Chapter 4 #2
I almost can’t help the giggle that bubbles up from nowhere and I cough hard, covering my mouth.
Oh my GOD! She’s Marcie, her alter ego she talked about in the hospital.
I didn’t think she was serious, but now I’m wondering why I didn’t know this was coming.
Of course she was going to actually do it!
‘Are you all right?’ she asks me. ‘You are parched, yes? A latte for my friend!’ She half-yells at Janet who’s working behind the counter with a snap of her fingers.
‘Sure thing, Ms. Vandersnatch,’ Janet replies readily without a hint of irony, and I wonder how many people are in on this.
Lu looks up at Jacob and bats her eyes at him. ‘And for you, Mountain-I’d-Love-To-Climb?’
I glance back and see Jacob’s eyes widening.
‘Uh, no thank you, Ma’am,’ he stutters. ‘I’ll just sit over here so you two ladies can catch up.’
‘Oh,’ Marcie frowns, and I watch her eyes slowly move over him. ‘A pity.’
We go and sit in the corner.
‘Wow. He’s hot,’ she whispers in her normal voice.
‘I thought you were going to be a debutante from Boston,’ I murmur as Janet brings my latte over and Lu gives her a wink.
‘I wanted to practice my accent. There’s another play coming up and I have my heart set on the Russian part. How’d I do?’
‘Well, I’m pretty sure he thinks you’re Russian… and maybe that you want his bod.’
‘I do want his bod. He’s sex on a motherfucking stick! Think he has a decent ride?’
I roll my eyes. ‘Probably not a Miata.’
She lets out a displeased sound. ‘You’re probably right. Also, he works for Banderville, so he’s evil. Oh, hey, I brought this.’
She raises my backpack.
‘Where’d you get that?’ I squeal.
She replies loudly in her ‘Russian’ accent. ‘You left dees in my room ze ozer night when we study. So, I bring it to you.’
She quiets. ‘Blake gave me this, too. He had it dry-cleaned. Smelled of smoke.’
I grin at her as she takes a coat from underneath hers. My coat! It wasn’t destroyed! I surreptitiously hug it to me, letting out a pleased hum.
‘Thanks!’ I lower my voice. ‘These things were in the cellar. Does that mean they’ve started working on fixing the club?’
‘I don’t know, actually,’ she whispers as she pretends to show me something on her screen. ‘You know I don’t talk to Novelles if I can help it. But I happen to know there’s one in the bathroom in the back right now.’
‘Now?’ I whisper urgently.
She nods.
I stand up immediately. ‘I’m going to the bathroom,’ I announce to Jacob as he stands as well.
‘Don’t worry, Mountain man. You stay with me,’ Marcie purrs. ‘Marguerite will be fine in ze bathroom alone.’
I go to the back, hoping he’s not following, and I slide open the bathroom door. I’m pulled into the dark and the hand that muffles my squeal of surprise is quickly replaced by lips I recognize as Shade’s.
I kiss him hard, my hands pulling at him, tears leaking from my eyes.
The light turns on and I gasp as I see the other two are crammed in here, too.
I turn and grab for Mav, kissing him as well, throwing my arms around his neck and pressing myself against him. I’m pulled away from him and spun in place, and then Blake’s hoisting me up and putting my legs around his waist.
He licks at my lips, making me open them so he can slip his tongue into my mouth. He groans when mine mingles with his.
He pulls back and then buries his face in my neck.
‘Fuck, gorgeous,’ he murmurs. ‘I missed you.’
‘I missed you,’ I reply. ‘All of you.’
My traitorous eyes are leaking again, and I pull in a harsh breath only to let out a sob that makes them all still.
‘Are you okay?’ Shade asks, cradling my face as soon as Blake puts me down.
‘Has something else happened, Tulip?’
I shake my head. ‘No nothing major. Just the nurse only gives me food I hate. I’m not allowed tea.
I’m not allowed TV. I’m not allowed a fucking razor or a metal fork or windows.
I’ve got a huge babysitter, who Joe also employs, following me around all the time.
I have to tell Lu I can’t work here now, and I’m not allowed Dagorhir anymore either. Everything’s been taken.’
I sigh. ‘And how am I going to go to my actual classes if I’m being watched so closely?’
‘We’ve already talked to Applegate,’ Shade says, taking my hands. ‘He’s going to have all the classes taped and put on the lab servers so you can watch them. You won’t need to attend. Just do the reading and make sure you get your papers done.’
‘Okay,’ I whisper. ‘I can work with that. I can ask John to let me use the library whenever I want. I doubt Nasty Nurse will want to stay in there with me. I have a feeling books aren’t her thing.’
‘What else is bothering you?’
