Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Something raspy and wet keeps gliding over my face.
Mind muddled like my head is stuffed with cotton, I try to move my hands so I can push it away.
My limbs feel like they weigh a ton and are flopping on warm concrete.
Forcing my glued-shut eyelids to lift, blinking lazily, I see nothing but dark hair in front of my face.
The next thing I know, a horrible stench hits my nostrils, making bile rise in my throat.
The lurch in my stomach gives me enough strength to push whoever it is so I can turn to my side, gagging and spitting.
Nothing else comes out. A warm hand rubs my back, holding my hair if the pull on my skull is any indication.
Where the hell am I?
When the spasms in my belly stop, flopping back down, I stare up and the stars are the first thing I see.
Everything rushes back at that moment. My capture, the hotel, the vampires, and finally me drinking Sebastian’s blood and enjoying it like I’m one of them.
My heartbeat gallops to alarming levels, the loud rushing of blood in my ears making my head spin even though I’m lying on the solid ground.
Short gasps of air are all I can manage to give my starving lungs while I’m hyperventilating.
A shabby muzzle pops in my sight above me, floppy ears hanging in my face.
A pathetic squeak is all that comes out before I realize that I’m looking at the mutt.
Seeing his dirty face, his stench enveloping me like a safety blanket, I jerk up, wrapping my arm around him.
Sobs are wrenched from the center of my soul while I cling to him like he is my lifeline.
The mutt lets me hold him tight, pressing his full weight on top of me, showing me that he missed me as much as I didn’t allow myself to admit that I missed him too. His raspy, wet tongue scrapes over my neck where I’m pressing his head.
“I missed you so much!” Fingers tangled in his dirty fur, I keep repeating the words through my sobs. A soft whine is his response, telling me that he missed me as well.
“April, you need to stop, bella.” Marcus speaks from somewhere behind the body of fur that I’m squeezing to my chest.
Rolling away fast, taking the mutt with me, I find myself crouched a few feet away from Marcus.
He is sitting with his back propped on a wall of a building, his long legs stretched in front of him.
The clothing he is wearing looks like he was dragged through thorny bushes, his hair tousled every which way around his face.
Both of his hands lift slowly in an I’m harmless gesture, trying to placate me.
Mutt growls menacingly where I’m clutching him like a barrel under my arm.
My eyes dart around in a panic, looking for the other two vampires to pop out of the shadows.
When no one shows up, I look at Marcus again. He still hasn’t moved.
That’s when I finally see where I am. The familiar walls of the alley calm the fast beating of my heart.
The horrible smell of trash baked too long in the sun greets me, welcoming me home like an embrace.
My hands release the death grip I have on Mutt, and the dog bumps to my side, letting me know he is not going anywhere.
His lips are pulled back, terrifyingly long canines glinting in the little light that is penetrating the shadows around us. That brings one question to mind.
“Why are you here?” Throat feeling raw like I’ve been eating barbed wire for a week, I rasp the words.
“Just to assure your safety, little one.” Speaking softly, I’m assuming so he doesn’t spook me, Marcus sits unnaturally still with his hands still up.
“Where are the others?” I’m too scared to allow myself to believe I’ve been freed, to let that bitch Hope to rear her head again.
“Dealing with Khan. They were taken by the Council when he realized you were missing from the penthouse. Sebastian lost too much blood to be able to fight him.” His mouth twists like he tasted something sour.
“And you are what? A shadow I have to deal with so I can have my freedom?” My throat hurts when I speak, but I push the words out through clenched teeth, ignoring everything else he said. “Sebastian promised! We made a deal.”
“You are free to go, April. Which is more than I can say about the rest of us.” I refuse to acknowledge the look he gives me.
Monsters don’t feel sadness or remorse. “I’m only here until you are okay on your own.
I didn’t want to leave you vulnerable in the middle of the night, in a dark alley.
” Loud hoots and a blaring horn follow his words. I almost jump out of my skin.
“I’m good now.” Pulling Mutt closer to me, I swallow everything else I want to say. “You can go.”
“April…” He searches my face for a long moment before a heavy, loaded sigh passes his lips. “You are right, of course.” Pushing himself up with one hand, Marcus looms over my crouched form. “I will leave you be.”
He doesn’t leave straight away. Standing in front of me, the mouth of the alley at his back covering him in the shadows, Marcus doesn’t move for a long time.
I can almost physically feel the words he wants to say but he holds them back.
They hang like a blanket, heavy on my shoulders, promising answers, or maybe confirming my doom.
I don’t really care right now. I’m perfectly happy to live with my illusion of freedom.
Denial is the best medicine for a piece of mind.
“Go!” hissing at him, I start inching back.
“Until we meet again, April.”
There is such sadness and disappointment in his deep voice that tears prickle the corners of my eyes.
I blink to push them away, and then Marcus is gone.
The soft breeze on my face is the only indication he was here a second ago.
Waiting for a while to make sure he doesn’t come back, I barely breathe.
Minutes tick by, and my legs start to tremble from the way I’m poised to sprint at the smallest movement, or sound.
Finally, the reality that I’m alone in a familiar place settles over me.
I’m free.
Covering my face with my hands, I start crying.
Relief drops me on the ground, while all the fear and anxiety leek out of me through the fat tears rolling under my palms. Mutt keeps licking the back of my hands, and I laugh and cry at the same time.
Sebastian kept his word. He let me go. I was in the mouth of the beast, and instead of eating me alive, he released me knowing full well that he would never see me again.
Maybe I was wrong to lump Luck with Hope after all.
Lady Luck came through for me once again, keeping me alive and kicking.
Still laughing I throw my arms around Mutt.
“We are alive, buddy.” Ruffling his ears, my cheeks hurt from the smile stretching my lips. “Let’s go grab Sara and Eddie. We need to get the hell out of this city.” Mutt just licks my face, making me snicker.
Standing up, I look around the alley. Nothing has changed.
The dumpster still sits close to the back door of the restaurant like it didn’t almost cost me my life.
Dusting my hands on my thighs, my brain short-circuits, stiffening my body.
Afraid to look down at myself, my fingers twitch nervously, gliding over something silky.
Mutt bumps into me, almost knocking me over, and my head jerks down at him.
He is doing his helicopter thingy with his tail, but that’s not what has my attention.
Silk black pajama pants cover my lower body.
Too large for my tiny form, they are cinched tightly at my waist, the legs rolled up a few times, my boots peeking out from under them.
The same t-shirt I wore at the hotel is tucked in at my waist. Through the foul air of the alley and the stench of the dumpster, I can still faintly distinguish the scent of Sebastian on the fabric.
He could’ve dressed me up in my old clothes.
He could’ve dropped me off naked for all he cared since he knew I was going to run.
But, no. He did none of those things because I was stupid enough to believe everything would end as soon as I’m out of his sight.
Sebastian is too smart, and I’m too gullible for my own good. The message is received loud and clear.
I’m letting you go, but you are mine.
Everything he has said or done tells me the same.
I was just too freaked out, and too stupid to hear it.
But, I know it now, and I’m going to do my damn best to prove him wrong.
That’s when everything he said comes back, repeating in my head on a loop.
Every time he told me I would not die, every time he said he would let me go, even our deal, it was all followed up by one word.
Tonight.
I’ll be damned if I make it easy on him or anyone else tonight, or any other night.
Fuming in anger for not realizing this sooner, ignoring the voice in the back of my head telling me Sebastian, Andrei, and Marcus are in big trouble for letting me go, I start jogging towards the sewer with the mutt at my side.
I need to get out of LA tonight.