Chapter 10 #2
“We’ll have the sniper in the copter. Trix will fly,” Jezebel mumbled absently before pulling out a dry erase marker and starting to make distinctly illegible markings all over the screen that showed the hallway.
“Should we bring an army?” Pinkie asked. “Nix’s mother’s people are available and looking for a target.”
Jezebel looked up at her, clearly considering whether or not we could use an army.
I closed my eyes. “Don’t mind me, I’m just going to take a nap.
That’s my real super power, the ability to sleep through all the drama.
Trauma. And I wanted so much to have a nice, peaceful, boring death.
” The entire world was unravelling around me, but this moment, I could close my eyes, inhale deeply, and smell Nix.
Could he hear me on the other side of the world? Of course not.
“I’m going to come rescue you,” I whispered anyway. “You owe me cuddling, and I intend to collect my debts.”
“And the cure,” Pinkie said.
I opened my eyes to frown at her. “The cure for Flowers?”
She gave me a slight smile. “The cure for you. That’s what Nix went to find, and he won’t leave without it. If we don’t get the cure, we might as well not try to take him out of there.”
“My cure is there?”
“Your dad worked for the King of Macao before his sudden and shocking death.”
“He didn’t work in Macao.”
“Of course not, but that’s where the files would go. Digital files.” The two women turned to look at Felicia.
“I should be able to get them if they’re online once you get me into his internal feed to take down security. If he has a stack of cute drives, someone will have to physically retrieve them. Hopefully they’re neatly labelled.”
Hope. Could I hope for something as ridiculous as saving Nix from this cage he was fighting in, as well as the cage around him? Could I hope for a cure? Which was more preposterous? Which was more necessary?
Would I actually go along with this ridiculous plan to rescue someone who might just rip me apart? Of course. I was already dying. Would Nix be happy about that? No. He’d never okay putting me at risk. That’s what flipped his switch in the first place. A lightbulb went off in my head.
I sat up. “The Crocodile’s the one who hit us! She threatened my life to see what he’d do. What a psychopath!”
“Most likely,” Jezebel said with a nod. “It was good to clear the board of that piece.”
“Except that her army…” Pinkie began.
Felicia cut her off. “Uno problemo at a time, okay?”
“We could definitely use a new king,” Jezebel said, nodding as she scribbled. Was that Chinese? It wasn’t English. Too bad I only learned romantic languages.
“King? King of Macao?”
“King of Beasts.” Jezebel gave me a slight smile. “Because if you can’t tame him, and he can’t control them, then they’re going to rip you apart for killing the Crocodile.”
I smiled back at her. “That’s why you came here, to protect me from them? That’s so sweet. I really appreciate the gesture.”
Pinkie laughed louder and warmer than I expected.
“You aren’t afraid. That might be the best superpower yet.
Even better than the needle thing, although that is pretty good.
The jet is fueled and the helicopter is waiting on the roof.
The only question is whether the cupcakes and spaghetti are done. ”
Jezebel sniffed. “Five more minutes. Can you two help Sunshine pack? She’ll need something good to make her a lure. Not sex, but soft.”
“Minx brought a kitten. It’s in the hall. She found it in the alley behind the Dove’s Rest and wouldn’t let it go,” Felicia said, fiddling with her phone.
“A kitten?” Jezebel gave me a big smile.
That’s exactly what we need. You, a frumpy dress that doesn’t entice, playing a ukelele, with a kitten trailing your heels.
That’ll be confusing enough to break the trance.
Or not, but hopefully he smells you and recognizes you on a base level.
” She gave me a slight frown. “He might take you forcefully, even if he doesn’t kill you. I don’t know what he’ll do.”
I blinked at her while my cheeks heated up. He’d refused to take my virginity since it would cause me pain. If this monster didn’t mind my pain, maybe that could be a good thing. “He’s my husband. I’m not unwilling.”
“You say that now, before he’s…” Jezebel winced. “Let’s wrap this up before I decide this isn’t going to work.”
“It’ll work one way or another,” Pinkie said with a shrug.
“Death isn’t an option,” Jezebel said with a hard look.
“Death is the only option,” Pinkie said with a smile before patting Jezebel on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry. It’ll be fun. Girl’s Night Gone International.
I’ll pay for the tacos afterwards.” With a wink, she walked out of the room, leaving me with Felicia and Jezebel.
Why wasn’t I napping? Maybe because my eyes kept getting caught by the man in the video who wouldn’t stop tearing the world apart to get to me.
That’s what he wanted, right? I could only hope.
Yep. Hope is what I had and I would hold onto it until I could hold onto him.