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I woke up from a dreamless sleep with heat at my back. Thad had practically glued himself to me during the night. I was sweaty and hot. Fuck. How much heat could one man put off?
I shifted away from him to let some cool air slip in between us and gave a sigh as it hit my back. Being inside this place, I couldn't tell what the time was. My curtains dimmed the hallway lights when pulled closed, but light still filtered through. I opened my eyes to the gray wall I faced and thought about what was in store for me.
What was my position here? Besides being a Lydent female. Would the guys expect me to stay at home like a good little wife and pop out pure Lydent babies? Because that was not my idea of contributing to the Lydent community.
I let my mind wander on all the things I saw others do. Myra was a clothing designer. From what Hannah had told me, Carly was an artist. Then there was the woman on the council, Sonia. How did she get there? At least there was hope for a council position. I might like that.
Then I thought about her connection to Ivan, the one who gave me this dark light. He was someone she loved. One of her mates. They had a child together who they all assumed died in the Royal bombing. One that Ivan supposedly planned and carried out, killing their daughter and a million other Lydents and humans. It was a massacre, or so others had told me.
The question I had was... why? If his light was as dark as they were all saying, then why did I feel strongly that it was all a lie? Even Nox had said he thought the same thing. That it might have been Eric who was behind it all. If that was the case, he deserved to die. Just like the others had. The light within me brushed against my mind in icy agreement. It liked the way I was thinking. The dark light inside me gave a small nudge, and the metal bars that held me in rattled, waking up Thad.
He stiffened at first, then relaxed. "Rein it in, Juju," he murmured, running a hand down my arm in a soothing motion. "You don't want to give the council any more reasons to keep you in here."
I pulled back my talent and the light within seemed dissatisfied, sulking back into the darkness.
I cleared my throat and turned around, taking in his scruffy jaw and sleepy eyes. "Sorry."
His lips tilted upward as his arm on my hip moved, and he gave my ass a soft slap. "Don't say sorry, just keep yourself in check. Make sure your light isn't taking over your emotions. There's a time and a place."
I shoved him as much as I could, and he wasn't expecting it, neither was I when he teetered off balance and fell onto the floor. "Shit," he moaned with a half laugh. "Fastest guy alive and she has me tumbling."
I peered over the side, a smile meeting my lips when I realized he wasn't angry. "Sorry?"
He glared at me before lifting up his feet and throwing them, propelling his body upward in a flash, body rippling as he did so. "No, you aren't." He sent me another glare, but his mouth was deceiving him as his lips curled upward. He turned away and stalked toward my divider. "Doesn't matter. I needed to piss, anyway."
He went behind as if he had no shame, and I grabbed the earbuds to the tablet I had and put them in, cranking up the music. I didn't need to hear that. While on it, I was able to find out the time. It was only four a.m.—not nearly time to get up, but my mind was awake and full of things I shouldn't be thinking.
A vibration on the bed had me searching for the source. It wasn't my phone but Thad's.
Cameron: Need you here now.
There was a photo of a building, but in the dark I couldn't make out what it was or where it was located.
I gasped as Thad snatched the phone from my hands. He paid me no attention as he read the message and picked up his shirt to toss it on. I leaned back when he bent down and got close. "I need to go." Before I could object, his arm lifted, and he curled his hand behind my head, bringing my lips to his in a hot kiss. He took, and I let him, my heart pounding as he seized control. He nipped my lip when he pulled away. His gaze was dark and heavy. "When I see you tonight, I'm taking you out."
He drew away and stood. I scrambled up off the bunk and watched him tug on his shoes. "Wait, what? But I thought–"
He shook his head. "Don't care." Then he kissed me again. "Be good, Juju." And he was gone.
I tried to go back to sleep but found that I couldn't. So, I tried to go back to the dark website I had used to send the email. Maybe, just maybe, I could email out and whoever my contact was would reply once more. It was at least worth a try.
I went to the browser and chanced it, putting in the IP address and navigating to the link. I honestly couldn't believe I was able to do this. I thought for sure the jail internet browser wouldn't allow it, but here I was, sending an email hoping to have another response.
As soon as I sent it, a response came back. A riddle.
My bed is never in the same place and I always have a view.
The click and clang of the steady sway rocks me to a false sense of safety and sleep.
My name is known by few, some could say a rabbit’s leap in disguise, and I'm always scrambling away from a two-legged bull, but never am I a surprise.
Who am I?
I stared at the screen. What. The. Hell? I read it again and didn't understand. Was it really my contact? Or was this an automated message?
I closed the email wondering what the answer was. A bed that's never in the same place? Like... a traveler, maybe? They would stay in a hotel. That's never in the same place, and they would have views, but they didn't have bulls. I dismissed the riddle for the moment and got up, making the same path Thad did earlier and did my thing.
When I came back out, I stopped. Justin was laying on the top bunk asleep. How did I miss him?
