CHAPTER 9 AILEEN
CHAPTER 9
AILEEN
After leaving our suite, Isora and I walked toward the elevator leading to the exit. So far, we hadn’t encountered anyone patrolling—security was quite lax in this League—but when we reached the elevator, we realized we needed a handprint.
“Aren’t you registered in the system?” Isora asked me in a whisper.
“Only for the elevator leading to the Atalonian,” I replied in the same manner. “Though perhaps it can work here too?”
Isora bounced in excitement. “Do it!”
Swallowing hard, I gave the system my handprint. To my surprise and relief, the plate blinked green, and the elevator doors opened. “Our Lord is surprisingly careless,” I murmured as we hopped on the car and the doors closed.
“Who cares?” Isora said, grinning from ear to ear. “What’s important is, we’re on our way out, baby!”
I couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm.
We reached the empty lobby of the skyscraper that led to the League and walked toward the exit. Once the cold air hit my lungs, I immediately felt better.
“Let’s go!” Isora said, grabbing my hand and leading me away from the skyscraper, away from the League, and right into the downtown of Rochester.
We jogged through the streets, and a thrill climbed up my spine. It was exhilarating, doing something I shouldn’t and having an accomplice. It was even more exhilarating when we stopped before a fast-food diner, because I couldn’t remember the last time I ate a cheeseburger.
Isora and I both inhaled the smell of greasy goods, and our stomachs simultaneously roared. “Let’s grab a quick bite,” she said, drool dripping from her mouth.
“Agreed,” I murmured, and we entered the diner.
Since it was late in the night, maybe even early morning, the place was pretty much empty but for a few odd people who seemed to only be able to afford the food of this humble abode. Isora and I instinctively kept a low profile as we talked between ourselves.
Once we settled at a booth and ordered food, something suddenly occurred to me. “Isora,” I whispered once the tired waitress went away, “we don’t have any money.”
She blanched. “Shit.”
The waitress returned with our double cheeseburgers and large fries, gave us a strange look, and left again.
“Well,” I said, staring at the food, “eat first, think later.”
There were no other words for it. We quite literally devoured the meal. In less than a minute, the entire thing was gone, and both Isora and I had to lean back and force ourselves to keep the food in.
Apparently, eating too much fast food after not eating it for such a long time was bound to upset your stomach.
“I’m going to be sick,” Isora said, burping.
“Same,” I ground out.
As if we were completely synchronized, we went to the toilet together, occupied the two stalls, and filled the air with the lovely sounds and smell of puke.
In the end, Isora and I did something neither of us was proud of.
We dined and dashed.
After the fiasco in the toilet, instead of going back, we escaped through the rear door. We were both still feeling sick, so we took it easy, knowing that the tired waitress would take some time until she noticed we were gone.
“What do we do now?” Isora asked as we lumbered through the street.
That was a good question. So, thinking out loud, I asked, “Wanna go drinking?”
“And dine and dash again?” Isora laughed. “No thank you. But I do have an idea.”
At the guilty look that crawled onto her face, I found myself immediately on guard. “What is it?”
She nibbled her lip. “Well ... I was thinking we can go on a drive ... It’s been a while since I drove a car, and I kinda miss it.”
I looked at her. “But we don’t have a car.”
She avoided my gaze. “I can get us one ...”
A smile stretched over my lips. “Damn, Isora,” I murmured mirthfully. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”
She shifted uneasily. “I’m not gonna lie—I wasn’t exactly a law-abiding citizen back when I was human.” She raised her electric-blue eyes to me. “But I want you to know the truth about me. I’m not the type of woman who hides who she is.”
I gave her a reassuring smile. “Isora, my father is a convicted criminal, and yet I still ...” care for him. Hate him. Love him. Unable to finish that sentence, I swallowed hard and hastily continued, “And it’s not like my hands are clean either. I’m hardly one to judge.”
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
“Really,” I grinned. “Now, let’s go steal a car.”
The next thing we did was find a parking lot. Once there, we found a beautiful Corvette that made Isora drool. “If its owner has enough money to buy this, they’ll be able to buy another one,” she said as she pulled out a pocketknife.
Silently, I watched as Isora worked. I had no idea how she did it, but she managed to open the driver’s side door and disable the alarm before connecting several wires and making the Corvette roar to life.
She looked like she’d done this type of thing many times in the past. But as I told her before, I wasn’t the judging type.
For me, this whole thing was thrilling.
Once we were inside the car, Isora revved the engine and drove us out of the parking lot. “I’ve always wanted to drive a Corvette,” she said dreamily as she patted the steering wheel. “It drives so dang smooth ...”
For the first time, I heard a soft southern twang to her voice. “Where are you from?” I asked her, curious about my new friend.
She smiled widely. “Houston, the Space City,” she said wistfully before glancing at me. “What about you?”
“Lewiston in Maine,” I replied dryly. “A very boring city in a very boring state.”
Isora was quiet for a while as she drove us through the roads of Rochester before she suddenly asked, “What is your dad doing time for?”
