15. Raegan
Chapter fifteen
Raegan
The chorus of “Chandelier” by Sia pierces through the fog of sleep. I moan and fumble my hand around blindly in search of an alarm clock snooze. The chorus starts up again and then I realize that alarm clocks don’t play old hit songs.
My new burner phone does.
Well, it plays run-of-the-mill nagging ringtones, but when I gave Portia my phone to add her number, she apparently downloaded a bunch of songs and set up various sounds in it for different notifications.
Wait.
Portia.
I jolt upward and scramble for my phone, the last cobwebs of sleep in my head blown away in a panic. Portia is the only person who has my current number while Elias is out of reach.
I check the time on my phone before hitting answer as a third round of the chorus begins. Just after one in the morning. Which means I’d barely been in bed for an hour .
“Portia?”
“Rae? Oh, thank goodness you’re okay!” She sounds relieved, but it’s the hushed tones that tell me something’s not right.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” I swipe my hand across where the wall and light switch should be and hit air. I shift closer, and my knees knock into something hard instead.
What the—
“There are people here looking for you, Rae,” Portia whispers.
I stop my hunt for the light and straighten. “Where are you?”
“At the club. They’re searching the crowd and asking around for you. Someone told them you work here,” she hisses. I’m shocked at the anger in her voice, especially because it’s on my behalf.
“Okay. I’ll be right down, and I’ll take care of it. Just pretend you know nothing about me and get out of there if anything happens.”
I can’t believe that GE would start a big commotion at a nightclub, so as long as she keeps working and doesn’t mention knowing me, there shouldn’t be an issue. I’ll just have to draw them out of there and figure out what to do after that.
“Hey, you!” I hear through the phone and freeze. “Is that her? I hear you’re friends with who we’re looking for.”
“Hm? Oh, no. Mm-mm. I’m talking to my…girlfriend. Not girl friend . But, like, this girl I’m seeing. You know?”
I drag my hand down my face in secondhand embarrassment. “We need to work on your cover-up skills,” I murmur softly into the phone.
“Oh yeah?” The male voice gets louder, and I hurry back to finding the light switch so I can get dressed. My fingers finally run across one on the other side of the room, and I’m momentarily blinded before an unfamiliar room is revealed.
Wait, not entirely unfamiliar.
“Well then, why did I just hear her on your phone?” he continues, and my stomach drops. “Trying to coach you on what to do?”
Does he have that good of hearing, or is he gifted?
“I’ve gotta go, babe. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Wait, no—!” I shout into the phone just as she hangs up.
Dammit!
I look around Jackson’s room at the safehouse where he’d taken me to let me shower and clean my wounds. I must have fallen asleep at some point, and he’d moved me to his bed.
“Jack?!” I run through the safe house, checking each room in only a shirt of his that barely hits my thighs. I must have been thoroughly beat for him to have convinced me to wear this, but most of the night after the fight is a blur of pain and exhaustion. “Jackson!” I shout again.
Nothing.
He must still be out disposing of the bodies.
The washing machine has my bloody clothes in them, clean and washed but soaked.
I snatch a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie of Jackson’s and pull those on for now, rolling up the waistband on the pants to keep them around my waist. I get my guns and knives strapped beneath the clothes. Then I’m out the secret hatch through the roof that Jackson showed me last night, shimmying down the hidden steps and cutouts until I’m back on the ground .
It fucking figures that the one night I’m not in my apartment, right where I need to be to stay close to Portia, I’m not.
My body screams the entire sprint to the nightclub. I’d come away from the earlier fight in decent shape, considering my odds, but my torso, neck, and arms are bruised to shit. My arms are clawed up like I got into a fight with a cat and then there’s the pesky bullet wound on my shoulder, cleaned and taped over with gauze.
The hoodie hides it all, though, so aside from looking tiny in large, black clothes that cover me up more than a nun in church compared with what everyone else in the club is wearing, I don’t stand out too much.
“Portia?” I breathlessly ask the bartender—James, I think—while also looking around for any sign of the thugs. My eyes catch on something purple and shiny further down and behind the bar. The lights in the club reflect off of the person, making them stand out like a disco ball and instantly drawing my focus.