I bury my face in Mav’s chest, breathing in the calming scent of him. ‘I’m not supposed to speak to you or look at you guys. Last night, I was all alone, and I missed you all so much. I hate sleeping alone.’
‘We missed you too,’ Shade says, rubbing the back of my neck. ‘We even all squeezed into your room last night so we could actually relax and sleep.’
I sniffle. ‘You did?’
Mav nods. ‘We hate that you’re not with us. It’s like a hole without you.’ He kisses me gently. ‘Now, what else? There’s more, isn’t there?’
I nod.
‘Joe… He brought me to the campus this morning. He made me sit on his lap while—’
‘He what?’ Blake snarls, making me wince.
Maybe I shouldn’t tell them this, but the thought of keeping this from them too, of dealing with this alone on top of the threats that I can’t tell them about, makes me want to curl up in my dark bedroom closet and never come out.
‘He made me straddle him in the car while he told me to obey him and his rules,’ I confess. ‘If I do what he wants, he’ll let me come to campus and stuff. At least until we’re married.’
‘That’s got gonna happen!’ Blake spits. ‘I’ll kill him before it does.’
I close my eyes and turn to him, putting my forehead to his.
‘I know you’d do it,’ I say, ‘but I don’t want you to ruin your life for me. Maybe it’s best…’ I swallow hard. ‘Maybe it’s best if you guys keep your distance from me. Since I came here, your lives have gotten so much more complicated. Because of me. Maybe we shouldn’t see each other anymore.’
None of them say a word, so I keep going, putting voice to the thoughts I have in the dark, the ones I don’t want to have. They’re logical, after all. They make sense. I could give them an out here and now before things get any worse.
‘Maybe you three should forget about me. Joe and his family… They're so powerful. They could destroy you, crush you, your dreams, everything you want. I don’t want to be the reason for something like that happening to you.’
I don’t look at them. I can’t.
Shade is the first one to speak. ‘Daisy,’ he says carefully. ‘Is that…what you want?’
I let out a hard breath. It echoes through the small space. I should say yes. I should let them go. But I can’t make my lips form the words.
I chicken out and shake my head.
‘We love you. We aren’t going to abandon you.
’ Shade puts a hand under my chin, forcing me to look at him.
‘I’m not going to abandon you again. We will face whatever the Bandervilles or anyone else throws at us.
We’re not going to let Joe have you. We’re going to figure this out. We’re going to find a way to save you.’
A sob of relief bubbles out of me even though I know it shouldn’t be up to them.
I need a plan of my own, and it can’t be to run.
That’s a temporary solution at best. I need to find a way to save myself and them, too.
Joe and the rest of my enemies might treat me like I’m stupid, and they might make me doubt myself.
But I’m not stupid and it’s time I put my brain to work to find a solution.
‘Okay,’ I whisper. ‘Okay.’
He wraps me in a tight hug, and though I cling to him for a moment, I let him go quickly and step out of his arms, taking a steadying breath.
No more Daisy, the damsel in distress. I need to be a warrior.
Daisy the Destroyer. I like the sound of that.
Fuck Joe and his horrible family. Fuck Nasty Nurse and fuck John.
Fuck the law that’s put me in such a vulnerable position.
‘What am I going to do about English classes?’ I ask, making sure my voice is strong.
The guys look relieved and I feel both Mav and Blake’s hands on me lightly, like they’re afraid I’ll run away.
But that’s not going to happen. I’m not fleeing under the cover of darkness like I’m the one who’s guilty or wrong.
I’m going to fix this and claw back everything I’ve worked for.
Whatever it takes. Joe is going to see who I am.
I want to see fear in his eyes, deep and intense, so that I actually notice it.
‘I’ve asked one of the KIP guys in Lit to think of something to tell his professors so that you can go to their classes, and no one says anything. I assume someone will be with you, so you’ll have to go all in.’
I make a face.
‘And Envy?’ I ask, looking at Mav.
‘We start making it at Sauvage’s lab tomorrow.’
I can’t help my anger that this has been taken from me too. Envy might have started with them, but it became mine when I cracked it. I was the one who fixed it. I shake my head a little.
‘You’re upset,’ Mav murmurs.
‘A little. Making it was my job. I was good at it.’ I grit my teeth. ‘I know you can make it,’ I tell him. ‘Of course you can, but I sort of wish I had said yes in the hospital when you asked to leave. We’d be in hiding, but at least we’d be together.’
‘It wouldn’t have worked,’ Shade admits quietly. ‘It was a pipe dream at best. The only way we’re going to move forward is by destroying the Bandervilles.’
Blake nods. ‘He’s into some shady stuff. I’ll come up with something, but there’s another thing we need to talk to you about. We—’
He breaks off as Shade’s phone buzzes. ‘Shit. Lu says the bodyguard is asking where you are and she’ll stall him if she can.’