Slick as Ides (30 page)

“Free of you?” His eyes water, and his lips twitch.

“Yes.”

“No.” He grabs my hand.

“Yes, Riot. It has to be this way.” I remove my hand from his.

He leans forward for a kiss, but I jump away from him. “It has to be this way because of him, not because of you or me. This is Nick’s fault, not yours. We were fine until he came along. We can be fine again without him,” he says with a slight emotional hitch in his voice.

“Not gonna happen. I wasn’t fine then, just good at covering it up. I’ve missed him since I was fourteen and had to leave. I searched and searched, finally finding him. It wasn’t until he came back I felt okay again. There was nothing fine about me. With him, I will be. And you’ll be better without me, too.”

A tear streaks down his cheek, and my chest caves in on me. “Don’t cry. Please. I can’t take it.”

“How am I supposed to pretend I don’t love you and that it’s not ripping me apart inside to leave you? I can’t just walk away. You can’t ask that of me.”

“I have to,” I say, stepping out into the hallway. “All I can do is take these first few steps with you. Where you go afterward is entirely up to you, as long as it doesn’t coincide with my path.”

“I hate this,” he murmurs.

“I know you do. And I’ll say sorry again, because I am.” I lead the way down the hall.

His steps are slow, but they’re happening, so I can’t complain.

“You’ll be better soon, I swear.”

He huffs. “That’s not a promise anyone can make, least of all you.”

I place a hand over my heart so it’ll quit trying to leave me since I’m harming my dear friend.

When we get in the elevator, he corners me and puts both hands next to my head. “I love you, Ides.”

“Don’t.” I shake my head and look down.

“I love you. Listen to me for once. You love me, too. I can feel it. Maybe it’s not overwhelming for you like it is for me, but it’s there.” He steps closer and his hips move side to side.

“It’s not there and never was. I don’t feel anything more for you than I would a cousin or a brother. That’s not going to change over time,” I say, using a gentle tone. “You have to back away from me. You know I can’t stand people being in my space, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

“When you realize how bad that man is and how much he’s damaged you, I’ll be waiting, and I’ll hold you until the day we both die. I won’t ever let go.”

I duck under his arm and push the button for the ground floor again.

When the bell dings and the doors slide open, there’s Nick, looking worn out and eyes sagging as he faces the hotel concierge at the check-in counter.

My heart squeezes so tight my vision blurs for a moment.
Nick! I’m here!

This wasn’t how I’d intended for this to happen, but if he sees us, it’s fine. I’ll deal with it.

I step out of the elevator car and Riot follows after me.

He seems oblivious to Nick’s presence, which I can barely fathom since every cell in my body is on hyper-alert around that man.

Nick speaks with the hotel employee and we pass by undetected as we exit out of the building.

“When we get our new phones and I’m supposed to be someone else, that doesn’t mean I turn into some man that doesn’t know and love you,” Riot says at my side. “I won’t ever stop being here for you.”

“I know you want to, but things have changed even if you won’t.” I walk faster.

Thank heavens there’s a cell phone store half a block away within walking distance.

He’s making my heart hurt so badly I might not make it much longer.

Chapter 18

Vapor

“Shhh . . .” A soft hand covers my mouth, waking me after falling asleep for the second time.

I jerk around, and as I try to kick away whoever’s next to me, their body follows along with me.

And the next thing I know, I’m cuffed to the headboard, a gag’s around my mouth and I’m blindfolded.

I couldn’t see who it was, since it’s dark.

But they’re breathing hard.

I yank at my wrists, but I’m not going anywhere.

“Listen,” they whisper.

I’m not even sure if this is a guy or not. They’re dressed all in black and my vision was blurry.

I kick my legs, bang my back into the headboard, thrash and try to be as noisy as possible.

They grab my legs one at a time, and ropes now surround my ankles and stretch me out so I can no longer be loud with my body, flailing around.

I choke on my anger, and scream as loud as I can, but it’s muffled and comes out a garbled mess of gibberish.

My head slams back and forth.

“Shhhh . . .” They touch me. It’s light and seems hesitant even though they’re wearing gloves.

I go rigid and stop moving around so violently.

The hand checks my cuffs, but for what I’m not sure.

It seems like they’re ensuring they’re not biting into my flesh and doing damage.

“It’s for your own good,” they whisper.

I whimper a dying moan.

Is it her?

I can’t tell.

And then
click
. . .

A door closes, and fuck! I’m alone. Left like this until who knows when?

Until the cleaning crew finds me tomorrow in the late morning hours?

The remote’s still in my pocket. I can feel it up against me.

If it was Dena, wouldn’t she have taken it with her?

Christ! I’m so fucked.

For an interminable amount of time, I drift in and out of sleep since I can’t do anything else.

My arms are numb, and my feet try to move every few seconds to keep me aware, but what’s the point?

Cliiiick.

The door opens, and I’m shaking now.

What if this is one of Dad’s men, messing with me?

What if they tied me up to make me piss myself before they off me?

And what if they go after Dena since I disobeyed him?

My cuffs are released, and before I punch a fucker in the face, or try to, since I can’t see, my wrists are bound together with some kind of rope.

My ankles are released next and I’m heaved over some big guy’s shoulder.

“Fuck, he’s heavy,” the guy whispers with a groan.

“Shhh . . .” the same voice from before says.

