Niko(Love Me Harder #2)(21)
She reached out and took the food. She started chewing. It was tasty.
“Now let’s talk about Niko and the fact that he is a monster, a huge killing machine.” Rena said it all with a smile.
Dee nodded her head, not at all comfortable with what she was hearing. She reached over and grabbed more of the greens. They really were tasty.
“Tell me again. How did he try and kill you?”
“Who are you talking about?”
“Niko, remember? You told me on the phone that he was trying to kill you.”
“Girl don’t you think you’re over-doing it? I don’t think he tried to kill me. Do you think he was trying to kill me?”
“Eat a little more.”
She nodded and grabbed a handful.
“Didn’t he turn into a man eating monster?”
“Monster? Please, he was kind of cute looking after you get past the fangs and claws.”
“Rena?”
“Yep, Aran and all the brothers are ‘monsters’.”
“So you have known all along?
“Not all along, and believe me I sought escape when I found out also. I ran into the bathroom!”
They stopped and laughed relieving some of the tension in the room.
“Why didn’t Niko come for me?”
“He was concerned that he may push you over the edge.”
Dee stopped chewing and pegged Rena with a stare. “Explain to me what happened?”
“Near as I can figure, Niko showed you his beast and the Rowl in your system stopped working. Most likely you had none left. Because of that, every fear that was implanted in you came to life.”
“So I ran and locked myself in the bathroom.” Her voice dripped with disgust at her actions.
“Self-preservation. I, for one, am happy to know you have some.”
“The Rowl helped me?”
Rena nodded, “Don’t ask me how. All I know is that it combats the poison used on you. I am so sorry, Dee, that you got caught up in my drama.”
“Hey stop that. If I hadn’t gotten caught up, we both know I would have just sashayed into it anyway. How dare you have fun without me?”
They smiled at each other and then broke into laughter.
“How did you get here so fast?”
“The bathroom really isn’t that far away from the game room.” She gave her a sneaky smile.
“You were already here?”
She nodded her head. “We have been here for a while. Niko wanted to make sure you saw a friendly face when you came out of the closet.”
Dee stared at Rena, watching her bite her lips and trying to control herself.
“Stop staring at me. I want a present for letting all of my closet comments pass.”
“You may have learned some restraint from Aran. I think I owe him a thank you.”
Rena mocked her with a smile. “You ready to go down?”
“Who’s down there?”
“All of them, of course. You don’t get to live this one down anytime soon.”
“Let’s go.”
Dee walked towards the game room, wanting to blend in with the walls. Instead, she held her head up high.
The room quieted when they came in.
“Kitten?”
“Niko. I ran.”
“I scared you. I should have handled that better.”
“It was a bit much. So all of you are different?”
Such a nice way of saying aliens and monsters. She grabbed more Rowl. She was going to need it.
Either she believed what she had seen with her own eyes or she had herself committed. It was so much easier to believe than to give into the thought of insanity.
“Can I O.D. on this stuff?”
“No.” Dante spoke up. “You also can’t get addicted, I added a health benefit in it for you too. You should eat as much as possible.”
He gave her a smile, the kind she always thought a big brother might give her. She wondered if it was the Rowl making her weepy.
“What now?” She hesitantly made her way to the other side of the room relying on that inner voice that said Niko would never hurt her. Taking a deep breath she sat down next to him.
She put her hand out on the material between them and slowly slid her fingers across until the pads were laying against his thigh.
She took a deep breath and looked up under her lashes to see if he was changing.
Niko spoke, looking at Aran as his hand slid towards Dee’s. “I think we have to figure out who followed us here.”
His hand stroked the top of her hand with light touches.
“Any one of the groups could have come here. One person from a group may be acting on their own, even though the probability is low.” Dante spoke looking around the room.
“Can anyone think of a reason one of the created would want to do us any harm?”
The Created, such a nice, simple, sad name for a people who have held up their end of the plan.