“We’re in the Latvia Club,” Willa answers.
“Yeah, that’s what the GPS says, and I gave you a code red almost five minutes ago, so why the fuck are you guys still there?Is there a problem?”
“Hayami was in the bathroom.She’s just finishing up,” Willa explains.
“I don’t care if she has to piss in the fucking car.Get her back to the house now before Devall has all our balls in a vice, including yours, Willa.”
“Yeah, well, I do have the bigger pair.”She doesn’t smile at her joke, just turns her attention back to Hayami.“We have to go,now,” she says, this time with a little more force.
Hayami takes a step forwards.The look in her eyes, the way she holds herself like she’s preparing for the opening of a dam lets me know we’re all fucked.
“Make me.”
Willa glances at me, a sadness in her eyes that it’s come to this, because this isn’t the first time Hayami has refused to do as we ask.Not even a close second.
I take a step forwards and brace myself as Hayami sharpens her gaze.
“Back off, Beast,” she sneers, her top lip curling.Her eyes narrow, and I can’t help wondering who looks more of a beast now, me or her.
I take one more step towards her.
“Here we go,” Willa says as Hayami launches herself at me.
Her nails are sharper than the last time she tried to claw my eyes out, and whatever she’s been doing in the home gym must be working, as her kicks are strong.The only thing that remains the same is the volume of her screams.
“I hate you!You’re a fucking monster!”Her cries bounce off the tiled walls as I pick her up, her fists punching my back, her legs whipping blindly.
I back up from the cubicle to give Willa some room, because we can’t take Hayami out through the club like this.There’s only one way we’re going to get her out, and it kills me to do it.
Willa reaches into the small bag she keeps around her waist and pulls out the sealed packet.
“You got her?”she asks, her face stern, though weariness fills her eyes.
I turn so Hayami’s thigh is facing Willa.“Yeah.”
I hate this, just as much as Willa does.Hate the feeling of Hayami struggling against me.Hate her scream when the needle goes in, the way her thrashing slows, her body going limp, how she hangs over my shoulder as all the fight leaves her.I hold her tightly, wishing I could rub her back, tell her that it’s okay.
“Do you think there’ll ever be a day when she comes quietly and we don’t have to resort to this?”Willa asks, pocketing the needle and heading to open the door for me.
I pull Hayami off my shoulder and cradle her to my chest.She looks like she’s passed out from too much drink, which is exactly what the clubbers will think.
“What about him?”Willa cocks her head at the comatose scumbag on the floor.
“Fuck him,” I say as I carry Hayami out of the club and into the waiting car, relieved we’ve managed to get her out before she did anything she would regret.But my relief is short-lived as I remember the code red.
What the fuck has happened now?
SIX
FENRIR
FOUR MONTHS AGO
I’m on edge,and it’s no wonder, trussed up in this fucking penguin suit.I’m used to action wear: combat trousers and heavy boots.Clothes that make you disappear into the night.This shirt and jacket feel claustrophobic.
Markus insisted that if I’m to protect Hayami at this evening’s ball, then I have to abide by the dress code, whether I like it or not.I’m pulling at the cheap cufflinks he lent me when Hayami arrives at the top of the staircase.
She looked beautiful drenched in water after I pulled her out of the pool, and in the shopping centre when she was wearing sweats and a hoodie.But tonight, with her dark hair coiled into a pleat, claret lips, dazzling eyes, and a red figure-hugging dress with a split that stops mid-thigh, she is fucking devastating.
