We’re all mad here…
Chapter 19
Haven
It’s three days later, and I’m trapped in a sensory nightmare.
“It’s too hot!” I scream the words, but the bass drowns me out. It thumps right through my chest, beating my heart at a pace I’m not vibing with.
Kai definitely heard me, even though he pretends he didn’t. His hand tightens on my hip, fingers digging into the apron of my torn and bloodied Alice in Wonderland costume.
Sanctuary, Agony Hollow’s abandoned church turned party venue, is packed so tight with bodies I feel like I can’t breathe. Neon lasers cut through the fog and light up the stained glass windows. Up on the altar where priests used to give sermons, a DJ in a blood-stained hockey mask is dropping a beat so filthy, listening to it feels like it’ll put me on the government’s watch list.
Kai pulls me flush against him. His chest is hot and slick with sweat under the tatty thrift store coat. But he’s staring over the top of my head, scanning the room like he expects an ambush.
He’s been like this all night. I liked it…in the beginning. But I haven’t been able to go anywhere by myself.
I go to tiptoes so I can yell in his ear. “It’s boiling in here. I’m gonna get a drink.”
The shadow of Kai’s top hat hides his eyes, but I can feel the tension radiating off him.
“I’ll come with,” he says.
“I’m fine!” I yell back. “The bar is right over there.”
“I’m coming,” he says.
I jerk out of his grip. “Seriously, enough! I’ll be fine!”
Spinning on my heel, I shove my way through the dance mob toward the bar set up near the entrance of the church. The crucifix-shaped building was gutted of pews and its altar. It’s a big space, but there are a lot of college kids in here, and no air conditioning.
Kai reaches me as I clear the crowd, grabbing my arm and turning me roughly back to him. “Don’t run off like that!”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I try to pull free, but he’s holding on too tightly. “I’m just getting a fucking drink.”
He looks around, his gaze snapping to someone in the crowd. He raises his free hand to his mouth and yells, “Kruger!”
A guy dressed in a fraying pink bathrobe with an obviously fake beard and wig stumbles over. He looks utterly wasted, and that’s before he pushes up his retro sunglasses.
“Yo, my man!” Kruger tries to fist bump Kai, but misses by a mile. “Love the—” he stalls, staring at Kai’s chest for a moment before squinting up at him. “Sparkles.”
Kai tries to pull the two halves of his coat closed. I’ll admit, I went a bit overboard with the body glitter. But, hell, it’s been ages since I’ve dressed up for Halloween, and Kai kept looking at me funny. So I kinda attacked him with the stuff.
Is that why he’s being so weird? Did the excess glitter threaten his masculinity, triggering some kind of alpha mode?
“Watch her,” Kai orders, grabbing my wrist and shoving my hand into Kruger’s warm, clammy one.
Why are his fingers sticky?
“Ew!” I yank my hand back. “What the fuck, Kai? I don’t need a fucking babysitter!”
“Tonight you do,” Kai snaps. He glares at Kruger. “If she moves a muscle, I break your legs. Got it?”
Kruger salutes, swaying slightly. “Gotcha!”
Kai gives me one last dark look and disappears into the crowd, headed for the bar.
I scowl after him, fuming. “Fucking psycho,” I mutter.