I don’t even wait for him to answer me, jogging down the line and pushing through the drunk customers to get a closer look. Portia straightens and slides shots across the bar to her current customers with a smile. Her skirt and bra look more like a purple swimsuit with a layer of dangling silver scales. She looks like a mermaid between her outfit and makeup, and I can clearly see that she’s uninjured with the amount of exposed, unmarked skin she has on display.
“Portia!” I call out above the music and the crowd.
She turns and beams at me, flouncing over while spinning a wink at someone as she passes them. “Rae! I’m glad you’re okay. But should you really be here right now? ”
“You’re glad I’m okay?! What happened? I came to make sure you were okay.”
“Oh.” She shrugs and starts making a drink. For who, I’m not sure, but it seems more like a defense mechanism to keep herself busy. Like she can’t sit still for a second to talk about something as serious as what almost happened. “I just asked them to leave.”
I stare at her in disbelief. When she doesn’t elaborate, I take a deep breath. “And they, what? Just did as you asked and left?”
She hums under her breath, adding something else to her concoction, and then shakes it and pours out two glasses of neon green liquid. “I asked nicely,” she finally concedes, as if that makes all the sense in the world.
They knew she knew me. They’d heard her talking to me while they were trying to find me. And she just…asked them to leave, and they did without a fight? Without kidnapping her?
Wait.
I reach over the counter and grab her wrist to get her full attention. “Porsh. Are you…?” I don’t say it aloud.
There’s a flash of something real in her expression, and then like the flick of a switch, she’s smiling and innocent again. “That’s all it was, Rae. I’m glad you’re okay, but you may not want to hang around here for a bit. I can tell everyone you quit, so if they come asking again, that’s all they’ll hear.”
She’s gentle but firm when she pulls away from me. I don’t fight her, even though I could have held on. I’m not looking to back her into a corner to talk to me. I’m trying to look out for her, and yet she’s somehow the one looking after me. How the hell did that happen?
Portia turns away and serves up the drinks to a couple of girls at the bar. I watch her in silence as I stew over what she told me. I have to be right. I know she’s sweet, but there is no way she talked herself out of that situation. And I see no sign of injury to indicate that she somehow fought them.
But they are gone like she said.
And she doesn’t look the least bit ruffled.
I narrow my eyes at her and try to look past the show of innocence. Now that I’m looking hard enough, I can see it. It’s exactly that. A show.
All of her expressions, the way she moves, it’s an act. I have to be paying attention and looking for it, but I can see it for a split second here and there where her mask slips.
I move around the bar and take her hand when she finishes closing out someone’s tab. “We need to talk,” I tell her, giving her a look that shows I mean business. She blinks at me and nods, letting me guide her by the hand into the back hallway until we’re in Elias’s office.
I close and lock the door behind her.
She watches me quietly. Her face is calm and otherwise blank, so I have no idea what she thinks I’m bringing her back here for.
“Tell me what actually happened.” She opens her mouth, and I hold up my hand to stop her. “Not that bullshit line about being nice and just asking. I know who sent them, and they wouldn’t have left just like that. I appreciate you looking out for me, but I need to look out for you too, in case those guys come back.” I pause and then cock my head the slightest amount. “ Will they come back? ”
She smiles and turns away from me to the chairs in front of the desk, then spins and drops back over the nearest armchair. Her silver stiletto heels bounce over the edge as she stretches her arms over her head.
“I didn’t lie to you. I did ask them nicely to leave. My requests just carry a bit more…oomph…to them.”
I knew it.
I raise an eyebrow. “Oomph. As in, an extra special ability to what? Tell people what to do?”
She hums and picks at the scales over her skirt. “Something like that.” Her forest green eyes slide back up to my face. “I’m sure you already know all about things like that. Elias wouldn’t have let you stay or work here otherwise.”
“Are you saying everyone who works at Hype has a gift?”
Portia shrugs. “Almost everyone. Those who don’t, know about it, though.”
I didn’t realize Elias kept his staff and tenants exclusively to other gifted people or those who know about us. So, nearly everyone working here has a gift? That gives me a whole new perspective of the club.
Portia smiles and nods at my sudden realization, then flips her legs over the arm to bounce back onto her feet. “Right. So, what can you do?”
Turn objects to ash. Take down buildings. Break a person apart from the inside out.
Yeah.
No big deal. Definitely not villain-esque .
“I’d rather not talk about it. It’s the reason I’m running from those guys that came looking for me, so it’d be better if you didn’t know.”
