Monstrous Intent, page 10
That’s when a location for where we can hide pops into my mind, and I quickly grab my phone to call Emma.
“Finally! I’ve been trying to get ahold of you after last night!” she says. “Are you okay?”
“Can I rent your family’s cabin today?” I ask.
“You want to go today?” she says, sounding confused. “I… yeah, that’d be fine. No one’s going to be there. I’ll get you the address.”
“Thank you. I’ll pay you. I just… need to get away for a bit. Clear my head, you know? After all this stuff going on, I just need some time to think.”
“Yeah, of course. I’ll… bring the keys.”
“I can just meet you.”
“No, really, it’s fine. I’ll bring them. I’ll text you the—”
“DON’T TEXT IT,” I yell.
“What?” she asks in surprise.
“Just tell me, I’ll remember,” I say. “I like… remembering things.”
She doesn’t seem to know what to think about my awkward excuse. “Okay. It’s kind of hard to remember, but okay. It’s 3916 West Racking Fall Lane. Racking with an A. Not rocking. It’s weird, I know.”
“Thank you so much,” I say.
“Yeah, of course.”
When I hang up with her and go to type it in my GPS, I realize I remember exactly one of the numbers. The three.
“It’s 3916,” Lake says. “Not that I could hear with my superior hearing. Just feels right, you know? We’re going to your girlfriend’s cabin? How heartless.”
“I’m keeping you alive, aren’t I?”
“And forcing me to see your love bed where you made disgusting love,” he whispers.
“Just… shut up and don’t die before you tell me what I want to hear,” I say as I keep driving.
The drive is about forty minutes long and after about ten minutes, he falls silent. When I stop at a red light, I reach back and pull open my jacket that he’s wearing. The makeshift bandages are red with blood but when I pull them down, I see he must have played doctor on himself because it’s stitched up. I wonder if he managed to extract the bullet as well?
It’s not like I can waltz into a hospital with a freaking chimera by my side. They’d just ship him over to DRD to be “dealt with.”
When I reach the cabin, I’m pleased to see it’s tucked back in the woods with no other houses within sight. Since Lake is asleep when I arrive, I plan to leave him there, crammed on the floor of the back seat where Emma will hopefully not see him. I don’t get more than a foot out of my car before she rushes over and hugs me.
“I’m so sorry you’re having such a rough time. It’s very unfair of them to treat you this way,” she says.
“Thanks. I think some distance from all of that will do me some good,” I say as I hold my hand out for the keys. She takes that as an “I bet he wants me to squeeze his hand” which she does by awkwardly cupping my hand in both of hers.
“You know… I know sometimes it’s hard to ask for help, but I’m so glad you came to me. I want to be able to help you—”
Thump… squeeeee
I look over at the awful noise as I see Lake’s hand sliding down the window. The only issue is that Lake’s hand is covered in blood, leaving a bloody handprint trailing down the window.
Emma’s eyes are the size of saucers as she goes, “Oh my god!”
“It’s not what it looks like,” I say as she stares at the bloody smeared handprint across my window.
“It’s not?” she asks. “Like… it’s like paint or something?”
“Yeah…” I say weakly as the back car door opens and Lake practically spills out into the driveway in a bloody heap.
Emma gasps as she grabs her phone, but I snatch it out of her hand faster than she can react.
“It’s fine. Lake’s fine. Lake, say hi.”
“This the lady you told me I could eat?” Lake asks as he glances up at Emma.
Hell.
“He’s such a jokester, aren’t you?” I ask as I nudge him with my foot.
“Ha ha. So funny,” he says as he remains dying on the driveway. “I’m gonna steal your man.”
“What?” Emma asks.
“He’s fine. He’s… drunk.”
She seems less than fine with all of this, weirdly enough. I can’t tell if it’s the bleeding man, the fact that I invited him to stay in her cabin, or what, but I need to get a handle on things before shit is royally fucked up.
“Emma, you know about my previous job as a hunter, right?”
She can’t stop staring at him. “Yeah?”
“Well, Lake is also a hunter. He got hurt and we need a place that’s quiet to just… decompress for a bit. So… I know I kind of lied to you—”
“You need a place no one can trace you to which is why you refused to have me text the address.”
“Yes.”
“How much trouble are you in?”
“Um… well… I mean… it depends who asks,” I say. “I did nothing wrong. Lake, on the other hand, has something I need to know, but in order to find out, I have to keep him alive.”
Lake grunts something, like he’s agreeing.
“I will pay you five thousand dollars for the cabin for the week,” I say.
“Fine,” she says.
I open my mouth to try to bribe her with more before it settles in that she actually agreed. “Uh, great! Thank you.”
“But I’m staying too,” she says obstinately.
Now that doesn’t sound right. “No, you’re not. Did you not just hear that we’re in trouble?”
She folds her arms over her chest, not planning on caving. “I did, but… I’m staying. Final offer.”
“If you get caught up in something, it’s not my fault.”
“Deal. Did you guys bring anything?”
“Umm… a dying man?” And another man in the trunk.
