Page 86 of The Wicked

Well… it’s not as if there was anything I could have done.

I pushed away from the SUV, grabbed my gun from the console, and shoved it into the back of my pants.

A few minutes later, I was getting in a red open-roof Beetle, hitching a ride back to town with a blonde who looked at me like it was the first time she was seeing another human being.

I politely ignored it.

“I gotta admit,” she started, her voice sweeping with the wind, blond hair flying all around but tamed by a small scarf, “when I left my house this morning, the last thing I expected was to give someone as unreal as you a ride.”

I frowned in genuine confusion. “Unreal?”

“Yeah! You got pretty eyes, a pretty face, and that body, whoosh.” She glanced at me. “Are you a model or something?”

“No.” I didn’t like compliments, they made me uncomfortable, but the least I could do was be nice, seeing as she was giving me a ride. “But—thank you?”

She chuckled, all bright and sunshine. “How are you that hot, with a rough edge that screams walking red flag, and also so cute at the same time?”

Should I thank her again?

“Do you have a girlfriend?” she asked.

“No.”

She glanced at my fingers. “A wife, then.”

“No, I do not.”

She smiled. “I like your rings; they look cool.”

I brought my fingers to my view, turning them back and front. “Thank you… I like rings; they’re… a mystery.”

She chuckled. “Like you…”

“Hm.” I watched her. “I like your hair.”

Her eyes widened in surprise, but a grin broke through. “That’s sweet, thank you.”

I nodded, looking away.

She glanced at me, then back to the road. “You know you give off the vibe of a serial killer, right?”

I slowly looked back at her. “Do I?”

“You’re dressed in all black, standing by the side of the road at the crack of dawn, you’ve got this mysterious aura, and you talk like you’re testing out the words before you say them; you have this odd calmness to you… It’s kind of unsettling.”

“Yet, you offered to give me a ride.”

She glanced at me and shrugged. “Maybe I have a death wish.”

It was silent for a few beats.

I broke the silence. “I’m Elio.”

She grinned. “Gemma.”

“Put your mind at ease, Gemma; I have no reason to kill you. I just needed a ride.”

She laughed, showing off a dashing set of straight teeth. “Well, if you did have reason to kill me, I’d ask that you don’t mess up my face. I want to be a hot corpse—don’t wanna traumatize anyone in the open casket ceremony.” She grinned. “I’m glad I could offer you the ride, Elio.”