Seeing my confiscated phone only fortifies the wall my outburst built between us. I avoid thinking about our past, but seeing my cell phone serves as a healthy reminder of how this started. Of how we started.
A few weeks ago, I was just their stubborn toy, and they were the men determined to put me in my place. Feelings have changed between us, sure, but the power balance needs to change if this is ever going to work. I’m not their toy anymore and it's about damn time they started treating me like it.
“You’ve had this on you this whole time...”
It's more of a statement than a question, but Tristan’s casual shrug gives me all the answers I need. I’m not sure why it bothers me. It’s typical controlling Reaper behavior. They want to keep me alive. That much is obvious. But The Reapers won’t suddenly change who they are just because they want me around. Sadistic tigers don’t change their stripes.
“Thanks, but I meant what I said.” I say, slipping my phone into the jacket’s pocket. “I can’t call her. Jessie destroyed her phone. The only way I can reach her is if I go to her.”
“Let me guess.” Ezra scoffs, flashing me a deadly smile as he crushes his cigarette against the side mirror and flicks the butt to the ground. “You want this little reunion of yours to happen now.”
Every fiber of my being is on edge as I try to predict what he’ll do next. I know Ez, in a lot of ways, better than his brothers do, but that doesn’t mean he’s predictable. Ezra may care about me in his own twisted way, but the monster within him will always dictate what he does. It's as much a part of him as the tattoos coating his body.
Before Ezra can speak again, Atlas cuts in. “Okay.” He says, rubbing his temple as he pulls a cigar from the glove box. “We’ll bring Alex in.” He offers, lighting it up and puffing out a thick cloud of smoke. “But if something happens to her from here on out, it's on you. Not us.”
“That’s fair.” I reply, looking into each of their hard faces. “I’m the one that’s bringing her in. So whatever happens to Al is on me.”
Before I can even finish my thoughts, Ezra whips the G-Wagon around in a sharp u-turn and smashes his foot against the accelerator. The tires screech in response, kicking up a storm of dust as he jerks the car back onto the narrow road. His white knuckles angrily grip the steering wheel and it takes everything in me not to panic as he guns it down the hill.
We’re going too fast and his brothers aren’t even reacting to his antics, seemingly in their own worlds. I latch onto my seatbelt for dear life as he swerves dangerously down the winding cliff-side road. He’s always threatened to hurt me, but I never imagined he’d try to kill us all like this.
I catch Ezra’s stormy eyes in the rear-view mirror and hold his gaze, silently willing him to slow the hell down. I search for the Ezra I know, the one I sacrificed my mind, body, and soul to over the last few weeks, but I don’t find him. The monster is the only one staring back and, as luck would have it, the fucker is pissed.
“Something wrong, Angel?” Ezra asks, his silky voice like a siren song for my stupid heart. The voice that chases my demons away and has the innate ability to soothe my nerves. It’s hard to believe it belongs to the same monster sitting behind the wheel.
Ezra thrives on the fear of others and no matter how much he scares me, fear is the one thing I can never afford to show him. Not if I want him to treat me as his equal and not if I want to be his.
Bringing my eyes back to his nearly black ones, I face him with my head held high and give him my full attention. He stares back at me unflinchingly as the car continues to swerve in and out of the opposing lane. Oncoming cars swerve around us with their horns blaring, but I don’t even flinch. It’s reckless, but I refuse to break his gaze, even at the expense of our safety. We’re in a war of wills and I need to show him that not only am I unafraid of the beast, but that I fully embrace its chaos.
Bring it on, monster.
After a few minutes of heart-stopping close calls, Ezra is the first to break our stare-off, and as he does, a slow smirk spreads across his face.
“Clever girl.” He remarks, locking his eyes back on the road. “Angel, don’t mistake this kindness as a sign of weakness. Leaving us was never one of your options.”
He doesn’t need to elaborate any further for me to understand the threat behind his words. There will be no leaving The Reapers. Not now and not ever.
Two
We arriveat our destination less than an hour later. The sun is low in the sky, creating a beautiful backdrop to the hideous scene appearing before us.
The night we checked in, Dina’s Quality Inn looked desolate, but in the broad daylight, the place looks downright depressing. The dull-brown two-story building is coated in a thick layer of dirt, adding discolored blotches to the already faded and weathered exterior. Time hasn’t been friendly to Dina’s. Every window on the building is missing its screen, its curtains, or a combination of the two.
“I can’t believe I left her here.” It's the only thing I can stomach to say. The guys say nothing in response, but they don’t need to. It’s written all over their faces.
It’s just after 4pm and the place is a virtual ghost town, with only a handful of run-down cars stationed in the parking lot. The few guests we see hanging around the property seem to be completely in their own world. Too high out of their minds to give the five of us anything more than a brief glance as we slowly creep past them.
“Keep going.” I say, directing Ezra towards the backside of the building. “It’s just a little further.”
My stomach dips with each room we pass. Room 121… Room 122… Room 123…
It's only been six weeks since the last time I spoke to my sister, but because of everything that’s happened, it feels like years. I’m not the same girl that left her here and after everything I’ve been through, I don’t know if I ever will be again.
“There.” I say, pointing to the room number I etched in my brain. “That’s the room, 132.”
Ezra pulls the SUV into an empty parking spot directly in front of the room and kills the engine. I make a move to exit, but a muscular arm holds me in place.Tristan.
“Clear to the left.” Ezra says, keeping his eyes on the few people roaming nearby.
