Dead Ink(Karma Series Book 4)(16)

She walked over to the living room area, where they were all gathered,  and sat down on the couch. No one else sat but she didn't care.

In less than two weeks, she'd died, been kidnapped by lunatics and saved  by some of the scariest looking guys she'd ever met. Then she'd woken  up with blood dripping on her, from a love letter a stalker who thought  she was the one for him had put there. She'd finally hit her fuck it  all, it is what it is point.

"What exactly was the extent of your relationship with Malokin, and do  you believe it was him who left you the message?" Fate, her favorite  person in the world, asked.

It figured that he'd lead the inquisition. He'd been the biggest bastard  to her so far, so she wasn't surprised. She'd give him a couple of  points though, for his tactful way of calling the bloody words on the  ceiling a message.

All the guys were staring at her, seeming equally interested in how she'd answer.

Cutty came and sat down next to her. "There was a certain feeling to it that gave the impression of interest on a deeper level."

She liked Cutty and wasn't surprised when he tried to soften Fate's interrogation.

She hesitated answering as she looked at them, the guys who were  supposed to be in her corner. They didn't look so friendly and she was  supposed to explain that someone who was with their archenemy, for  reasons that still weren't clear, thought that she was meant to be with  him? No, that wouldn't fly too well with this crowd.

"I'm not certain who left the message." Then the fuck it, I'm done with  the act. It'll be whatever it will be kicked back in. What were they  going to do? Kill her? Torture her if she said it? Might as well get it  out on the table now. "But I'm fairly certain it was Malokin's second in  command, Keith. He was introduced also as Despair, which I didn't quite  understand the significance of, initially. He thought I was the one for  him. Is that what you wanted to know?"

Cutty opened his mouth twice but kept shutting it. Angus scratched his  head, Fate scowled, Bic was nodding his head as if he was still  digesting her words like a bad meal that gave him acid reflux. When her  eyes landed on Lars, he looked like he wanted to kill someone. That she  hadn't expected, and her eyes moved quickly back to Cutty, who was still  alternating between a forced natural look and gaping.

"When you say the one, can you elaborate on that?" Cutty finally asked.

"Sure. He said ‘You are the one for me.' His meaning seemed fairly clear  to me, but you guys should make your own interpretations. I don't want  to skew your opinions." She thought back to that meeting and shuddered,  remembering how Keith had run his finger along her cheek when he'd  spoken to her, telling her that they were two pieces of a puzzle, meant  to be joined.

Lars looked like he was angrier than ever but the look on Bic's face in  particular had her holding back that nervous laughter that liked to  creep up on her at the most awkward moments.

"You said you were kidnapped?" Fate shot at her accusingly, as if he had  caught her in a lie. The attack wiped the giggle right out of her.

"I was." She put as much force behind the words as she could and snapped  when she saw the skepticism. "You think I saw this guy on Match.com and  read his profile, ‘Life's ambition, spread despair far and wide,' and  thought wow, this is the man for me?" She wanted to tell them all to go  to hell but also wanted to get this over with. "Just so we don't have to  rehash this a million more times, I'll tell you all the events now and  then I'm done talking about it." She didn't wait for them to agree to  her terms. They weren't negotiable so she just started talking. If they  wanted to kick her out after this, let them. Keith had almost gotten to  her at Cutty's, anyway. Maybe she was better off on her own.                       
       
           



       

"I was at my art gallery in Seattle, hosting a show. I went out to my  car. I was stabbed to death in the parking lot. I awoke in a moving car,  sandwiched by two guys in the backseat. They told me I was dead, took  me on a private jet to the other side of the country and brought me to a  hotel suite, where Malokin and Keith were waiting for me.

"There, Malokin informed me that I was some sort of experiment. Of what  kind, I don't know but that he would've taken me regardless because  Keith wanted me. Malokin then left me alone with Keith, who declared his  feelings and explained that my human life was over and forced me in  front of a mirror where I saw the truth of it. The person I knew was no  longer there staring back at me.

"I collapsed on the floor of the bathroom. He lifted me up and took me  over to the couch. He kept talking but I couldn't tell you what he said  after that point. I was in shock and completely disoriented, so when he  got called into the other room, he probably figured I wouldn't move.

"At first, I didn't. But then desperation and pure desire to survive  kicked in. I remembered one of the other men coming in within the first  few moments I'd arrived, saying that he left a memo on the desk. It was  something that had been given out to all the men about the top list of  threats and their locations.

"I figured that list was my best shot of enlisting help. I got up and  walked to the desk in the room. The name Lars and Dead Ink were listed  and there was an address. All of your names were on it." She motioned to  the group. "But for some crazy reason, when I'd been driven to the  hotel, as dazed as I was, I'd remembered seeing Dead Ink and I knew I  could get there on foot."

As she talked, Bic walked into the kitchen and grabbed a beer, clearly  needing a drink. Angus and Cutty weren't saying anything and she  couldn't tell what Lars was thinking at all anymore. Fate was scowling  but he hadn't stopped doing that since she'd met him.

"I left and no one noticed me," she continued and then grabbed the beer  from Bic's hand as he walked back over. "I think I need this a little  more than you do," she said to him, then took a swig and began again,  keeping the beer.

"They were too busy in the next room over doing … things." She shivered,  thinking of how Keith had been literally hammering someone's hand as  Malokin had stood close by, both too involved to notice anything beyond  that room. Another poor sucker had been lying on the floor nearby,  curled into a ball and looking like he'd already had his turn. She could  still hear the screams.

"I made it out of the hotel and got to a convenience store on the  corner. I asked some guy in the parking lot if he could drive me down  the street a ways, claiming I lost my purse and just needed to get back  to my house. When he dropped me off, I headed into the woods and started  towards here on foot. I ended up stopping because I got sick. Once I  felt better, I started walking again."

Fate was the only one that started asking questions. "So you were in the woods alone?"

"Yes. I was in the woods alone." Her mind ran back over those days. They  were a blur of pain she didn't want to think of. She'd lain in the  dirt, wishing whatever she was now would cease to exist. It was the only  time she'd ever truly wanted to give up. "I'd never felt so horrible in  my life," she said, more to herself than them.

"How did you eat?" Cutty asked.

"For the most part, I didn't. When the pain finally started to subside, I  drank water from a nearby creek and started making my way here again."  She caught a flash of pity on Cutty's face and her spine straightened.  "You don't need to feel bad for me. Live long enough and we all have  shitty days," she said, playing it down and shrugging off his noticeable  reaction. "Any other questions?"

She looked at all five of them but no one said anything. "Good. Because  I'm tired." She got up and walked back to the bed and climbed in, jeans  and all. She rolled over and gave them her back.

"Okay then, I guess let's call it a night," Cutty said, and no one argued.



***



Lars lay on the couch, trying to get an hour or so of sleep. Every time  he closed his eyes, all he could do was remember how Faith looked when  she'd shown up at his shop. The way she'd devoured the sandwich she'd  been given. The way he'd scared her.

She could be lying. He turned onto his side, his gaze finding its target  across the dark room. The small figure burrowed in the blankets on his  bed. He could tell by her breathing she was sleeping but it was fitful,  and she tossed often.                       
       
           



       

Giving up on sleep, he stood up and crossed the room to stand over where  she lay. Her hair was spread out on the pillow her head rested upon,  and he picked up a lock and ran it through his fingers. Her lips parted  as she sighed softly in her sleep. Why couldn't he look at her and not  want to possess her, to cover her body with his and claim her as his  own?