He looks at me and tilts his head in an appraising way.
“Already?” I ask in disbelief.
He nods with a little smile on his full lips. “Better to get it over with though, isn’t it?”
“What do you want me to do?” I try to keep my voice steady even though my heart is hammering in my chest.
“You’ll find out tonight. Brax will bring you to the spot at about eight. Make sure you go straight home after school and don’t get any ideas about trying to hide from us, you’ll only make it worse for yourself… and your sister.” He finishes coldly and I can’t help but shiver.
He turns and walks casually down the hall and I’m left standing alone, wondering what hell they have planned for me tonight.
By the time eight p.m. rolls around, I’m almost busting out of my skin with anxiety. I’m almost happy when Brax pounds on my bedroom door and tells me it’s time to go—at least I’ll finally know what’s coming and not have to worry in the dark for much longer.
Olivia opens her door a crack to watch me go. We already talked and I know she’s scared for me. I told her that if anything happens to me she needs to run away as far as she can. I feel guilty leaving her here alone, but I don’t have a choice. I can’t go to the cops and we don’t have any money to leave right now.
Brax and I walk outside into the chilly winter air. In Virginia it doesn’t get that cold, we rarely get snow, but I can see my breath and it makes me wish I brought a hat and gloves. I don’t have any idea where we are going but I hope it’s indoors.
Brax walks over to the broken garage door. It’s always been closed whenever I’ve walked by so I’ve never seen what’s inside—I assume there is nothing but old trash in there since they never bothered to fix it. He pushes hard on the top part of the door and I wince as I hear metal scrape against the driveway. With a lot of brute force he manages to yank the heavy door upwards to reveal a garage packed full of old junk—and one beautiful, gleaming motorcycle.
“Whoa,” I can’t help but say.
I’m not into motorcycles or cars or anything, but even I can tell that this bike is nice. He straddles it and I can see his muscular thighs flex beneath his jeans as they brace themselves against the metal and leather. He cocks his head at me.
“Hop on.”
I hesitate. He’s not wearing a helmet, and he’s not offering me one either. I also don’t know how he drives and I don’t know how safe this is—but I’m guessing not very.
There’s no working streetlights on this road and the dark shadows where his eyes should be contrast sharply with his silver hair, making him look otherworldly and sinister. I can’t help but take a step back.
He can sense my fear and says in his smokey voice, “I’m not going to hurt you. You’re our responsibility now, so you’re safe with me, Highness.”
The nickname was meant as an insult against me because of my previous life, but when Brax says it it sounds almost like a term of endearment.
I look around at the dark and deserted street. I don’t trust him, but I also don’t have much of a choice. He can make me do whatever he wants and we both know it. I’m powerless right now—and I hate it.
With resignation, I slowly walk over and climb on the back of the bike. Brax starts it immediately and I barely have enough time to grab on to him before we are roaring out of the driveway at breakneck speed.
I cling on to him for dear life as we race down cold and gloomy roads. I can feel his rock-hard body beneath my hands, and I know exactly what that body looks like naked. His scent is all around me. He smells like ginger, shampoo and clove smoke.
After about twenty minutes, we arrive at our destination. I stiffly hop off the bike and blow into my frozen hands. I had to twist them into Brax’s shirt to keep them from freezing, but even with that I can still barely feel them anymore.
“This is it,” he says as he pushes his bike into a dark alcove under a staircase, locks it, and comes back out.
I look around at an apparently abandoned factory.
“This is it? What are we going to do here?” I ask skeptically. This whole situation is getting more and more sketchy by the second.
We are standing next to a huge building on the edge of town. There’s an old sign on top, but it’s long since passed the point of being legible and half of it has rotted away. Most of the windows are broken, probably by teenagers throwing rocks. There're no lights on anywhere inside and it doesn’t look the least bit inviting—actually, it looks like the perfect set for a horror movie.
“Follow me,” Brax says as he starts walking up the stairs.
I look around again, but I know I don’t have a choice. We are in the abandoned industrial part of town and I’d be surprised if there was anyone within a mile radius—even if there was, the kind of people who would be hanging out around here aren’t the kind who will help me if I scream.
And so I follow him up the stairs.
We enter the pitch-black building and both of us pull out our phones to use as flashlights. I can feel my pulse racing and cold sweat on the back of my neck as we walk deeper into the building. I can’t handle the oppressive silence for long and finally ask, “What are we doing here?”
“You’ll see soon enough, Highness.”
He leads me deeper until we finally arrive at an unmarked metal door. He looks at me for a brief second, seeming to be unsure of something, but then knocks. First twice slowly, then pauses, then knocks again in three quick strikes. Must be some kind of secret signal.
Almost immediately the door swings open and I squint in the blinding light. An absolutely massive guy is standing there. The light is shining around him like he’s blocking the sun.
I jump back and almost trip over my feet. I hear Brax’s raspy laugh.
“Jumpy much?” he asks before turning to the guy. “Hey, Theo.”
They slap hands in greeting before Brax heads up the staircase that’s behind the door.
Theo looks me over, crossing his humongous arms over his broad chest. The scar on his left eyebrow looks particularly noticeable in the bright lights.
“Do you think I’m scary or something?” he asks.
“Well, duh,” I shoot back and that earns me a small grimace that he quickly hides.
“Come on, everyone is waiting for you. Brax is late—as usual.”
I walk past him and I can feel him watching me closely as I head up the stairs. I hear voices and when I get to the top, I see the rest of the Vicious Crew, as well as some girl I’ve never seen before. I’m relieved that there’s another girl here and that I won’t be alone with four dangerous guys.
As I enter, my gaze immediately locks on Daire’s cold emerald eyes, which are sparkling in the light. He’s staring at me like he hates me and I have to look away. I don’t understand what his problem is with me.
The space we are in is clearly someone’s apartment. It’s nicely decorated—if a little tacky. The apartment feels warm and cozy, especially for a space that used to be offices overlooking the factory floor. The girl stands up from the couch where she was sitting with Daire and comes over to me. She’s heavily tattooed and pierced and has hair that’s bleached white in stripes and the rest dyed black.