Chapter 16
Quinn
Istood in silence for one minute and then another. No sound carried from the living room. A gust of ocean wind warbled past the windows across from me. Then I thought I heard the click of the suite door closing.
Could Rollick really have left, just like that? I was still shaking, both keyed up and afraid, and the thought of opening the bedroom door to check made every muscle in my body lock up even though it was hardly a significant barrier to the demon anyway.
I gulped in breath after breath, struggling to settle my nerves. But my mind kept leaping from thought to thought, each jolting me with fresh spikes of panic.
Had my men and I said anything incriminating during our guestroom interludes? Did Rollick have audio recording in the room or only video? We’d been out on the terrace when we’d first discussed turning our enemies against each other, but was it possible Torrent had missed a recording device out there?
Would Rollick have focused on my sexual proclivities if he thought we were plotting against him? I had no idea. He obviously played a long game, by standards incomprehensible to my human morality. I had no idea what he’d consider acceptable, what he’d be willing to let slide for now so he could turn it against us later.
I stalked over to the sliding door and then back to the bed, my hands opening and closing at my sides. My thoughts slipped back to last night, to the tenderness and passion I’d enjoyed with my three men, and queasiness bubbled up inside me. I couldn’t take any comfort in the memories now that I had to imagine Rollick watching the whole scene, taking in every gasp and moan I made, scheming about how he could manipulate me by knowing what turned me on.
He”d watched every single intimate moment I’d shared with my lovers since I’d gotten here. Ogled my naked body. Watched me writhe and shudder with abandon…
My stomach outright heaved. I shoved open the bedroom door and only just made it to the bathroom in time to puke my breakfast into the toilet.
I crouched there on the cool tiles for several minutes until I was sure I wasn’t going to vomit again. The shakes gradually subsided, but I still felt off-balance, both in my head and my stomach. Gradually, it occurred to me that if Rollick had still been lurking in the suite, after that display he’d probably have come to make sure I was all right.
Gathering myself, I crept out into the living room. By all appearances, the demon was gone, as was the carrier he’d brought. I guessed he’d figured I needed some space to process what I’d learned. No doubt he’d be back again in a few hours, acting like nothing had changed, expecting us to go on with my training session after all.
My body went rigid at the idea. Resistance clanged through every part of me. To go along with his demands, to keep bowing to his whims, when he’d shown just how monstrous he could be… I’d rather throw myself off the damn terrace.
The second that thought passed through my mind, everything in me went still. I paused and then walked over to the sliding door.
The breeze was light today, wafting over me with a faint saltiness and tickling my hair across my shoulders as I stepped out onto the tiles. A grayish haze muted the summer sunlight, making the ocean look darker and deeper. I glanced at the spot where I’d met up with my three men last night, but of course they weren’t there.
Rollick would have sent them off on some new mission, of course. Who knew if he’d even let them come see me again at all? He’d known they were sneaking in all along, so he probably had ways to keep them out if he really wanted to. Now he’d gotten all the information he needed, and he knew his tactics had been uncovered. He wasn’t learning anything else from me in this hotel.
I couldn’t wait for them. I couldn’t count on them getting to me before the deal ended and Rollick could set new terms—or simply have me for lunch, if he decided that was the best option. I still had my phone. He’d taken the SIM card, but it had Torrent’s phone number programmed into it. If I could get out of here now, while the demon thought I was too shell-shocked to do much of anything, I’d be able to find another phone and get in touch with them again.
I wavered over the decision for a few minutes, knowing how risky it was. But every time I considered sticking this situation out, waiting until Rollick came with more demands, my gut twisted tighter and my skin started crawling.
I couldn’t stay. I couldn’t stand to spend one more minute in that monster’s presence. My parents were back home—and he couldn’t threaten them if he couldn’t talk to me about what he might do. I just had to get away, as far away from him as I could.
My pulse thrumming faster, I pushed into the bedroom and dug the silver-and-iron vest out of the bottom of my backpack where I’d stuffed it. Running away wouldn’t get me very far if the demon and my other enemies could track me the second I moved past the protective barrier a few floors down.