Unsure if he was there the whole time or not, I decided to be quiet since I now heard the soft, steady swish of snoring. He was out.
I took a step toward the bunks to go lay back down when the last wristband on my arm grew warm and I found myself somewhere else entirely.
A luxurious room with a platform king bed held a million pillows and one person I wasn't planning on seeing. Naylor.
He was resting across the bed fully dressed and waving his fingers in the air against a circular, luminescent screen that was floating above him. When he noticed me, he waved his hand across the screen and it disappeared. "Ah, love," he said with ease as he jumped down. "You're here. Good." He gave me an easy smile as he came near. "My mother is waiting for you."
I moved away from him when I thought he might touch me, and he shook his head while making a “tsk” sound. "One day you'll learn to trust me."
"What am I doing here?" I hissed, gesturing to the room. "I'm supposed to be in Lydent jail." My eyebrows rose. "Wait a minute, how did you break me out?" Then I scrunched up my nose at the thought that he might actually like me, like me. "And why?"
He held out a hand toward the bedroom door that was open. "I'm not the one who broke you out of jail, love." Then Myra came through the doorway with a dry-cleaning bag in hand and a bright smile. "My mother was," Naylor finished, walking toward her. Naylor was a head taller than his mother, and he had to bend down to kiss her cheek. I slide my gaze away from them, annoyed. He was charming and cute, but his mouth got him into trouble. The damn flirt.
"She's here as you asked; now I need to get back to what I was doing."
I glanced back to find him heading out the door. "Goodbye, Tracy."
My anger flared, but I couldn't say anything because his mother was there. So, I extended my senses out into the air to search for a metallic item and found a key on top on the bedroom door. When he was just beyond the threshold of the door, I moved my finger and let the key drop on his head.
"What the hell?" He rubbed his forehead and glared at the key on the ground.
I moved my attention to Myra with a smirk, trying to catch up with what she was saying since I had missed half of it.
"–hat way you don’t have to show up looking out of place," she said as she passed me into what I assumed to be a bathroom. "You can shower in here, and I'll hang the uniform on the hook. Hydrent will be good for you."
When she said “Hydrent,” I realized what she was talking about and remembered that today was supposed to be my first day.
Once in the bathroom, I stood in awe at the double vanity that seemed to have more than enough space in between the two sinks it housed. What in the world would you even put there? I wondered. A cream ottoman was half tucked underneath the counter, and clean towels sat folded in the space between.
My brows rose, and I swung my head the other way, searching for Myra. This bathroom was big enough to get lost in! She was exiting a curved area where water had just turned on. Once again, she gave me a brilliant smile as she stopped in front of me and reached in for a hug. I let her do her thing, wrapping my own arms around her briefly. She drew away, and her hands drawing mine into a hold. It made me vastly uncomfortable. "It would have been nice..." she trailed off, and sadness filled her eyes for a brief moment before she gave my hands a squeeze then let me go. "But never mind that.” She pointed to the curved space where steam was now pouring out of. "The shower’s running and there are new soaps in there for you." Then she gestured to the towels on the countertop before landing on the dry cleaner’s bag. "Towel and your uniform. There's a hair dryer under the left sink and" – with a wave of her hand, a bag appeared right by the towels, a Frost department store bag – "some goodies in there for you. Come out into the room when you’re done. I'll be waiting." With that, she left the bathroom, and left me speechless. So... I did what she wanted me to do, which wasn't a hardship considering where I’d been. I took a long, delicious shower in which I breathed in the fragrance of the soaps and loved every minute of it.
When I was done, I dressed in the white button up shirt with quarter sleeves that had a logo on the breast along with the knee length skirt, then searched in the goodie bag she’d left me. I brought out a perfume bottle and opened it. Taking a whiff, I pulled back and scrunched up my nose in distaste at the flowery scent and set the bottle to the side. Back in the bag, I found makeup and a toothbrush with toothpaste among a few other things she probably thought every girl might need. I lifted out a simple, black beaded necklace, much like the one Naylor had put me in, and a small clutch with nail clippers and gum.
It was perfect. She was perfect. Why couldn't Justin have been Naylor's brother or something? Just so I could keep her.
I left the stuff on the counter and bent down to grab the hair dryer from the cupboard below then did my hair.
When I was done, I grimaced, realizing I desperately needed products for my hair. It was poofy, and—shit... I looked like a poodle that was dumped in red paint and happened to stumble into a light socket.
I twisted around and stared longingly at the gift bag, wishing for anti-frizz hair cream, and sighed.
Maybe Myra wasn't as perfect as I thought she was, but she was damn near close.
"Get it the fuck together, Tracy," I muttered to the air as I turned back to the mirror and straightened my shoulders. "I'll be hanging out with Hannah and Mr. Cain. There's no one to impress except myself."
I nodded to Annie in the mirror and stalked out of the bathroom ready for whatever this day would bring me.