“Well, those guys shouldn’t be coming back here. If anyone else comes in, I can talk to them too.”
“What exactly did you say?” I pause and quickly add, “Wait. Is it something you can turn off and on? If you say it to me, will it affect me?”
Portia giggles and shakes her head, sending her long brown locks swaying back over her shoulders. “I can turn it on when I want to use it. I just told them you weren’t here. And to leave and never come back.”
I chew on my lip. This means I’ll be safe from them, but they could send others. That’s not what worries me, though. What if they, or others, while talking to those guys, realize that Portia used a gift on them? “Do they remember that you said something when you use your gift on them? Would they be able to figure out what happened?”
“Well…” She tangles her fingers. “Not usually. Definitely not non-gifted. But it has happened before with others like us. I’m not sure if it’s based on their gift’s strength or if something else breaks them free of it.”
“Breaks them free?”
“My command wears off once they realize it for what it is. So, if they figure out what I did, it stops working.”
Shit on a stick.
If that happens, they won’t come back for me next time .
They’ll come for Portia too. They would love to have a gift like hers at their disposal.
Any other time I’ve been found by Gifted Enterprise, I’ve split. It isn’t worth the risk of being captured or killed by them. This is a big world, and there are plenty of other places I can be. I don’t have roots anywhere, so the world is my oyster and all that shit.
But now? I can’t leave Portia. Not when I’m the reason she could be captured and taken in by the people who messed me up. She may not be as innocent as she appears, but there’s still something pure and good about her that I can’t let them tarnish.
If only Elias wasn’t gone.
Though, I guess that’s not my only reason for wanting to stay. Even though I haven’t been here long, this place has felt more like a home than anywhere else has so far. I’m starting to make friends, I have a good place to stay and a way to make money, and I’ve made more progress here than anywhere else.
I sigh and rub my temples over the headache beginning to build. I need sleep. And I need a plan to keep us both safe.
I don’t like the answer that comes because I’m not used to depending on others, but this is about more than just me now.
It’s time to visit that friend of Elias’s. And until then…
“All right. You can’t go back to your apartment. There’s too big of a risk that when they find out what you did, they’ll come here and follow you home when no one else is around.” I move through the room, opening drawers and cabinets in my hunt.
She rolls her eyes at me, and I try to contain my annoyance. “I can take care of myself. I’ll be fine. ”
She doesn’t know , I reason with myself with my teeth clenched. She has no idea who Gifted Enterprise is and what they would do to her. How they would break her into pieces just so they could remold her into something of their own creation.
“Not with them. Trust me, Portia. I’ve been their prisoner before. You can’t let them take you. I can’t let that happen. Please, just…just humor me with this. I won’t be able to sleep again if you don’t.” I don’t even care if I’m being dramatic. Elias would kill me if anything happened to her.
I would lose my mind if I let anything happen to her too.
Portia keeps watching me tear the office apart. “What are you looking for?”
I slam another desk drawer closed. “Keys to the apartments in case there’s an open one you can stay in.”
She moves to a short, wooden cabinet behind the desk, opens a door, and then enters a combination into a safe. It clicks open on the first try. Portia holds up a key card and grins. “He’s too predictable sometimes.”
I have a feeling that’s not inclusive of just anyone.
“Good. You can crash there until I get this handled. Keep a low profile until then, and I’ll let you know when it’s safe.”
“I can help you.”
No. Absolutely not.
“I’d rather know that you’re safe here. If everyone here has a gift, then put them all on high alert. Look out for each other. Don’t let it slip to anyone who they are until these guys are off of our backs.”
Frowning, she checks the clock in the room. “Last call has already been announced. I’ll head up now to check out my new home.”
I nod and silently apologize to Elias for the mess in his office. From what I know of him, he might have an aneurysm if he sees it. “I’ll walk you there so I know where it is and show you mine.”
I rap against Apartment 148B, where Elias’s friend and designated contact point lives. It’s one of those modern, sleek style buildings that fancy business people usually live out of. There’s a lobby area, restaurant, gym, and pool all on the first floor. I had to actually check in as a guest at the front desk and receive approval from the tenant to be allowed access upstairs.
I wonder why Portia isn’t staying in a place like this. I’m sure Elias would pay for it, considering all of his resources.
