Static (22 page)

Devon grabbed the dangling phone. "Salem's busy right
now. Who's this anyway?" Turning towards me, Devon grinned
maliciously. "Okay, Chloe. I'm sure Salem will see you real soon."
She slammed the phone onto the receiver, cracking the plastic.

I got to my feet as she stepped out of the booth.
"What do you want?"

"Hmm, let's see." Her lips curled up into a cruel
smile. "Your blood on my hands. Your soul perhaps."

"I'm not afraid of you." I said the words even as my
knees wobbled, and my skin went cold and clammy.

She took a menacing step forward. "You should be
little girl."

"Bring it bitch." I splayed my hands out to the
sides. I could feel the lethal talons poking through the tips of my
fingers. Licking my lips, I felt the tips of fangs protruding from
my gums. And by the hazy dark glow around Devon I could only assume
my eyes had that inky thing going on.

She took me in. "So it's true. Thane told me that you
were transformed but I didn't believe it. You seemed much too weak
to survive something like that."

"Well, here I am," I sneered.

"Yes, here you are."

She was fast. I barely saw her move as she grabbed me
around the throat and dragged me into the nearby alley. I tore at
her hand, raking my talons into her flesh, but it didn't seem to do
any good. She still held on tight.

She slammed me up against the brick wall. The back of
my head hit hard. I could literally see stars after that. Most
likely my brain cells were popping and that's what I was seeing.
Little starbursts of brain power exploding into pieces.

Devon leaned into my face. Her breath smelled rank,
like rotting meat. It was probably her dead shriveled up soul I
smelled.

I struggled against her grip as she steeled her mouth
over mine. I kicked and screamed, tearing at her face with my
fingers. Nothing seemed to faze her and soon I could feel energy
being siphoned out of my body.

Then her eyes widened and she pulled back. "You've
been kissing him. I can taste him inside you."

Her surprise gave me the opening I needed. I raked my
nails across her eyes, fully hoping I gouged them out.

Shrieking, she stumbled back, her hands going to her
face. "You bitch!"

I took in a few raged breaths, pushing off the wall.
I needed to gather my strength for another attack because I knew it
was coming. Devon wouldn't stay down for long. Like a cockroach
she'd survive anything. I sensed that was her nature.

"I'm going to rip out your throat." She dropped her
hands and I gasped.

Ink-like liquid gushed from her eyes and streaked her
cheeks. I'd never seen anything so freaktastic before, in a total
grotesque kind of way.

She growled at me. I figured that was my clue to get
the hell out of there. She was too strong. I couldn't take her one
on one, especially when I didn't know how to hurt her. I needed an
advantage. I needed to cheat somehow.

Turning, I sprinted down the alley. But I didn't get
far before she grabbed me by the back of the head, slammed me face
first back into the wall. She pressed up against my back, pushing
my face into the brick with her hand.

She leaned into my ear. "I'm going to enjoy tearing
you to shreds."

I could feel the prick of first one, then two talons
as she speared me through the arm. The pain was immediate and
immense. It made every inch of my spine convulse.

"Stop! Get away from her!"

I nearly wept at the sound of Trevor's voice echoing
down the alley. I turned my head to the side to see him coming down
the lane, his strides quick and determined.

Devon laughed, not relinquishing her hold on my head.
"Oh looky here, Prince Charming to the rescue."

"I said get away from her."

"And what are you going to do Trevor? You can't hurt
me. I am much too powerful for you. Haven't you learned that by
now?"
"Thane won't let you kill her."

"Why not? She's a piece of trash. She won't be
missed."

"He wants to keep her around."

She frowned. "Why? She'll just make more
trouble."

"I don't know. Why don't you ask him?" he thrust a
cell phone in her direction.

Without letting up on me, she took the phone.
"Yeah?"

I heard Thane's voice on the other end. "Let the girl
go."

Devon sighed angrily. "Why the hell should I do that?
She's pissed me off."

"Because I said so, and that's all you need to
know."

There was silence for about ten seconds, then she
growled, "You're a dick." She tossed the phone back to Trevor.

