“What?”
“I got kicked out—”
He cut me off as I spoke.
“I know what evicted means, Ella. Why didn’t you tell me? What were you going to do? Sleep in the stairwell?”
“And what would telling you accomplish? Embarrassment added to my already shitty day? I can take care of myself.”
He laughed sardonically as he shook his head and looked to the ground between us, his hand running over the back of his hair.
“Clearly. Come on.” His long fingers looped around my wrist, and I hated that I’d been so deprived of human contact, it made my heart race. Maybe that was just a side effect of Rellik. He pulled me back up the alley toward the bar, and I struggled to keep pace with him. He wasn’t giving me a chance to argue, and I was grateful because I really had no idea what I was going to do.
Placate
Chapter 10—Rellik
Placate: to soothe or mollify, especially by concessions
When we reached the bar, Ella began pulling back from my grip.
“What?” I asked as I looked around.
“I don’t want to make things worse for you and the other guys. It would be really shitty for me to cause any more problems with you guys.”
“Phantom is my problem, not yours. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“What about…” She began to chew the side of her lip, and I couldn’t help but laugh as I motioned to security to bring our car around.
“I’m taking you to a hotel. I won’t subject you to the acts of depravity that go on after a gig.”
“Oh.” She tucked her hair behind her ears and stared off into the parking lot. The security pulled up with my SUV. He got out and ran to the passenger side, pulling the door open.
“Thanks.” I patted him on the shoulder, and he nodded as he stepped back. I motioned for Ella to climb in, and she did without a word. “I’ll just be a few minutes,” I called out to the bouncer as I walked around the front of the vehicle.
As I slid into the driver seat, Ella stared blankly out of the front window. She no longer looked upset over losing her apartment. She sat expressionless, and somehow that was worse because I couldn’t see what she was dealing with.
I shifted into drive and drove across the lot. Accelerating more than necessary, I turned onto the main road lined with motels, but there was no vacancy. The silence was uncomfortable, but I only made things worse when I opened my mouth.
“I’m not sure what you need me to do here, Ella. Tell me what to do.” She didn’t respond. “Does your head hurt?” I glanced toward her but couldn’t see the tiny scrape that was concealed by her hair.
She shook her head, and her hand went up to rub over the scrape under her long, side-swept bangs.
“I can take you to a doctor or something.” I knew the mark was superficial, but I felt like I was doing the wrong thing at every step.
“I’m fine. I’m tougher than I look.”
I traveled a few miles down the road, pulling off into a Beachside Hotel. “This, uh…this is where my room is,” I said as I put the vehicle into park. Her seat belt unclicked, and she squeezed the handle on the door, causing it to pop open.
“Thank you,” she said as she began to step out.
I reached into my pocket, stretching my leg out when I remembered I had given my cash to Phantom. “Shit.” I shook my head and looked over at her as she worried her lip.
“It’s fine, really. You’ve done enough. I’ll find somewhere to go.” She stepped out of the car, and I got out as well and jogged around to her side.
I slid my hand into my back pocket, pulled out a plastic key card, and held it out for her. Her eyes narrowed as she looked it over. “You can stay in my room.”
“No.” She laughed nervously and waved her hands.
“Do you want to go back to the after party?” I quirked an eyebrow as my eyes traveled down her body. “You might enjoy it.”
“I really just want to sleep and forget this day ever happened.”
“I’ll get another room when I get back. It’s not a big deal.” I tried not to take her words personally.
Her eyes locked on to mine, before she slowly nodded, still unsure but deciding against arguing.
I began walking across the dark lot toward the rooms as she followed close behind. I pulled a key card from my pocket and slid it into the card reader.
I shook my head as she glanced over at me. She slowly stepped inside, and I reached in to turn on the light. It wasn’t a large room, but I didn’t plan on spending much time in it while I was here.
She walked around the room, folding her arms over her chest. “It’s nice,” she said quietly. “For some reason I expected strippers and a disco ball.”