Chapter 24
Rue
“Come on, Rue. Sit with us.” Colson pats the couch next to him. “He’ll be home soon.”
“I have a bad feeling.” I turn to face Bellamy and Rue. “Leon can’t be trusted.”
“They’re professionals,” Colson says. “They know what they’re doing.”
Bellamy twists his lips, looking slightly uneasy. “I get it, Rue. It’s hard to relax when you know your man is out there dealing with bad guys, but Colson is right.”
“You broke up with Shadow over it.”
“Not completely. That was part of it, but… I have some shit I have to deal with, and anyway, this isn’t about me. This is about you and Carnage, and that man will do everything in his power to come back to you safely.”
“And you don’t think Shadow would do the same for you?” I ask. “He obviously has feelings for you, and you for him, and he hardly even goes out on jobs.”
Colson’s eyes widen as he looks at Bellamy in anticipation. Bellamy exhales slowly.
“You don’t know the whole story, Rue, so if you could not comment on it I’d appreciate it.”
“Sorry. It’s just that from the outside, it seems like…” I shrug.
“I still care for Shadow. A lot. But he’s not an easy man to know or to get close to and he’s got some shit to sort out too. Maybe someday…” His words trail off as sadness washes over his features. “But not today, and our situation is different from yours.”
Nodding, I plop down in a chair. “I’m totally in love with Carnage.”
Colson smiles. “Obviously.”
“Is it?”
“And he feels the same way.”
“He hasn’t said it. Not like that.”
“He might not be the most expressive guy, but I’ve never seen him the way he is with you. He’s softer around the edges now. It’s cute.”
I smile at the thought. Maybe we could really be something.
Before I can say anything else, the front door opens and Phantom, Ghost, Whisper, and finally Carnage enter. I get to my feet, rushing over to him and he opens his arms for me.
“Is it done?” I feel him stiffen and my stomach drops as I pull away to see his face. “What happened?”
“He tricked us again.”
Carnage launches into an explanation of the whole situation, and as I listen, my anxiety levels rise. Leon is sneakier than we gave him credit for.
“I’m gonna go talk to Boone and give him an update. Meet me in the bedroom in ten minutes?”
I nod, feeling numb. This nightmare is never going away unless something major happens, and I have an idea what that something should be. There’s no way Carnage will agree though. I have to find a way to make him. I think it might be the only way to finally get rid of Leon once and for all.
I can’t sleep.
Not with all this heavy stuff on my mind. I’ve tried to let Carnage do things his way, but Leon is too shifty.
I slide out of bed, careful not to jostle Carnage. He looks so peaceful right now. So youthful, even soft. He’s beautiful, and if I want a real future with him, this chapter of my life needs to come to a close.
Quietly, I open the nightstand drawer and remove my phone, then I creep out of the room and walk through the dark house to the upper floor balcony off the landing.
Then, with all the courage I can muster, I power it on and press the call button next to Leon’s name, hoping he still has access to this number.
It’s a long shot, but it’s all I’ve got.
It rings several times and I wonder if he’ll even answer. It’s the middle of the night now and he could be doing literally anything. He could’ve given this phone to someone else or he could just have it in a drawer on silent, ignoring it.
“What?” he answers with a harsh tone. “Who is this?”
Swallowing hard, I manage, “It’s me, Leon. It’s Rue.”
“Rue! Where the fuck are you?”
I squeeze my eyes closed. “I need you to get me away from this guy.” The lie tastes bitter on my tongue. “I need to meet you somewhere. He’s really scary, Leon.”
“Has he fucked you?”
Really? That’s what he cares about? “No. He’s had me locked in a room most of the time but he doesn’t know I snuck my phone.”
“Uh-huh. Why should I believe you? He made it sound like you went willingly.”
“You saw me. He threw me in a van.” I quickly come up with something that might sway him. “I heard him talking earlier tonight. He’s gonna sell me to some guys from Ireland.”
“Ireland? What? Is he talking to Seamus Balfe?”
“Yeah, that sounds familiar. Do you know him?”
“Fuck. I can’t fuck with this anymore. I don’t need you now.”
My stomach twists but I press on. “But you promised you were gonna be my first. Don’t you want me anymore?”
He hesitates, but then asks, “You still want to be with me?”