Then there was blessed relief on my back when she let
me go. Trevor was there gathering me in his arms before I could
slide, exhausted and beat, to the ground.

"You got lucky today, slag. And you better believe
that when that luck runs out I'll be there ripping your throat out
and lapping up the mess."

She turned on her heel, stepped into a shadow and
vanished.

Cradling me close with one arm, Trevor walked me out
of the alley. As we moved out onto the side, I spotted the subs
still in the ditch.

"Do you think they're still good?"

Trevor stooped down and snatched them up. "Nothing a
nuker and a lot of salt and pepper won't fix."

I tried not to laugh because my face hurt and so did
my arm. But I appreciated his effort to make me feel better and not
dwell on the fact that I nearly died...again. I really hoped it
wouldn't become one of those nasty habits.

Chapter 25

When we got back to the hotel room, I immediately
excused myself and went into the bathroom to clean up. Makeup ran
all down my face. I looked like a deranged Alice Cooper
raccoon.

I yanked on the tap, grabbed a washcloth and soaked
it. As I rubbed at my face trying to get the black off, the door
opened and Trevor walked in carrying a small first aid kit.

I spun around. "Dude, I could've totally been in the
shower or on the toilet."

He just shrugged and opened the kit, pulling out a
bottle of alcohol. "We need to take care of your arm before it gets
infected and falls off."

I dropped the washcloth and turned to look in the
mirror at the back of my arm. Thankfully the bleeding had stopped
but the sleeve of my t-shirt was completely soaked through.

"Gross."

Trevor made an upwards motion. "You're going to have
to take it off."

"Isn't that what got us in trouble earlier
today?"

"We're not making out. I'm doctoring you. I'm pretty
sure I can keep my hormones in check."

I wasn't so sure, but I didn't say anything. Instead,
I struggled to strip off the shirt. I tossed it to the side and
looked at Trevor expectantly.

"Sit."

I sat on the closed lid of the toilet facing sideways
so he could get at my arm without having to twist in an impossible
position.

"This might sting."

I could smell the rubbing alcohol as he poured it
onto a piece of gauze. The odor stung my nostrils and when it
touched my wound I thought I'd jump out of my skin for real and run
away. Trevor pressed a hand on top of my shoulder, presumably so I
didn't do just that.

"Jesus, are you trying to finish the job for Devon?"
I bit out between clenched teeth. The pain was insane.

"It needs to be cleaned and disinfected. Trust me.
I've seen one of her marks go untreated and it was not pretty." He
uncapped the peroxide. "Just take in a deep breath and hold
it."

I did just that as he poured the noxious smelling
liquid over my arm. I couldn't see the grotesque bubbling but I
could definitely hear it. Like an alka seltzer fizzing in a glass
of water. My gut roiled and I nearly yacked into the bathtub.

"Almost done."

I'd always thought people said that to trick you into
thinking it was almost over, when in fact they had one last nasty
thing to do to you. I was proven right when Trevor smeared
polysporin over my wound. Liquid fire rushed over me and sizzled my
brains.

"Holy crap! That burns."

He ignored the next onslaught of curses that erupted
from my mouth as he wrapped my arm in gauze and taped it tight.

"Done." He washed his hands in the sink. "Now we need
to talk about who's taking back Thane's stupid laundry."

I stood, testing my arm. "I'm going. The end. He'll
get suspicious if I don't. Besides I highly doubt he'll let you paw
through his stuff. Me he'll order to fold his damn clothes and put
them away as part of my ongoing humiliation and punishment. I'll
have plenty of opportunity to check out that other bag."

Trevor just stared wide-eyed at me. "Quite a speech.
You should probably take my cell phone so you can take pictures of
whatever you find."

"Oh, okay." I laughed. "I thought you were going to
talk me out of it."

He shook his head. "I figure you're not going to
listen anyway."

"Basically." I smiled.

He returned my smile, then reached for my hand. Mine
looked so small in his. He had strong secure hands. I liked that, I
liked that he wanted to touch me with them. Made me feel safe.

