Free Wanderlust by Natalie K. Martin Page B

she turned to look at him, her vision blurred. He put a hand on her shoulder and it blazed like fire against her skin. She looked at him, blinking, trying to refocus her eyes but his face was still blurred as he moved to stand right in front of her.
    ‘Selina? Are you okay?’
    She squinted her eyes at him. ‘I don’t know.’
    The pounding in her ears reminded her of the time she’d fainted after slicing her toe open on a broken floor tile when she was twelve. She’d heard her own heartbeat, just before blacking out. Her stomach suddenly turned and she swallowed.
    ‘Come on,’ Alex said, taking her by the arm. ‘I think you should sit down for a bit.’
    They left the group and he led her over to the chairs, she stumbled over her feet. Her legs felt wobbly and light, as if they couldn’t possibly carry her weight and Alex wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her steady until he lowered her into a chair.
    ‘How much have you had to drink?’ he asked, crouching in front of her.
    ‘A few glasses of champagne.’
    ‘How many?’
    ‘Three or four. I don’t know.’
    He took her chin in his hand. His eyes scanned her face and the way he pulled his eyebrows together made her heart ram in her chest even harder.
    ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’ she asked.
    ‘How do you feel?’
    Selina swallowed. ‘Sick.’
    Her stomach was rolling, as if someone were kneading it like dough. She’d had three or four glasses of champagne before. Hell, she’d had more than that before, plenty of times, but it had never felt like this. She’d never felt so wobbly inside, or so damned hot.
    ‘Have you taken anything?’
    She pulled her chin away from him and shook her head with a fierce frown on her face. ‘No. I would never do drugs. I’m not into that stuff.’
    Maybe she’d been spiked. It happened to people all the time, but she’d poured her own champagne.
    ‘Did you have anything else? Anything at all?’
    Selina shook her head before remembering the water she’d had. ‘I had some water, but that’s it.’
    ‘From the tap?’
    ‘No. I found it.’
    Alex swore under his breath. ‘I’ll be right back. Don’t move.’
    Selina watched as he strode across the terrace and out of sight. She couldn’t move, even if she wanted to. Her head felt light, as if it were packed with cotton wool and her stomach still churned. She curled up in the chair, feeling the need to ball in on herself and closed her eyes, willing herself not to be sick. Apart from anything else, it’d be humiliating and it wasn’t as if she needed any more of that in her life. She had to keep in control, so she took a series of long, deep breaths until she felt a warm hand softly place itself onto her shoulder.
    ‘Hey.’
    It was Alex. His voice was soothing and tender, momentarily distracting her from her rolling stomach. She slowly opened her eyes and saw him crouching in front of her.
    ‘Here, drink this.’ He handed her a glass of water. ‘But sip it. Slowly.’
    She did as she was told. ‘It tastes sweet. Last time it tasted bitter.’
    ‘The water you had earlier?’
    Selina nodded and took another sip before squeezing her eyes shut. It was all she could do to focus on sipping the water and not being sick.
    ‘How are you feeling now?’
    ‘Weird.’ She swivelled her gaze again and jolted back as her vision juddered. ‘Its like my eyes are shaking and there are halos around the lights.’
    Alex put a hand on her knee. ‘Don’t freak out, but I don’t think what you had was just water.’
    ‘Oh God. What was it? Please don’t tell me it was acid or something.’
    She’d read a story online once, about someone who’d accidentally taken acid at a party when someone had put it in a drink, and she couldn’t think of anything worse. She hadn’t lied when she’d said she didn’t take drugs. The most she’d ever done was take a puff on a cigarette when she was fifteen and it had made her sick. After that, she’d never