Emma looks determined. “I’ll go shopping. Need anything specific?”
“Medical supplies. Whatever you can find. We probably won’t have to worry about infection but like bandages and stuff.”
“Got it.”
She hands me the keys to the cabin and gets in her car before driving around Lake and heading out. I watch her go while wondering if I should be gone when she gets back, but Lake’s not looking so hot. She could be going to get the police right now but if they come, I’ll simply tell them that the dying man was holding me hostage… while dying.
With a sigh, I pick him up and carry him over to the front door. There, I unlock the door and carry him inside, heading straight for the bathtub.
“Are you going to bathe me? That sounds hott, with double ts. And hopefully double Ds. Get it?” Lake looks at me like he thinks I’m just going to whip out my D.
I kneel down and slump against the tub, feeling like I’m in the absolute biggest hole I’ve ever dug myself into.
That’s when I feel Lake’s hand pat the top of my head. “It’s okay, I’ll get you out of this,” he says.
“Yeah?” I ask as I glance up at him. “Before or after you die?”
He pats my head again before closing his eyes. “Nah, I’m not dying. I’m just reliving the moments where you saved me.”
“Yeah,” I say, not sure that’s a thing. But I really, really hope he’s right and we can get out of this before someone buries me in this hole with him.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
DECLAN
As I wipe the blood off Lake, he lies with his eyes closed and I find myself having to stop every now and then to make sure he’s alive. That’d be just my luck to go through all of this only for him to be dead before he can tell me shit.
That’s when I hear footsteps as someone enters the cabin, alerting me that Emma’s back. She must hear the water because she peeks through the open door.
“The bound and gagged man in your trunk is trying to escape,” she announces.
“What?” I ask as I jump to my feet and race for the front door where I see Roger flip out of the trunk doing some weird kind of walrus-like movement since his legs are taped together and his arms are taped in front of him. He hits the ground with an “Oof” and then starts flailing.
“I’m… highly concerned about all of this,” Emma says as I watch Roger manage to get to his feet.
“That took some skills,” I admit. “Roger, I didn’t think you had any skills.”
Emma rocks back on her heels, making me wonder if she’s considering fleeing. “I think… I made a bad decision somewhere along the line.”
“No, I promise everything is fine. I’ll explain it all and give you another thousand dollars for this guy to stay here with us,” I say as I hurry off the porch.
“You say that like he’s a guest.”
“He is a guest! He just doesn’t yet understand how accommodating I am.”
Roger sees me coming and is doing a hop that would win him a sack race in no time before I give him a gentle push. He teeters then falls before I grab his feet and drag him after me into the house.
“I’m starting to feel like six thousand dollars isn’t enough to go to prison for. Like will I go to prison for life?”
“No, I’m not planning on killing him. He’s a chimera,” I lie.
She looks startled. “He is?”
“Yes.”
“Oh… oh my god. Shouldn’t we call someone?”
“No, you see, he has information that I need, and if we call someone, they’ll just kill him. I can’t have him immediately die, you know?” I ask.
“The only issue with your lies is that he works for the DRD and was totally the guy who came in to talk to the superintendent. Why would the DRD have hired a chimera?” she asks.
Dammit. “They… didn’t… know,” I say. God, my excuse is so weak.
“Don’t lie to me, Declan. We’ve been friends for nearly a year. If this… if this is what you honestly think needs to happen to… protect people or whatever, then I’ll help you, but not if you lie to me about it, okay?”
“Okay. I’ll explain everything after I get him situated and make sure Lake isn’t dying,” I say.
“All right,” she says as she holds the door open so I can drag Roger inside. “There’s a room down in the basement.”
“Thanks,” I say, deciding that maybe she’s not half bad as she watches me drag Roger down into the basement where I tape him to the foot of a heavy king-size bed. He shouldn’t be able to wiggle his way out of that one. Leaving him, I head upstairs only to realize that Emma disappeared during my journey.
Shit, if she sees the wound on Lake’s chest, she might realize he’s a monster and this whole thing will be over with.
But instead, she’s sorting things out on the kitchen table before handing me the bag of medical supplies. “After this, I want a full detailed report on what’s happening.”
“Got it,” I say as I take the bag and hurry into the bathroom where I find Lake curled up on his side.
“You alive?” I ask.
“Are you naked?” he mutters.
“What?”
“If I was dead, I’m positive you’d be naked.”
Clearly, he’s alive and wasting energy on stupidity. I clean the areas up then properly bandage them before pulling my now ruined jacket all the way off him. That’s when I see he has a watch on his wrist. I reach to the back to pull the band so it doesn’t get ruined when I wash the blood off his hands and arms, but I can’t seem to find a clasp for it.
Emma comes over and glances down at what I’m staring at.
“Do you know how to get this off?” I ask as I pass his arm over to her.
“He’s lost a lot of blood. Are you sure he shouldn’t go to a hospital?”
