarettes and weed and the air freshener they were using to try and cover it up was only making matters worse.
                  The place was nearly pitch black and out of habit I stared at the ground in search of stage markers to guide me, only this was no fucking stage, was it?!
                  “Blaise?” There was no answer.
                  “I really think you should leave,” Melanie was coming after me down the narrow hall I desperately hoped would lead to a bedroom.
                  “I really think you should stay the fuck out of this,” I shot back when I finally caught a glimpse of some light. It wasn’t more than a red glow, but it was enough for me to make out a figure lying on the bed.
                  I ran straight for him. “Blaise!”
                  There was no response. I bent down to shake him. “Blaise, answer me.” Still nothing. I turned back to find Melanie. “What did he take?”
                  She just shrugged.
                  “Tell me!” I shouted, panic quickly rising within me as I searched for some sort of a real light switch so I could see what I was doing.
                  Melanie didn’t answer, but she had the decency to flip on the light as she walked out of the room and left me to deal with Blaise by myself.
                  Only the lights didn’t make me feel better like I’d thought they would. Instead, I felt myself coming undone at the sight of him. Not only was Blaise unconscious and naked, but he’d been cuffed to the headboard and was covered in small puncture wounds, several of which had been bleeding.
                  “Blaise, you son of a bitch. Wake up!” I pounded onto his chest, and his eye lids briefly rolled up before they fell back into place. I took a deep breath and tried to hold my hand steady on his ribcage. When I felt it rise and fall consistently for several seconds, I told myself that things weren’t as bad as they looked. I had to fight all of my instincts to keep from calling 911. I knew it would be the last thing Blaise would want.
                  But I needed help. While Bertie and I had gotten close during our brief trip together, he wasn’t the man for the job either. As fast as I could, I searched through things I tried not to look too closely at until I finally located Blaise’s pants and with them, his phone.
                  “Blaise?” Royce had answered right away.
                  “No, it’s me. But I found him. Only, I can’t get him out of here alone. Please come and help me.” I was in tears before I finished.
                  “Absolutely. Just tell me where you are and I’ll be there.”
                  I gave him the address and hung up, praying he would get there before anything else happened.
     
     
    ***
    …
     

Chapter 5
     
    Royce had told Darrel, who also did the bulk of the driving, to go on without us. Derek and Angel had both been asleep by then, so there had been no need to explain anything to them. By the time he had showed up I’d at least managed to get Melanie to take off the fucking hand cuffs so I could get some clothes back on Blaise. Amazingly enough, his pants were a whole lot easier to get on than his shirt.
                  “What the fuck happened?” Royce was staring at Blaise and then around the room which looked like a bomb had exploded in it. Melanie was a fucking slob. The only thing more frightening than the half empty takeout containers that were peeking out from underneath a scenery of hills consisting of dirty clothes, was the assortment of whips and such she had on display hanging along the wall beside the