Then again, it’s a good twelve blocks from the nightclub and a decent walk.
Now that his friend knows I’m here, thanks to the front desk, I’m expecting the door to open right away.
It doesn’t.
I knock again harder.
“One second! One second! Don’t break the door down!”
I wasn’t banging on the door that hard, was I?
It swings open, revealing a guy with messy black hair and ash grey highlights around my age. He nearly collapses against the door jamb with a grin. “Ah, if it isn’t Miss Raegan of Ruin. Ruination? No, ruin.” He snaps his fingers and points at me. “Catchier to keep it short.”
My blood chills. “What did you call me?”
“Oh! Just a little nickname I’ve been working on since I heard about your”—he wiggles his fingers at me—“gift from Eli.”
I swallow, struggling with the lump in my throat at what that could mean. “Are you…Kit?” I take a gamble from the word scribbled on the paper with the address.
“That’s me! Short for Kittredge, but what the hell kind of name is that, am I right? Eli said that Kit fits me, though, so that’s what I go by now.”
“Er, right. Can I come in, Kit?”
“Sure, sure.” He steps back and waves me in. The entryway is tiled, with a narrow table and mirror on one side and a narrow door on the other. “Can I get you something to eat? Drink?” he calls over his shoulder as I follow him further inside to the living room.
“Thanks, but I shouldn’t be long. What gift did Elias tell you I have?” I ask while I take in the room. There are dog beds and toys filling the room, and even then, there’s fur coating the couches. I look around for a dog or dogs, but no one comes running out of the open doors off the living room.
Kit spins around and collapses into the couch, which seems more fluff than substance because it swallows him up like a bean bag. His grin widens, and I notice the sharp point of his canines. Did he file them down like that, or was he born that way? “Just the cool power to destroy. Anything. And everything.”
My stomach drops. How? And from Europe, no less? I’m too anxious to sit anywhere and keep myself standing at the edge of the sitting area. “And what makes him think that’s my gift?” I try to keep my voice calm and nonchalant.
“The Seer person he’s with out there. Said you were in trouble tonight. Well, that Portia was in trouble when Eli asked about her, and he wound up seeing what you were up to instead. Since, you know, you’re what led to Portia being in trouble.”
Fuck a duck.
“What do you mean he ‘saw’ me?”
He shrugs and kicks his bare feet up and over the coffee table. “The Seer can share what they see, when they see it. So, he watched most of it. Like a movie in his head.” He points to the side of his head and then cocks it to the side. “Eli also saw you coming here to tell me about Portia. He said the Seer didn’t see any issues with Portia for at least another couple of weeks, so he should be wrapped up with his project by then to come home. She’ll be safe in the apartment you put her in.”
“Oh.” I sit in the armchair so I can process all of that.
Elias knows what my gift is now. He actually watched me use it. On people. He’s seen me for the monster that I am, and instead of rushing home to keep me away from Portia, he’s still leaving her in my care for a few weeks.
He must be crazy.
Kit lets me sit in silence for all of thirty seconds before he bounces back to his feet. “I’m surprised you’re here so early, though. I knew you were coming, but I figured you’d try to get some more sleep first. You must care about Portia a lot that you came straight here after. That’s really sweet. I like you.” He’s talking a mile a minute with chihuahua energy, and I just stare blankly at him.
“Um. Yeah.” I stand too. “Sorry to have wasted your time since you already know everything.”
“No worries at all. You had to come. Since you didn’t know I knew. Oh, and I have to give you something.” He digs into his cargo pockets, working through different ones until he pulls a slip of paper out with some chicken-scratch writing on it. “Eli asked me to give you this information. Said it was your next lead. This guy is going to be at that address next Friday. He said you should look into him.”
I take the piece of paper from Kit and memorize it just in case, then shove it in my pocket. “Thanks. I’m going to assume this nugget of information came from the Seer as well?”
Kit laughs and leads me back to the door. “Something like that.”
I’m not sure what that means, but I don’t push for more. He’s stretching and yawning so wide he could catch butterflies, and I instantly feel bad for coming over so early in the morning.
I step out his door and turn to look one last time over my shoulder. “Thanks again. And sorry for the early morning visit.”
“No problem at all, Raegan of Ruin.”
“Don’t call me that,” I growl.
He smirks and closes the door.