"Your swim. The pool is open all hours."
I blinked. I could have sworn he'd saidenjoyedyour stay. I finally reached for the door and pushed it open. All I saw was pitch-black darkness.
"Is there a light?" I flinched away. I couldn't go in there.
"It'll brighten," Carson said and shoved me into the darkness, closing the door behind me with a loud slam. I shut my eyes, turned back, and pounded on the door. A gust of wind blew threw me, and I shuddered. Wind? Slowly, I turned, and despite everything telling me not to,I opened my eyes.Carson was right. It did brighten, and it was cold. That was because I was outside, and it was snowing.
Rule 32 - Priest
Knowing the rules is key, but you need to know the players too.
"You're riding a thin line," I warned Tristan when I returned to the room he'd locked Laney in just minutes ago.
He smirked as he picked up the furniture and began righting everything again. "I'd say you're the one that should be worried, not me."
He had no fucking clue who he was trapped in this hotel with. "And why's that?"
"Because if what she said is true, that she isn't a virgin anymore, then there's no reason to baby her. She's worthless to us."
"What are you talking about?"
"Tristan, stop," Annie interrupted, stepping between us. "He's just pissed that someone else got to sleep with her. Ignore him. He'll be fine." She shot him a dirty look. "I'll go talk to Delaney and see if she's okay." She hurried out, and I left too.
The phone in my pocket vibrated and I pulled it out, seeing a text from Laney. I rolled my eyes. I thought replying this morning to her text with an excuse would get her to stoptexting Moth, but nope, here she was, looking to him for comfort. I ignored the text and shoved his phone back in my pocket.
By the time I made it back to my room, Laney was gone, and I decided to try to get some of my own editing work done. I was already behind due to the power outage. An entire afternoon passed before my eyes, and when I finally shut my laptop, I realized I hadn't seen or heard from Laney since early afternoon. I stood and pulled out my phone, and after a few rings, I heard a click.
"She's not here anymore, Priest." Carson's voice came from the other side. My stomach tightened.
"Carson? How did you get Laney's phone?"
"She doesn't need it anymore. She's probably unable to speak anyways, her tongue frozen solid."
"You're not the friend I once knew. You're..." I didn't want to say the word, it sounded absurd, but after last night at the bar and now this? Carson was evil.
"Dead?" The call clicked off and, sensing someone in the room, I spun around to find Carson feet away from me. I leapt back.
"How did you get in here?"
He rolled his eyes. "Honestly, it's disappointing. I didn't think I'd have to feed it to you. You were smart. What happened?"
"Fuck you," I spat. "What did you do with Laney?"
"She is of no use to the hotel now, so I got rid of her."
"No use?" Tristan's words flashed in my mind. "What do you mean you got rid of her?" I stepped over to him and grabbed him by the shirt. "Tell me what you did!" I roared.
"I did what we do with everything that has no use to us. I put her outside," he said simply.
"Outside?" I fled to the door, grabbing my winter coat. "You're gonna pay for this," I threatened. I looked back at himand froze in horror. Carson was sitting on the couch, blood pouring from his face. His jaw was gone, as if...
"Pay more than I already have?" Carson's words came out muffled and gargled as he spoke through the shotgun wound.
"You really did it." I could barely say the words.
He laughed. "No shit, Sherlock."
"But you're alive."
