“This is getting strange.”Baz’s voice lifted me from sleep. I shot up and looked over at the clock. Two AM. I slept longer than I anticipated.
“Finally, something useful in the journal?” Nemo asked him.
“Not really. It was sweet at first. Hot as fuck too. Damien isnotshy describing his sex life. Now it’s just … weird. I don’t know. Something is off about this.” He flipped a page forward and scanned.
Bree sat at the small table with a far-off look on her face. Her eyes slid to Nemo, settling on his throat, watching the vein. She swallowed thickly and looked at me, getting up from bed.
“I need to get out of here,” she told me. That was my cue.
“Change into this,” I said, handing her the shirt I bought.
“I’m starving,” she whispered, ripping off the old shirt and pulling the new one on. Thankfully, she’d showered while I was gone, so the only blood left was on her shorts. Nemo, on the other hand, still had dried blood all over his jaw and hands. Not to mention his shirt. I sighed.
“Let’s step out to feed,” I said. She nodded mindlessly, her eyes sliding back to Nemo while licking her lips.
Baz popped up suddenly. “I want to go.”
“No,” I said too quickly. “We’ll make this quick. You’re too slow.” Baz stopped and stared at me.
“Too slow?” Nemo asked, narrowing his eyes. “Where are you going? Just grab someone from next door.”
“We need to go somewhere else. Unless you want to be found?”
“Where?” Nemo asked.
“Why does it matter? You don’t know where anything is.”
“Can you two stop fighting?” Bree sighed. “I need to eat.”
“We’ll be right back.” I grabbed Bree’s hand and pulled her towards the door.
“He’s lying,” Nemo growled.
“Just … wait here,” I said in exasperation to Nemo and Baz. I opened the door and pulled Bree towards the car.
“Get in,” I snapped at her. She shot me a mean look but climbed into the car, too hungry and used to our fighting to realize what was really going on yet. Nemo and Baz trailed out of the hotel room and stood in the parking lot. This was supposed to be quick and easy. Yet somehow I was fucking it up. I grabbedseveral bags from the car and stomped over to Nemo, shoving them in his arms.
“What is this?” He asked, baffled. A honeybun flopped to the parking lot asphalt.
“Food,” I said. “And money,” I admitted, embarrassed at myself for taking the time to make them an abandonment care package. Baz blankly slid his hand into his pocket, pulled out his mask, and slid it over his head while staring at me. Fuck, he knew.
Nemo was entirely out of his element. I could see a million questions tumbling around in his head. He didn’t even know enough to understand what I was doing. He only knew something didn’t feel right.
I turned around and began walking back to the car.
“How long did you rent the room?” Baz asked with a cold voice. I stopped for a moment.
“A month.” I took a deep breath. “You’ll be fine.” Then I kept moving towards the car. I slid in the driver’s seat and closed the door. When I started the car and began to reverse, I turned around to see Baz and Nemo, illuminated by the red backup lights. I ground my jaw and put the car in drive, ready to leave.
A hand landed on my thigh.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Bree seethed. All the blood drained from my face.
“My love…” The hand tightened on my leg, bruising it. Actually, she was fucking breaking it. “It’s for the best,” I ground out through the pain. “They’re going to get us caught,” I hissed, turning towards Bree. I grabbed her face in my hands. She ripped herself away from me and rolled the window down.
“Get in the car,” she called out. In the rearview, I saw Nemo drop the bag of food. He looked at Baz and said something, then the two of them came walking up to the car.
“I don’t understand,” Bree said. “You want to break up with Nemo and Baz?” The backdoors opened, then Nemo and Baz folded themselves into the back. I hadn’t gotten a car with much space because I told myself I didn’t need it.