Honestly… I’m not sure, but it’s not like I could take him to one even if he needed it. They would instantly be able to tell he’s not human by his heart rate alone. This is really the best I can do, and I hope it’s enough. For the sake of getting the information I need out of him, that is. And then after that… he’s on his own. He’s a monster, after all.
“Yeah, he’s fine,” I say.
She doesn’t seem so sure but says, “I have no idea how to get it off.”
I decide that it’ll just have to get wet then because I don’t give a shit. I mean… I was going to kill him after all, so will he really be upset if I’ve ruined his watch?
“Here’s the deal,” I tell Emma as I lean back. “The DRD is trying to drag me back into their organization, but I don’t want to go. I want to live a free life away from all that bullshit. I know on the outside the hunters seem like law enforcement, like they’re there to protect us, but sometimes, I’m not so sure. They’re manipulating things to get me to return, and I refused. But while all of this was happening, I met Lake who works there. Lake seems to know some things about the inner workings of it, but I’m just not sure what yet. There’s a possibility that he knew about something that led to Jameson, the head of the DRD, shooting him. Roger, the man in the basement, knows this and because he hates both of us with a passion, I know he’ll get us tossed over to the cops even though we’ve done nothing wrong.” And yes, I’m considering Jameson’s death as nothing wrong because honestly… that man needed to die.
“You can’t go to the police about any of this?” she asks.
“Not until I have proof that we did nothing wrong. Something’s going on in this city. There are more and more monsters flooding in… there has to be a reason why. And I’m hoping Lake knows the answer to that.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
LAKE
When I wake, I crinkle.
It’s an odd noise to wake up to.
My body is stiff and sore as pain throbs in my chest and stomach, but it’s a lot better than it was yesterday. Even so, why the hell is everything crinkly?
I roll over and realize that my arms are confined. Jerking fully awake, I try to fight against it, creating a loud racket as I tear right through the… plastic… trash bag?
“What the hell are you doing?” Declan asks from where he sits in a chair inches from my bed in the small room.
“Did you wrap me in plastic? Are you planning on killing me?” I ask.
“I wrapped you in plastic so you don’t bleed all over the bed. It was honestly quite ingenious. I created a head hole and stuffed you in it. Then that way, if you died in the middle of the night, I’d just toss a Walmart bag over your head and carry you out to the garbage pit and none would be the wiser.”
It takes quite a bit of brain power to comprehend this. “Uh-huh… hold on… why didn’t you kill me?”
“Because you’re a chimera, you mean?”
“Nah, human as human can… get… yeah, that,” I say.
He doesn’t seem to be overly sure of what language I’m using as he narrows his eyes. “Lake, it’s quite apparent when you didn’t die from being shot in the heart that you’re not a human, so let’s talk.”
“Pillow talk? I like that. Come, come.”
I try to pat the pillow that I want to see his not-so-beaming face on, but I can’t when I’m currently wound up in this sexy trash bag.
“Do I look sexy?” I ask.
Declan stares at me for a second, giving me a full assessment. “You look like you’re on death’s door.”
“That doesn’t answer the question. Do I look sexy on death’s door?”
“You look like a monster,” he says.
I sigh loudly as I melt back into my plastic trash bag. “If it bothered you that much, you’d have killed me by now.”
“I’m waiting to hear my information.”
I stare at the handsome man who has his arms folded across his chest while giving me the “I put up with no shit” look that makes me smile. It’s clear that no matter what he says or does, he does have a heart in there just begging for love and I’m prepared to love the shit out of it.
It makes me sad that he’s never had a family or someone to love like that… at least according to Jameson. Where Jameson is wrong is believing that he’d be vulnerable enough to immediately let me in. No, people like that have learned to build a wall up, and boy am I coming with my sledgehammer.
“You are special,” I say, since I feel like he needs to hear that today.
His face sours, which, while maybe not the reaction I was hoping for, is still a reaction. “Stay on task.”
“My throat is too dry. I can’t… I need water,” I say.
Declan sighs loudly again like he needs to make sure I’m aware that being treated like this is causing him bodily harm. But he still gets up and exits the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
He might be keeping me alive long enough to give him the information I have, and I need to be prepared for him to attack me after he learns it. He might off me right then and there, but I honestly don’t think he will.
When he returns, he hands me a cup that I take from him after punching a hand through the plastic bag. “Thank you, kind sir.”
“No.”
“Thank you, not kind sir.”
“Better.”
I try not to laugh, since it seems like it’d be painful to my body to do so, and take a drink instead. “Thank you for not murdering me.”
“You’re finally admitting you’re a monster,” he says.
“I’m a monster in the sheets.”
He stares at me.
“Fine, yes. I will admit that I’m a monster. Happy?”
“Not particularly,” he says as he sinks back down in the chair. “The best scenario is if you weren’t a monster.”
“But then Jameson would have killed me, and you’d be sad about my death.”
“I probably wouldn’t have noticed because you wouldn’t have called me. And I’d be at home right now reading a book or maybe watching TV.”
“True. But that sounds dreadful.”
“Does it?” He shakes his head. “So Jameson found out you were a monster and decided to off you?”
