Page 58

Jules:No problem. I'll have a new one waiting for you at home. You better be safe and come home to us.

I smiled down at my home. There it was again, the command to be safe and come home.

Ariel:Thanks, slugger. xo

Rain:They're all going to die.

I sighed and powered off my phone. I stuffed it back into the duffel bag and plopped down onto the bed. I flopped back on the bed and spread my arms out wide. My hand made contact with something that crackled, sounding a lot like plastic rustling.

I pushed my elbows into the bed and pushed myself back up into a sitting position. A white garment bag lay across the bed beside me. How I missed it when I plopped down, I'd never know but it was certainly there now. There was something written across the top front of the bag in pinkish red cursive. The words were in a language I did not know how to read, so I had no clue what it said. I could have pulled out my phone, powered it back on, and googled that shit, but I didn't want to see any more texts and I sure as heck didn't want to see the lack of phone calls from the rest of them.

I unzipped the bag, curiosity made it so I couldn'tnotunzip the bag.

White. Not see-through or skanky like the other two dresses I'd seen here so far. It was long enough that it would almost go down to my knees. Thin spaghetti straps and a low neckline that would show some cleavage, but not the nipple baring kind. It looked as though it would fit snug at my waist and hug my hips tightly. It wasn't nearly as bad as I had been fearing an outfit picked out by Adrian would look. I plucked at the material and rubbed it between my thumb and forefinger. Soft. So incredibly soft. It would feel incredible against my skin.

I didn't even want to know how much the stupid thing cost, but it felt expensive. It looked expensive. And I knew I would never wear the damn thing again after tonight. As soft as the thing felt, I didn't even want to wear it. I was traveling into uncharted territory and I knew I'd be far more comfortable in my own clothes.

I got up to hang the garment bag in the closet and almost tripped over a shoe box on the floor beside the bed. I did not even care what was in there, I'd endure it and wear it because it was a means to an end.

I hung up the garment bag and kicked the shoe box, sending it sailing across the floor toward the closet.

I did not unpack the duffle bag. Everything in there was completely expendable, and if I found Romero then I would likely be leaving it all behind.

I did not familiarize myself with the rooms or even snoop around like I normally would have.

I laid back down on the bed without pulling back the comforter and crawling underneath its warmth. I lay flat on my back with my arms straight out at my sides, palms flat against the comforter. I closed my eyes but I did not sleep. My mind wandered free to every possible thing that could go wrong, and I immediately shut that shit down and turned it off.

Several hours later, Annabell knocked on the door. She held out a tray of food and a black hooded robe. I took both without exchanging words with her, and for once she let it be with blessed silence.

Her face no longer looked dead and disconnected. Instead she looked resigned, determined even. A better person might have wondered why and worried about the woman.

I was not a better person. As soon as I closed that door on her she left my mind entirely.

Later I knew she'd never be very far from my mind again. Always lurking. Always haunting. My penance would be her never truly leaving me.

I sat down at the small round table in the sitting room with the tray on the table in front of me.

Steak, bloodier than I normally would have enjoyed. I ate the whole thing. Baked potato, slit open down the middle, and filled with sour cream, bacon bits, shredded cheese, and topped with chives. I scraped off all the extras seeing as I only enjoyed butter with salt and pepper on top of my baked potato. I ate the potato and left the toppings in a small pile on the side of the plate. I forced myself to choke down the steamed broccoli, hating every bite. I enjoyed broccoli when it was raw or cooked with cheese or anything really that wasn't just plain old boring steamed broccoli. It tasted wet and weird.

I ate it all save for the potato toppings. I had no idea what the night would hold in store for me, but I wanted to save my strength and magic came at a price. I would need all the energy I could save up.

I did not drink the bottle of wine. I needed to keep my wits about me, and an entire bottle of wine would have really sauced me up.

I left the tray outside the door, and when I went back in ten minutes to check on it the entire thing had disappeared. I wondered if Annabell had gone from whore to hostess / kitchen wench. Then I promptly tossed that idea aside into the garbage bin where it belonged because that witch would never be anything more than a whore no matter what extracurriculars she picked up along the way.

I went back to the bedroom and took off all of my clothes. I stood beside the bed and before my duffel completely and utterly naked, and had never felt more alone in my entire life. I wanted to curl up in a tiny, tight ball with my arms wrapped all the way around my body holding myself together.

I had no time to cry right now.

I could not allow myself to break down.

I would not curl up into a little ball and hold myself tight so I didn't break apart into a thousand tiny pieces that wouldn't ever be able to be put back together again.

There would come a time for all of that and that time would come later.

Sorting my head out would not serve to help me right now. Now was the time for me to bury everything and hope like hell it didn't suffocate me when I dug it all back out later. Much, much later.

I dug a matching white lace bra and panties set out of my duffel. I probably should have taken a shower, but I did not want to be naked in any of these rooms longer than necessary. There would be cameras and pervy peepholes all over the place.