"Just be careful, okay?"

"I will."

"Why don't I believe you?"

"Because you just finished saving my ass from getting
pulverized?"

He brought my hand up to his mouth and pressed lips
to the back. However chaste it was, the contact still sent a rush
of pleasure over me, balling tightly right in the middle of my
belly.

"Just so you know though, if you're not back in
twenty minutes I'm coming to get you."

I wondered when this was all over if he'd be my
boyfriend. It was crazy to be thinking about that in the middle of
all this craziness but it made me feel normal to think about
it.

After giving me his phone and instructing me on a
million worst case scenarios, Trevor finally let me go across the
hall to return Thane's clean clothes.

I knocked on the door and Thane opened it
immediately. "Jesus, what took you so long? I thought maybe Devon
ate you anyway." He opened the door wide for me. "Then I'd have to
go get a bunch of new clothes. And I really hate shopping."

"Wow, I'm touched that you were so worried about me."
I carried his bag in, looking for the green one to set it next
to.

I spotted it in the corner in the same place I'd left
it. Thane hadn't gone out of his way to hide it so maybe I'd been
wrong and the box wasn't important. Or was too arrogant to care
whether I'd seen the box or not.

I glanced at his face and he gave me that smug grin
of his. I was voting for too arrogant. He probably thought nothing
could touch him, especially not the likes of me. Some groupie he
almost killed and dumped in the trash.

I set the black bag beside the green one, giving him
my back. "Here's your dumb laundry back."

"Did you use fabric softener?"

"You're lucky I even used detergent."

He came up behind me. A shudder rushed down my spine.
I had to dig my nails into my palms to compensate for the urge to
run away surging through me. It was almost unbearable to have him
so near.

"You know, just because I told Devon not to kill you
doesn't mean you can be a smart ass to me."

I risked looking at him. "What, you're going to kill
me even though I did such a good job with your shorts?" I unzipped
the bag and showed him a neat pile of folded clothes.

"No, I suppose you have your uses."

I dropped my gaze not liking the way he was eyeing
me, like I was lunch.

My gut churned. I didn't think I could do this. I
couldn't let this monster touch me again. I wouldn't live through
it.

I stepped away from him.

"You know something, you're not ugly."

I swallowed. "Ah, nice of you to say."

"You're definitely not the best looking girl I've had
but you know beggars can't be choosers."

He moved closer, which made me take another step
back, except if I kept retreating, I'd be up against the wall. Just
where he'd want me.

"What do you think you're doing?" I tried to put
force in my voice so I didn't sound as scared as I was. Not sure
that it worked because his grin broadened.

"What does it look like, sugar pop? Getting my
dessert."

I put my hand out to stop him from advancing any
further. I knew it wouldn't really stop him. He'd take what he
wanted. Just like he had in the first place.

I couldn't stop the shudder this time as it racked my
entire body. Oh God, I was going to be sick.

He reached for me. But before he could touch my face,
there was a loud knock at the door. At first, I didn't think he was
going to answer it, but the knocks became louder and more
insistent.

"Hold that look of terror. I'll be right back."

I let out my breath as he walked out of the sleeping
area to answer the door. "What the fuck do you want?"
I heard Trevor's voice answering him. I smiled. He saved me.

The second Thane was out of my view, I unzipped the
green duffle and reached in for the box. After taking it out, I
used Trevor's cell phone to take several pictures of the designs
and symbols etched into the polished wood. I tried to pry it open
but it was locked. I took a picture of the lock as well. Once I was
done, I put the box back and zipped up the bag, my hands shaking
the entire time. I hoped the pictures turned out all right.

Taking in a few cleansing breaths, I crossed the room
to the door. I saw Trevor framed in the doorway, his face an angry
mask, arguing with Thane. I knew the second he spotted me because
his face softened, his eyes lit up.

"Well, I think I'll be leaving now." I brushed past
Thane but he grabbed my arm before I could get into the hall.

"I'll say when you can leave," he snarled, his eyes
going jet black.

I swallowed hard and glanced at Trevor.