I pulled the vest on over my tank top. Then I filled my water bottle to the brim, grabbed the remaining snacks from a basket that’d been sent up a few days earlier in between meals, and stuffed everything into my backpack, including my messenger bag. It’d be easier to carry one bag rather than both. I slung the straps over my shoulders, secured them tight, and headed back out onto the terrace.
I already knew I could handle the climb to the roof. I also knew that there were guestrooms with balconies around the corner of the building beyond Rollick’s suite. I couldn’t reach them directly from the terrace without the help of tentacles or wings, but I could go up and over. At least in theory.
There was no telling when Rollick might return. For all I knew, he was already watching me from the shadows. Another shiver of horror rippled over my skin, and I hurried over to the corner.
I went through the same motions as yesterday briskly and efficiently, knowing exactly what I needed to do now. The backpack threw off my weight a little, but by the time I’d clambered onto Rollick’s office terrace above, I’d adjusted to it. I normally carried a bag with me during my urban explorations, so the sense of bulk on my back was more familiar than going without.
With another quick scramble, I made it onto the roof. I hurried over to the side where I knew the guestroom balconies were, staying within a few feet of the edge rather than venturing closer to the barrier wall where the siren had used his persuasive influence on me. Rollick had said there were protections here.
But none of them were strong enough to stop him from moving all over the hotel. How had I ever thought I could stand a chance going head-to-head with him?
My deal had bought myself and my men some time. Maybe that time had ended up exposing me to the demon in ways I’d never have wanted, but I wasn’t going to let myself regret that choice. Now I just had to make some new ones.
At the northern side of the building, I peered down over the edge of the roof toward the balconies below. To my relief, I discovered that there were rooms on the same level as Rollick’s office as well as the floor below. I didn’t have to attempt a twenty-foot descent to find solid ground. All the way below was the side alley where Rollick had dropped me off. No one was walking around in there. The building across from the hotel had only a few windows on that wall. I should be able to go unnoticed.
Even a ten-foot descent was going to be a little unpleasant. Now I appreciated the tiny railing along the roof. I gripped it with both hands and eased my body over the edge, walking my feet down until the soles of my sneakers hit the edge of the room’s window frame. My metal-beaded vest rustled against my torso. I pushed a little farther, my toes skidding against the glass and my body stretching, and then let myself drop the last few feet.
The impact jarred my legs, but I’d felt worse. I shook them out and peered through the balcony’s sliding door into the guestroom above the one my men and I had occupied for a short while just yesterday.
No one stirred inside. I jiggled the door handle and confirmed it was locked. Too bad I wasn’t a shadowkind who could just slip through the shadows—although then I’d have been trapped by the silver and iron Rollick had built into the hotel anyway.
It was easier to take a lay of the land by daylight. Glancing along this side of the building, I saw there were two more balconies, each spaced just a few feet apart. I should be able to manage that jump. At least one of them was occupied, a towel draped over the railing to dry and a book left on a table next to a lounge chair. That didn’t mean the door would be unlocked, but if the inhabitants were around, I could hope they’d let me through their room. Or at least give me an opening to make a run for it through the space to the door.
If none of them opened… I supposed I could find a way to descend to the next level of balconies. I didn’t want to think about that yet.
The nervous adrenaline coursing through my veins pushed me onward. I scrambled onto the bars of the far side of the balcony railing, wishing that these ones had the same stucco wall as Rollick’s private terrace for a broader base, and studied the gap I had to cross.
No looking down. Looking down would only eat away at my courage.
I needed to be as light as possible for this leap. I took off my backpack and tossed it across ahead of me. The ease of the throw and the soft thump of it hitting the floor on the next balcony soothed my nerves a little.
With my hand against the hotel wall for balance, I braced my feet on the top bar, crouched with leg muscles coiled, and sprang.
I knew better than to try to hurl myself right onto the balcony. Instead, I only aimed to catch the opposite railing. I flung my arms over it as my chest smacked into it and simply clung there for a few seconds, catching my breath and recovering from the impact. That probably hadn’t been great for my heart.
But Rollick was a hell of a lot worse for it.
Gritting my teeth, I hefted myself over the railing and checked the next room. No sign of the guests staying there; no response when I tapped on the glass. That door was locked too. Shit.