I froze. For a split second, I thought, How the fuck does she know this? when I suddenly remembered I had blurted it out before. Had I actually told another living being about my father being a criminal of my own volition? What the hell was wrong with me?
Glancing at Isora, whose face was clear of judgment, I realized what was wrong. I’d made a friend. A real friend.
I had known Cassidy, my former friend, for three years, and yet I’d never thought of us as true friends. Our friendship had been quite superficial, even though I’d felt a sense of responsibility for Cassidy, believing her to be too vulnerable for this big, cruel world.
And yet I’d known Isora for just a bit over a month, and I felt the kind of kinship and trust with her I hadn’t felt with Cassidy or Logan, my ex, or even Ragnor—though in Ragnor’s case, it was for different reasons altogether.
So I found myself talking. Telling her about the atrocities my father committed, leaving out my part because I wasn’t ready to talk about it, not now and not ever. But I did talk about the rest. I didn’t hide. I told her everything.
Isora listened in silence, and when I was done, she stopped the car on the side of the road and pulled out of her seat to give me a hug.
“Thank you, Aileen,” she said quietly, “for trusting me enough to tell me. And I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
I hugged her back, feeling a warm and fuzzy feeling I wasn’t familiar with spreading inside me. “Thank you for listening, Isora.”
She returned to her seat and resumed the drive. “Now I know why I liked you from the moment we met,” she suddenly said. “You see, my parents were shit as well.”
I knew it was my time to stay silent now, and Isora continued. “It’s the classic story of a drunk man beating his wife and daughter. When I was ten, my father was killed in an armed manslaughter, and when my mother learned of our huge pile of debts, she hung herself.”
Her voice was nonchalant, but I couldn’t help but wince.
“As an orphan, I was supposed to go into the foster system, but my father’s friend adopted me instead,” she said dryly. “He was just as much of a piece of shit as my dad, but unlike my dad, he didn’t beat me. Instead, he had me help him commit certain crimes—stealing cars being one of them.”
She sighed. “When I turned eighteen, he started giving me uncomfortable looks, and I knew it was time for me to leave. So I ran away, hooked up with a gang-like group, and used my skills to earn my place as more than simply an available pussy. Long story short, I ended up trying to hustle Renaldi, and he took a liking to me and offered to give me the Imprint.”
When she fell silent, I took her free hand and squeezed. “Thank you for confiding in me too.”
She grinned. “We are both pretty messed up, aren’t we?”
I snorted. “You can say that again.”
“Anyway,” Isora said conversationally, “I think we are being followed.”
Tensing at the sudden change of subject, I turned around to see a black Jeep driving right behind us. “How long?”
“The last few minutes,” she replied. “I intentionally made a few turns, but the Jeep hasn’t laid off us.”
I squinted, trying to see through the windows, but it seemed that, in addition to the lights blinding me, the glass was tinted, and I couldn’t see who was inside. “Head toward the highway,” I told her, heart quickening in my chest. “We can try and lose them there.”
Isora nodded, and soon enough, we got on the highway leading to the surrounding suburbs. The Jeep stuck to us like glue, and unfortunately, there weren’t enough cars around us to mask our escape. “Shit,” Isora murmured. “What should we do?”
Trying to think, I asked, “Will the Jeep be able to catch up to us if you drive at full speed?” It was a Corvette, after all, and the Jeep was simply a Jeep.
Isora grinned. “Let’s check it out, shall we?”
As she pushed the gas, the Corvette was thrown forward at such speed, my heart almost lurched out of my chest. Turning around, I looked for the Jeep and saw it slowly fading away.
“Is it working?” Isora asked, grinning madly, with exhilaration burning in her eyes.
“Yes,” I said, giggling uncontrollably. “Keep on going!”
She laughed as she somehow made the car drive even faster. “It drives like a fucking dream!” she yelled in excitement. “I’m so fucking happy, Aileen!”
Her laughter was contagious, and I found myself laughing as well. “It’s—” I started, when my gaze landed on the road, and I realized we were heading full speed toward a curve, which Isora didn’t seem aware of. She kept on going straight instead of pulling the wheel to the left.
“Isora!” I screamed. “There’s a curve—”
“Fuck!” Isora screamed back as she kicked the brakes violently, and for a moment, I thought it was too late. We were on a highway bridge with nothing but trees underneath, and if we weren’t going to make it, our car would fly right off the bridge and straight into the forest—
With a jolt, the Corvette screeched to a stop right before the railing.
We were silent for a few minutes as both of us tried to catch our breath and calm ourselves. Then, I growled, “You almost Thelma and Louised us!”
“Not true,” she argued, leaning her head against the back of the seat. “In the movie, the car flew over a canyon, not a forest.”
“Same fucking thing.” I snorted. “Anyway, we need to get moving—”
The Jeep that had been following us came to a stop right before us, blocking our path. Isora and I froze as we saw three men leaving the Jeep, one of them especially familiar.
Atalon stood right in front of us with his arms folded and black eyes glowering at our car.
Isora and I looked at each other, and she said, “We’re screwed, aren’t we?”