Page 49 of Godless Creatures
My hand flexed at the deliberate warning. Did this imbecile know the Ludus at all?
Soft clicks alerted me to a petite woman approaching down the corridor. She halted beside me, her expensive perfume overpowering and irritating my nostrils. Her attire screamed luxury: designer heeled boots paired with a skintight dress, her lime green hair and pierced nose clashing with her extravagant getup.
She tsked. “You shouldn’t be here.” Her eyes twinkled with danger.
“Says who?” Was it me, or was my speech slurred?
She shrugged in return and pushed the door wide open without preamble. “We have a lurker,” she announced to the now-silent room. All sets of eyes bounced to me as she grabbed my shirt collar and hurled me onto the office floor.
My reflexes were sluggish, deprived of any energy, the lack of sleep from the past five days reigning down on my rebuttal. My Variant even flapped around in my chest for a good second before wallowing away to nothingness. I was tapped out.
The other stranger pointed an accusatory finger at Boss. I could now put a face to the voice. The guy was slightly shorter, but stocky, his brown hair spiked in a purposely messy way, a nice shiner growing over his right eye. “Is this the so-called loyalty that you proclaim? You're fucking over with!”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Boss said. “Nothing will be repeated. Right, Psycho?”
Maybe I was having some weird as fuck dream. Surely Boss wouldn’t concede to these two amateurs. They appeared to be around the same age as me.
My gaze bounced between the three, trying to figure out what the fuck was going on. Boss’s eyes caught on mine and I could easily read the rage cultivating in their depths. He was angry—at me.
I found myself nodding. “I won’t say anything.”
I wouldn’t, cause I fucking couldn’t. I had no idea what the fuck they were on about.
The female sauntered to the middle of the room, demanding all attention. She licked her lips as her head snapped to Boss. “You will ensure that, won’t you, Maximus?” Her tone was authoritative and arrogant.
As I was about to scoff, Boss submitted with a resolute nod. I was rendered speechless.
He kept his promise. And in doing so, destroyed my life.
“Noneof it ever made sense to me. I didn’t know or understand anything. That day, I heard and saw something I wasn’t supposed to. Only now am I starting to get an idea of what that was.” I stopped pacing, eyes tracking over my golden girl with enlightenment.
“Who are they?”
“I don’t fucking know. Their names were never spoken. I only saw them for a short period, and even then, my memory is unreliable. I was so sleep deprived, at first I thought I was hallucinating. Until my head was shoved in a brown sack and I was brought here.”
Micah raised, venturing closer.
Watching this perfect being approach was bittersweet. She was flawless, ethereal in her presence, and here she stood. In my tattered shirt, locked in the loony bin assigned to a psychotic killer.
Micah grasped my hand, pulling me forward. With no will to resist, I drifted into her embrace, fingers automatically latching onto the Gladiolus tattoo permanently settled on her upper thigh, a bright beacon for me to own. She’d inadvertently called to the most visceral part of me. With this demand, I had wordlessly claimed her mind, body, and soul.
“We will find them,” she said. “And you’re going to help us. Helpme.”
I held no reservations, only acceptance at her request.
Pressing a kiss to her hair, I said, “Revenge against Maximus?”
“Revenge,” she said, the vow sealed into my skin. “There will be a full investigation into what happened tonight. You’vealready killed Fern. Please refrain from killing anyone else in the meantime.”
I smirked. “Hey, you killed Katsy. We’re even.”
“Fine, just promise me you’ll keep a low profile. Stay undercover. I can handle everything else. We’re so close to getting you both out. Wait for me?”
“Forever,” I said, so low I was unsure if she even heard.
MICAH
He did not stay low. He did not stay undercover.