I go limp and desperately try to see out of the bottom of the blindfold, but they’ve used one that’s thick and solid—I can’t see a fucking thing.

“Where do you want him?” the guy carrying me asks. He’s using some creepy Batman scratchy voice. It’s disturbing.

He shifts his weight, turns, and the ambient temperature of the room changes.

I think I’m in the hallway now, but I can’t tell.

There’s a metallic scratching sound, and then another door opens.

A few steps, and I’m dropped onto another bed.

I’m spread out on the mattress again, and as I fight and kick, hands try to soothe me before securing me into place.

Only this time, I’m face down.

I whimper as my hair’s pulled and something cool and metal is poked into the back of my neck.

Cliiiick, cliiiick, cllliiiiick!

Shit! Is it a gun they’re cocking?

Then they do the same thing to my inner arm.

Why would they do this?

Something sharp slices into my arm. I grunt and sob at the pain.

A second later, something warm and stinging, is placed over the wound.

Sticky, oozy, crud rolls down my arm.

My legs tense and my spine turns into a rod.

I close my eyes and tears leak out.

I can’t even beg for my life since I’m gagged.

Oh, please, don’t hurt Dena . . .

My heart pounds and feels wrenched open when suddenly, they release my hair and the metallic object disappears.

The next thing I know . . . the remote has been slipped out of my pocket.

Oh fuck! A door shuts.

They’re gone.

They’ll find her.

She’s dead!

Why did I come here?

The center of my body flops around like a speared fish.

I choke on the racking sobs I emit, until something sharp pinches the back of my neck, and I slip into unconsciousness, where maybe I can find her once more.

* * *

Ides

“God, where are you?” I say to myself, under my breath. I can’t be out here for long.

Is he dressed like a zombie? I can’t freaking find him!

I wade through the sea of people, awaiting the panel.

I ignore all the dirty looks people give me as I make my way toward the front and avoid all the sickening zombie people dressed in rags and drenched in fake blood. It makes me nauseous when I get near them.

I approach the head of the pack of bodies. That’s where Stormy said she’d be, so I can at least find her.

“Hey,” I say, imagining yanking on her ponytail like a close female friend would do when I spot the back of her head.

Ty sent me a picture, and I hope she looks even prettier in person.

She turns around and knows better than to give me a hug, but I do receive a giant smile.

Wow—she’s beautiful. He was right.

She has almost violet colored eyes, straight black hair in a sleek bob, and a very full mouth with a trim figure. Never would’ve guessed she’s a computer nerd that hangs out at home with her laptop.

“How was your drive over?” she asks.

“It was good. Riot was pouting some, but it was all right.”

It’s hard to hear her with all of the fans screaming as the cast of the show is about to come out.

This is why I chose this place.

This is why it works. We’re moving around. It’s loud—it’s chaotic.

No one can track our conversations here, and I have no technology on me, other than the new phone and the chip.

And I just bought the phone an hour and a half ago at a random shop with Riot. I’ve barely touched the thing.

“Is he here?” she asks.

“He should be. I’m lookin’ for him,” I answer. “He seems to be hiding amidst all the zombie lovers.”

She smiles wider. “He sounds really cool.”

I grin. I’ve been talking him up to her for the last few days—knowing he needed to find another woman with the same talents and interests as me. He needs to get laid.

According to Ty, she’s always a horny pervert with the same hobbies as him.

“Show me again,” she says.

“I can’t. I don’t have that phone on me,” I tell her. “But you already know he’s good looking.”

“Mmm . . . I really like blonds, and you said he has dark brown eyes, right?”

When I’m about to answer her, I look over her shoulder and Riot’s at the edge of the crowd, scowling at me.

“There he is—over there,” I say, keeping my hand down low and pointing at him. “C’mon. I’ll introduce you.”

She stays in her spot and gives me a look like she needs a minute. “And what if I can’t stand him?”

“Then you drop him off at the pre-approved location. He can get to a new place to hide after that, but really . . .” I pause and puff out my cheeks “. . . it’s just temporary. I only need you to put him up for a week.”

She nods and then follows me through the crowd. He looks scared to death and green, like he’s about to vomit.

When we get close enough, I smile and call him over, “Riot—I’ve got someone for you to meet.”

“Great,” he mumbles.

“This is one of my few trustworthy friends, Stormy,” I tell him. A rush of guilt sweeps through me. I barely know her, but Ty trusts her, so I do. I don’t have a choice.

“What’s your real name?” he asks her.

“Linda,” she replies. Her eyes rake over him, he grins like a big ol’ dork and she blushes when his eyes hone in on her breasts—much larger than mine and definitely more exposed.

“You’ll be leaving and staying with her for a week until the next driver can pick you up. They’ll keep taking you north to Oregon. There’s a secured place for you there.” I pull the phone out of my pocket. “This is brand new. I know you already picked one out at the store, but I want you to have this one, too. It has my number programmed in it. So we’ll only use these two phones to call each other for emergencies. Otherwise they aren’t touched. It has a tracking device in it. Keep it on you at all times until you get to the destination.”

He nods, but his eyes remain on Stormy.

I chuckle low and quiet. “Stormy, this guy’s a liar, uh, I mean a
lawyer
”—I grin—“and they’re known to be the biggest crooks on the face of the planet, so never take your eyes off him.”