“Yes. ” I manage to get the word out even as bile threatens to rise up on me. “This guy is kind of unhinged.”
“Yeah, I noticed.”
“I think he’s gonna sell me soon. You gotta help me, Leon. I’ll do anything you want. Anything at all if I can just come home.”
“Don’t live there no more. I got a new place.”
“Can I come? He leaves every night around nine or ten and I think I could sneak out. Maybe you could meet me outside the gates or tell me where you’re at now and I’ll figure out how to get to you. I need you, Leon.”
He’s quiet for a few seconds, then he says, “If you’re lying, I’ll fucking kill you. You got that, Rue? I’ll put a bullet in your pretty head.”
“I know. I would never lie to you.”
“I ain’t going anywhere near where that maniac lives. I’ll be at Haven tomorrow night at ten.”
“Haven?”
“It’s a bar on the east side of Mistone. New spot I’m trying. You come alone, Rue. If I find out you double-crossed me, I’ll do very bad things to you.”
A shiver moves down my spine, but I’m not scared. Not as much as I could be. I know Carnage won’t let anything happen to me. Now, it’s time to put on a show to seal the deal.
“Thank you, Leon. I knew I could count on you. It’s been so weird not seeing you anymore. I was afraid something happened to you.”
“Nah, nothing’s gonna happen to me. I’m too smart, remember?”
“Yes, I remember. Shit, I better go. He might be waking up. I’ll be at Haven somehow.”
Leon ends the call without another word. I power the phone off, but when I stand to go back inside, Carnage is standing in the doorway along with Stealth and Whisper. All three of them would be terrifying if I wasn’t certain they would never hurt me.
“Why didn’t you tell me your plan?” Carnage asks, his voice flat.
“It was impulsive. I figured he might talk to me if I called. I took a chance that he still had his old phone. How did you know I was out here?”
“I’ve got a tracker on that phone,” Whisper explains.
“And I saw you outside from my window,” Stealth says. “I woke Carnage.”
“I was going to tell you. Obviously.”
“That was risky,” Carnage says then with a grin, adds, “and brave.”
“You’re not mad?”
He shakes his head. “No. Because of that phone call, we have a location for Leon. He’ll never see that club or you tomorrow night.”
“You did good, kid,” Whisper says.
Stealth nods before turning around and following Whisper down the hallway.
“I could go with you.”
Carnage narrows his eyes. “We’ve discussed this.”
“I know, but I think it’s important that I do this. Or be involved somehow, at least. The things he was planning to do to me run through my mind all the time, Carn. These thoughts have turned into a black hole of rage inside me, and I don’t want to carry that.”
“Then let me do what I do and take care of it. You don’t need to get your hands dirty.”
“You don’t understand. That’s exactly what I need to do. I need to witness it. I want to.”
Carnage searches my eyes as he strokes my cheek. “It could be dangerous.”
“I’ll be with you, and I won’t do anything stupid.”
He looks conflicted for a few seconds, but then he nods. “You can come with me, but you don’t move or do anything without talking to me. Can you agree to that? If something happened to you, I wouldn’t be okay.”
“I promise.” I turn my head to kiss his palm. “I… Carn…” The words fall away as I get hung up on timing. I want him to know how I feel about him, but I hold back. “Thank you.”
“We’re going now,” he says. “While we have the element of surprise. He doesn’t know we traced that call, so he thinks he’s safe.”
I nod. “I’ll just throw on some clothes and then I’m ready.”
Carnage cradles my face in his hand, holding my gaze. “I’ll keep you safe and slay your monster.”
“I know.” Rising on my tiptoes, I press a soft kiss to his lips. “Then we can start a future. If you still want me to stay.”
“I’ve never wanted anything more.”
Hope blooms in my chest that after tonight I’ll really be free and I can start living my life without looking over my shoulder constantly. Maybe I’ll finally go to culinary school, or I can get a job. I can do anything I want, as long as nothing goes wrong tonight.
The bad feeling I had earlier is still lingering, but I push it down, convinced it’s just nerves. Leon has proven to be tricky, so I just have to hope that Carnage and the guys are right and he won’t be expecting anything tonight.
By morning this will all be behind me. At least, I hope that’s the outcome.