“Trying to chit-chat me out of this is a waste of your precious breath. This is the best leadI’ve had in four years.”
The only response he gave to that was a shake of his head. I knew the only reason he caved on this was because he knew I’d just take their information and do it anyway. I didn’t particularly like being told I couldn’t do something because my balls were on my chest and not between my legs.
For the first hour of our drive, he had told me every horror story about Romero that he could think of, not realizing what he was doing. The brutality didn’t scare me; it intrigued me. Truthfully, I wanted to see who these people were and the way they lived. Every scrap of information, no matter how disturbing, only made me want to meet him more.
I needed to get away, needed something to pull me out of the murky cesspool of the thing I called life.
Every day I felt like I lost another part of the woman I shunned in order to assimilate. Ineededto do this. It was everything I’d been waiting for.
I couldn’t tell them any of that, though. They would never understand the parts of me I hid. Jinx was the only person who had ever tried, and I’d just had to leave without telling her goodbye. I sincerely hoped she would understand why.
“This is it.” Grady pointed in the direction of a treeline looming in the near distance.
Squinting, I peered through the front windshield, trying to spot what he was referring to. Tito drove a half mile further before pulling over. We sat in silence for a few moments. I couldn’t say for sure what they were thinking, but it was more than likely about how crazy this whole thing was.
I was going to solicit the lions that ruled over a land of sheep. They would either sink their teeth into me or let me in their pride.
When Tito’s brown eyes met mine again, I knew on some level that he did understand, and I knew he wanted to find David just as badly as I did.
“Alright, let’s do this,” he said, climbing out of the SUV.
I put one hand on the door to follow him. Before I could even push it open, Grady reached back and snagged my wrist.
“If things start to go south, you get away, Cali. Run like hell, and I promise I’ll find you.”
I could only nod my head. Vocalizing emotions had always been one of my weak points. He nodded back before letting me go and turning around, allowing me to get out. Shielding my eyes from the sun, I walked to where Tito stood.
“You better not get yourself killed,” he teased, attempting to break the tension between us. He rolled his shoulders and looked upwards at the clear sky. “Sometimes I forget how sheltered you’ve been. I’m going to give you one last bit of advice.”
I readied myself for another rant and received something much simpler—also, a tad confusing.
“They don’t do anything for free. They don’t give without receiving. The worst thing you could do is make a deal with one of them that you can’t retract.”
What?“You’ve been telling me for the past how many hours that I should move as quickly as possible to figure out what’s going on. Wouldn’t making a deal be doing just that?”
I rolled my eyes when he pinched the bridge of his nose dramatically before answering the question.
“Romero isn’t called the devil for shits and giggles. He’ll eat your soul and then shit it out.”
Frowning, I studied his body language and for the first time noticed how distressed he was.
“Why are you so afraid of him?”
“I knowyou’renot afraid of anything, Cali, but in this case, I really wish you were.” He paused for a few seconds before continuing. “I’ll find a way to contact you after a week or two. If I can’t, I’ll assume you’re dead. If shit goes bad, try and get back to the compound. Never let your guard down and don’t let them get in your head.”
“And if I can’t find them?”
“That’s not probable. You just go straight. You see that?”
I turned ever so slightly in the direction he was pointing, never seeing his other arm move. It happened so fast all I felt was the blade piercing through my skin and an odd tingling sensation, followed by an intense, searing heat.
“Why did you do that?” I instinctively wrapped my arms around my middle and backed away, glaring up at him.
“I’m sorry; it had to be done. You’re the perfect picture of health. They’d never believe you were out here on your own. I have to get back, and you need to go. We don’t know who could be out here.” He rushed past me, getting back in the car with the bloody knife in his hand and peeling off before I could fully process what had just happened.
“Shit,” I muttered, pressing a hand to my side. Blood seeped through the small hole in my shirt, running down my stomach and staining my fingers crimson.
Knowing my only option at this point was to get out of the open, I looked towards the treeline and began to move towards it.
