“Good. Just keep looking at that. I’ll make sure you don’t step on any snakes.”
“Snakes?” My head bobs forward, and I stumble as the world takes a slow somersault. “Fuck.”
“Sorry, bad joke. No snakes. Holes. That’s what I’ll keep an eye out for. Just holes.”
“Holes,” I agree, tilting my head back again. “Who rings the bell?”
“Not a hunchback, that’s for sure.”
I giggle like a fucking idiot at that. Cool shadows replace the sun, and I sag in relief. “Made it.”
“Not yet, pretty thing. Should I carry you?”
I snort. “You can’t carry me.”
“Bitchy much?”
The world spins around me. I’m looking up Apollo’s face, his victorious grin partially hidden behind a few locks of hair.
“You jus’ call me a bitch?” I demand.
“Keep your voice down,” he says. “And yes. Because you’re being one.”
I snort again. “You’re a…you’re an asshole. You all are.”
“Quiet,” he warns in a low voice, his hair shifting as he glances left and right. My teeth click together as he starts up the staircase. “Or I’ll take you back to your room.”
I hesitate, my head bobbing against the crook of Apollo’s arm as he hurries up the stairs with me. My room? Jasper might be there? I grimace. I’m too drunk to deal with him. Or not drunk enough.
“Here,” Apollo says. He sets me down and props me against the wall like a broom as he fishes in his pockets. He takes out a bunch of keys. The keychain used to be a furry cat face. Now it’s grubby as fuck. While he looks for the right key, I start to slide down the wall. He props me back up with an absent tug on the shoulder of my dress and then herds me inside the room.
“Hey! I’ve been here before!” I head for the closest chair.
“Sure have.”
When I sit down, I see he’s leaving. “Hey, where are you going?”
He pauses at the door, turning to me. But then he closes the door without answering.
And locks it.
I sit up a little straighter and stay conscious, remember that I’m too drunk to give a shit, and pass out on the couch.
Chapter Ten
Zach
My jaw pulses, the heat emanating from within a stark contrast to the ice pack pressed against my bruised flesh.
“Shit, man. We can’t let anyone see you like this,” Apollo says.
“No fucking shit,” I snap, squinting over at him. I click my fingers at the tumbler he’s supposed to be filling for me, and he hesitates only a second before filling it with whiskey.
“Is this going to mess with the plan?”
“I don’t know, Apollo,” I tell him through gritted teeth. “How about you ask Cass the next time you see him?”
“Man, you can’t blame him for this.”
I slam my fist into the arm of my wooden chair. “The fuck I can’t.”
“Here.” Apollo hurries over with my glass. I drain it and hand it back.
“Just give me the fucking bottle.”
“Yeah, right,” he laughs, skipping back and snatching the bottle away like he honestly thought I was in any state to tackle him for it.
Besides the two solid kicks Cass got in earlier, he punched me in the jaw, the groin, and my fucking kidneys. Twice. Because by that time, Reuben had hurried off to check if Trinity was okay, not giving a fuck who survived the fight.
Cass has always been like a fucking rat in a corner. You wouldn’t think he was even capable of throwing a punch, and then you’re lying on your back wondering why the stars had come out in the middle of the fucking day.
All because I’d held back.
Because I’d thought Trinity was still in the room.
Watching. Judging.
I thump the wood again, wishing the arm would break and growling when it doesn’t.
“She’s done.” I shake my head and point at Apollo as I breathe through a wave of pain. “Too much fucking trouble. Tomorrow, you take my car, you throw her in the trunk, and you fucking—”
“What, Zach?” Apollo cuts in with a snort, shaking his head at me. “We tell Gabriel his girl child wandered into the woods and got et by bears?” His lips twitch and he smooths his fingers over his mouth as if he could wash away his words.
A dark smile slowly spreads over my face. “I knew you weren’t just a pretty face.”
Chapter Eleven
Trinity
I wake up to the sound of muffled voices and intense nausea. Pushing up to my elbows, I scan my dark surroundings to try and figure out where I am. This can’t be my room. There are too few lumps in the mattress. The sheets are too soft. And it smells like Reuben, not mothballs.
Reuben.
Shit, I’m in his room. His bedroom.
And I need to puke.
I slide off the bed onto wobbly legs. The room is so dark that I hit my knee against the side of the bed as I head for the glowing outline of the door.
It opens before I can reach it. Reuben’s silhouette blocks out almost all the light.
“Bathroom,” I say in a tight voice.
He grabs my shoulder and herds me out of the room. Everything’s a blur until I reach the bathroom, where all I can focus on is the toilet.
Thank God he opens the lid for me, because I barely bend over before I puke.
Fingers brush my temples, drawing my hair away from my face. A large, cool hand caresses the back of my neck as I puke out my guts, stomach lining, and a lung.
I finally rock back on my heels. Reuben’s holding out a washcloth for me.
Deliciously warm.
I wipe my face with it and stand on shaky legs. He points to the basin. There’s a bottle of mouthwash there, the sink already filling with more warm water.
“We’ll be outside,” he says, turning to the doorway.
Apollo moves aside as Reuben approaches.
I clean myself and the bathroom as well as I can and try to ignore the fact that I still feel tipsy. When I step into the living area of Reuben’s room, the smell of coffee hits my nose.
I still can’t believe seniors get an accommodation like this if their grades are good enough. I guess Father Gabriel really wants me to work my way up from the bottom.
Apollo brings me a cup. “Cream and two sugars.”
I can’t help but smile. It’s sweet that he still remembers how I take it, although the day he saw me putting in sugar I’d given myself a double dose.
Hell, I probably still need the energy. Maybe this will become my regular serving from now on.
“What time is it?” I ask, glancing around. The lights are on and the curtains are drawn, but it doesn’t feel like it’s night time yet.
“Five,” Reuben says. He’s sitting on one of the two couches that make up his living area. “Come sit.”
His quiet command makes my hackles rise. I glance at Apollo with raised brows, but he just gives me his usual lopsided smile. “We need to talk,” he says. Then he goes and fetches another two cups of coffee, handing one to Reuben before sitting down beside him.