Jude felt as if her mind was a slug, oozing along slowly until the meaning of his words and the lightness of his tone reconciled themselves to her. She had no idea where he’d come from. She had no idea who he was,whathe was. She had no idea how long he’d been sitting there watching her, but it was clear that he’d been there, had maybe been there all along. He’d been there, and now he was making a joke.
It had been a small eternity since she could remember hearing the sound of her own laughter. It wasn’t as if she’d had much to laugh over the last three months, and even less so before that. Even still, her breath hitched in her shoulders shook, the laughter pouring out of her as foreign as if it were coming from astranger, but Jude found that once she began, she couldn’t quite stop.
***
The parking lot was a blessing.
She realized, as the rumble of an engine vibrated against the wall of the apartment, startling her to her feet, that they would never be able to surprise her. She’d never be caught unaware as they arrived, would never be vulnerable. The parking lot announced them like a royal herald, giving her time to swallow down her nerves and push back her shoulders and remember that shewasa wolf.
She’d only just turned up the hallway when he melted from the darkness.
Jude had realized earlier that same week that she was making an assumption, one that might be offensive, in how they preferred to be addressed. After all, she had never known a shadow person before, and didn’t have any inkling if they even had things like gender or sexual binary.
“He is fine.” Their answer to her shakily asked question was liquid and amused. “Some of my kind don’t ever settle into one form, but I’m rather comfortable in this one. Would you prefer if I looked more like —“
“No!” She had cut him off sharply, her hands waving wildly as he thickened, shoulders expanding to more closely resemble the typical member of the Conti pack. “No, you’re fine just the way you are.”
It was the familiar, lithe form that appeared before her now, long and lean, towering over as he peeled out of the corner ahead of her, blocking the way.
“Go back to your room and lock the door. Put the chain on the door that leads outside.”
She shivered at the sound of a car door slamming. “Is-isn’t it—“
“It’s not him. This is an unexpected visit. Go, quickly now. Stay quiet.”
She wondered if they would hear the sound of her heartbeat, thumping in her chest like a bass drum, blood pounding in her ears, obliterating everything else. Jude did what she was told, locking the door and jamming her desk chair under it for good measure. Sliding the chain in the outer door, she turned out the lights and practically crawled to her bedroom.
She had amassed a collection of bus routes by then. From the superstore, from the food mart, from the gas station and the pharmacy. Spread out on her bed, she’d examined the maps and put them together like puzzle pieces, determining which connections would take her the farthest away.
You should leave tonight. As soon as these people leave, as long as they’re not here to kill you. Pack your bag, take the cash, and get the fuck out of here. What are you waiting around for?
Listening at her door yielded little. They were too far away to hear, and she was unable to pick out her shadowy guard’s crisp white voice in the low susurration from the room beyond, but whatever the reason for the visit, the men left shortly after. Jude recognized Vin’s uncle from where she peered at the edge of the blinds.Maybe another job for him. Maybe he’s going to leave again. That means you definitely need to go while you can.
She couldn’t always tell when he was there, clearly. Jude liked to think she had become attuned to the shadows, picking up on his presence, the feeling of observation, but it wasn’t a given. She sensed nothing as she tiptoed down the black hallway, once enough time had passed. No eyes watched her back as she crossed the big open room, no leering shapes moved from theback of the stage where the security lights were. Sighing in relief, she quickly moved to the kitchen, emptying the cupboard of the granola bars and Pop-Tarts she’d purchased, wondering if she could fit a box of cereal in her bag.Worth a shot.She would stuff her bag full, ensure she had a bit of food and cash, and then see how far she could get on the busses.
Her hand had only just landed on the doorknob to her apartment when his voice shivered through the darkness.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking of doing, little princess, but I can promise you it’s not a good idea.”
Jude froze. He had materialized at the top of the hallway, where the light from the perimeter was dim, but present. His silhouette was black, dense and forbidding.
“Where do you think you’re going to go? Take the bus across town, like they wouldn’t just pick you up there? Use that phone of yours like it’s not being tracked? Take money out of an ATM so they can pinpoint your exact location?”
“Actually, I’m not that stupid.” Her voice was steadier than she felt, although her spine quivered as his low chuckle settled around her.
“I don’t think you are either. Which is why I know you’re going to go to bed and forget anything out of the ordinary happened tonight. Because if you’re not stupid enough to think you can simply catch the bus five blocks away and be free of all this, I know you’re certainly not stupid enough to think you would be able to do so without my noticing.”
“Why?”
That time, she didn’t care that her voice nearly broke. Tears were burning at the corner of her eyes. She was a prisoner here, just as she’d been a prisoner at the enclave. There was no one in the world who cared about what might happen to her, and it was high time she stopped pretending otherwise.You’re a brokenbitch not worth anything to anyone. Not even your parents cared.
“Why do they care what happens to me? Why are you keeping me here?”
For a long moment, he said nothing. The tears broke free, tracking down her cheeks, and Jude wondered if he could see them.
“You know too much, little one. They’re sloppy and paranoid, and that’s a bitch of a combination. They were stupid enough to let you see things you shouldn’t have, and now they can’t just let you go. I’m only doing my job.”
“Yeah, well, you’re a great fucking jailer. Hope you get a raise for that. Whatever helps you sleep at night, right?”