One more to try on this level before I had to worry about my journey getting even more complicated. If the next door was locked too, I could always smash the glass and get in that way, right? If I could manage to hit the pane hard enough—they’d be made of tough stuff. And that might set off an alarm…
I pushed those worries aside to focus on simply getting over to the last balcony. First, toss the backpack over. Then, clamber up on the railing. Prepare and leap?—
It should have worked as easily as the first time. But I hadn’t realized that whoever was staying in the last suite had gotten the railing wet, maybe with a hanging bathing suit they’d since taken inside. My arms slammed over the top of the railing—and slid on the layer of water before I could get a proper hold.
I groped out at the railing as I started to plummet. My fingers snagged around a vertical bar, but they were pulled down by the weight of my falling body, and an instant later they smacked into the base of the railing. The impact broke my hold.
My heart lurching to my throat, I clawed at the wall beside me—and grasped a decorative hook where maybe hanging flowerpots were sometimes displayed. I managed to scrape my feet against the wall enough to slow my fall, clinging on to the hook as tightly as I could. The thing was only as wide as my hand. My palm was already aching, the metal edges digging into my skin.
I slapped one hand on top of the other, leaning against the hotel wall as well as I could while dangling and fighting through my panic. I was maybe three feet below the balcony I’d been aiming for—there was no way I’d be able to reach my arm high enough to pull myself back up there.
Back to where I’d left my bag. My phone, my pills, all my things?—
I squeezed my eyes shut, doing my best to tune out those frantic thoughts and the pain spreading through my arms and shoulders. None of that mattered if I ended up flat as a pancake on the ground below.
I cast my gaze downward for the first time, my gut flipping with dizziness at the sight of the several floors below. Then I realized something even more horrifying.
The suite I was dangling next to didn’t have an outdoor area at all, only a row of tall glossy windows. The one at my other side had a small balcony, but it was farther off to my right, the top of it level with my knees right now. If I tried to swing in that direction, I was afraid the remaining strength in my hands might give out.
And even if I could land my feet on the railing, that wouldn’t do me much good. I needed to hook a limb right over it to be sure of catching myself when I let go. I wasn’t sure I was tall enough to manage that.
Tears started to burn behind my eyes, as much from fear as the pain creeping steadily deeper into my hands and arms. I swallowed thickly, scrambling for a solution.
And then the sound of screeching metal brought my head jerking up.
Rollick was crouched on the balcony I’d tried to jump to. He was in human form, but he’d exerted his demon strength to wrench the bars aside so he could lean down toward me. Somehow he was still fucking smiling.
“Looks like you got yourself into a bit of a jam, my stubborn sorcerer,” he said, extending his arm. His hand reached to just a few inches above my own where they were locked around the hook. “It’s a good thing I noticed you were missing and came looking. Grab hold, and I’ll pull you up.”
I stared up into his smiling movie-star-handsome face, and something in me recoiled. A chill washed through my whole body, sharper than my panic over the fall beneath me.
No. I couldn’t put myself back under his power. Couldn’t let him cage me up again with even less hope of escape now that he knew how far I’d go.
I might as well be dead if I let him control my life. I might be worse than dead.
Maybe it would be better to just let go. A few seconds of horror, and then it’d all be over, painful but immediate. No more monsters chasing me down or trying to use me. No more worrying about how the strange power in me might lead to the people I cared about being hurt—might even force me to hurt them.
I could leave it all behind me, just like that. How many years had I really had left anyway?
Rollick’s smile faltered when I didn’t immediately take his hand. His forehead furrowed, and he pushed himself closer. His fingertips brushed my knuckles.
I almost let go right then. My fingers started to loosen. But an answering surge of emotion, even more defiant than my initial revulsion, rushed through me.
I wanted to live. That was all I’d ever wanted—to squeeze all the time out of this world that it would give me. As long as I was alive, there was a chance to get out of this mess, no matter how small it was.
I couldn’t quite convince myself to give up that hope completely, no matter how miniscule it was.
A sob caught in my throat. I glanced over at the balcony that was just a little too far away again, not that I could have escaped Rollick by that route now that he’d found me regardless. Then, with a tearing sensation searing through my abdomen, I thrust one hand upward to clasp Rollick’s arm.