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“He’s probably the one responsible for the overdose.” The cop tucked the pen into his chest pocket. “I should go after—”
“What?” I gasped loudly, trying to buy a little more time for Lachlan to reach the others, to make sure they had all nipped back to the Nether Court.
The officer frowned, tipping his hat back. “Gage Memorial, huh?” He shook his head a little. “That was Lachlan Gage.”
I blinked rapidly as my pulse quickened, realizing it had been a mistake to give him the name of the hospital Lachlan owned. “I had no idea.” I wrapped my arms around me and faked a shudder. “I can’t believe that monster helped me.”
The officer drew a deep breath. “He must be tired of his clientele dropping dead. Nothing ever sticks on him, but maybe if I can catch him on the scene…”
I stumbled out of his way, letting my mouth fall open. “I’m so sorry. Hurry!”
He tipped his hat to me before he dashed off. I was pretty sure I had distracted him long enough for everyone to get away, especially if Roark had given the evacuation notice before the EMTs had even arrived. I headed for the entrance before the cop came back. Pushing out the door, I relaxed as the midnight air coasted over my sweaty skin. I didn’t reach for the pendant. I needed to clear my head before I saw him again.
Tonight hadn’t just been a reminder of who he was. It was a reckoning I needed to face.
The Avalon wasn’t far, and the streets were still crowded with people, some of them staggering out of bars but a fair number lingering by Alouette’s entrance. Half looked completely shell-shocked, but I caught snatches of people laughing and figuring out where to go next. As if a man hadn’t almost died in front of their eyes. No lessons learned. The shocked ones would find a way to forget. The others would chase down a way. Some would even turn to clover to do it. They might even get a few more good doses and mistake their luck for safety. A tear slipped down my face as I realized Lachlan was right about what people would risk to steal a little happiness, how far they would go to avoid feeling anything at all. And if it wasn’t clover, it would be something else.
Hopelessness opened a pit in my stomach. At the hospital, I’d had someone to blame. Then, condemning Lachlan had fueled my anger over the situation. I couldn’t look at the people scrolling on their phones or taking selfies for another second, so I darted down a dim side street. I hadn’t paid attention on the ride to Alouette, but it didn’t matter. I wasn’t ready to return to the Avalon. Not with the adrenaline coursing through me, rousing my anger and confusion into a compound that might prove volatile if I had to face him. Not just because of what had happened at the club. But what had nearly happened this afternoon.
He had nearly kissed me again, and I would have let him this time. If only to see what happened next. If he would have had me right there in broad daylight, or if he would have carried me inside like the night before, only this time to his bed. And maybe knowing that was what slowed my steps and kept me from returning to the Avalon. Because I’d just witnessed the dangers of chasing forbidden highs. If I had a taste of him, would I ever want to be free, or would I surrender the rest of my nights for that fleeting, addictive pleasure and let his dark court devour me?
A bulb crackled in the only streetlamp and died. The world plunged into darkness save for scattered puddles of moonlight from the afternoon rain. I followed them forward, somehow more comforted by the shadows than the idea of turning back to the lights of the street that lay behind me. Until I reached a twelve-foot-tall security fence lined with barbed wire and realized this wasn’t a street at all, but a dead end. Naturally.
Water splashed behind me, and I whipped around to find a figure moving toward me. It was too dark to make out a face, to make out anything except his sheer size.
Keep it together, I ordered myself and started past him.
He stepped in front of me.
Shit.
He cracked his knuckles against his opposite palm, drawing my attention to a series of red stripes circling his fingers. A flare of panic hit me, but I pushed it aside and changed course again, only to find him standing directly in front of me. He leered at me, his beady eyes wincing as moonlight hit them.
“Are you lost?” As he spoke, I glimpsed two rows of pointed, stained teeth.
Not human. But not like any fae I’d ever seen. Lachlan’s words rang in my mind. Few of us are little…or cute. Whatever kind of fae the stranger was, I had little hope he was about to escort me home. Footsteps approached behind me, and my panic sharpened to a single thought: survive.
I should have taken the gun, but it was too late now.
Every instinct inside me screamed to run. Probably due to a lifetime of consuming fairy tales. Definitely because I knew that whoever was behind me was with him.
“Don’t worry. We’ll take care of you.” A forked tongue slid along those yellow teeth.
Adrenaline spiked, and the sudden surge in my blood propelled me. I didn’t think. Instinct took over, and I ran.
They let me get a couple of feet before a red-striped hand caught me by the throat.
Chapter Twenty-Six
I was going to die…or worse.
No. Not like this. I thrashed as my feet left the ground, kicking wildly and finding only air. Sharp nails bit into my skin, his grip crushing my throat and cutting off my air supply until I only had enough strength to claw at those deadly fingers. They cut off access to the pendant—the pendant I should have grabbed and didn’t in my panic. He swung me closer. Black eyes glinted in the darkness, satisfaction twisting the creature’s grotesque mouth into a hideous smile that displayed his barbed teeth. He leaned closer, nostrils flaring as he inhaled deeply. He drew back and looked over his shoulder. “It’s her.”
Panic seized me as I fought for air, my muscles burning from the lack of oxygen and my heart near exploding. But I refused to go limp, refused to give in, to die like this.
“Sweet nightmares,” he taunted, hoisting me higher until I was dangling like a doll, my arms starting to slacken.
No, no, no. Black spots blotted my vision. Not much time. I focused everything I had on my hands, tearing my nails into his fingers, shredding his tattooed skin.