“Run.”
She rushes out the door, and I remove my pack of cigarettes and Zippo and sit on the end of the bed.
I use her phone to dial up a number, lighting a cigarette while I wait for him to answer.
“Hello?” comes a familiar voice.
“It’s Kash,” I state since he won’t recognize this number. “Got a minute?”
“One sec,” he whispers, and I take a drag, letting the nicotine fill my lungs. Usually, it calms me. Right now, it’s not doing shit. “What’s going on, man?”
“You at Carnage?”
“Yeah. Saint and Haidyn are pissed at you. You removed your tracker.”
Yep. Ripped that bitch out the moment I left my brothers after Eve hung up on me. We were at Dollhouse looking for Evan. Bill thought he might be there. Saint wasn’t talking and Haidyn was voicing his opinion on how Eve can’t be left alone. I didn’t remove my tracker because I’m hiding. It’s because I don’t want to lead Haidyn to Eve. He’s got this big-brother-needs-to-protect-her complex now. As much as I am grateful for that, she doesn’t needhim. She needs me. Especially now that I got her assignment. Haidyn would never allow me to do what I’m about to do to her.
“What do you need?” Sin asks at my silence.
“I received Eve’s assignment for her initiation. I’m going to send you a list of things and an address.”
“When do you need it by?”
“An hour,” I say, swiping to her messaging app to type out the things in a text before pressing Send, shooting it his way. “Sent.” Then I delete it so she can’t go back to read it later.
After a second, he hisses. “Goddammit.” He just read my message. Then he clears his throat. “I’ll meet you there.”
“This stays between us.” I feel the need to say it out loud. Maybe for my own sanity because what I’m about to do is insane. I don’t want to hurt her, but in order to keep her, I’ll do whatever the Lords want.
“Of course.”
He hangs up and I take one last drag before I stand and check my watch.
Times up, angel.
EVERETT
I’m running, knowing he’s behind me. He took my keys, so my car was out of the question. He wants me on foot, adrenaline pumping and exhausted. Less work for him to do if I’m too worn out to struggle.
It’s dark out, and I’m having a hard time seeing where I’m going. It’s slowing me down. The moment I ran out of the motel, I darted for the woods behind it. The fucker will have to carry me kicking and screaming back to his car. I ditched my leather jacket, but at least I didn’t wear heels tonight. It wasn’t about looking sexy for the job. It was about comfort. I wasn’t going to play with my food. I was supposed to be in and out. No hiccups. Boy, was I wrong.
My leg isn’t completely healed, but it was doing better. It’s on fire now, and I keep feeling it to make sure I haven’t ripped my stitches open and am bleeding.
The text was one word—Dollhouse.
Last I heard, it’s no longer in operation. Not since Isabella was locked up in Carnage.
Why there?
What do they want him to do?
“I’m going to break you, Eve.”
He was so confident, and I have no doubt he’ll do whatever he has to do. He’s already proven that to me. But can I do the same?
I don’t want to let him down.
“You can do it,” I tell myself. He believes in me. I just have to believe in myself. This proves that he still wants me, right? I have to try for him. For us.
