Her lips were white. She nodded once. ‘I know somewhere.' She puffed.
Another gun shot was fired. Kerry squealed and tried to duck. I swept her up into my arms and carried on. We didn't have time to freak out. She was light, but I struggled to breathe. I was so unfit. If I had still been training, I would have been able to run for miles.
‘He's falling back but still coming,' she said.
She watched over my shoulder as I darted into the tube station. People frowned at us as we rushed past.
‘Now go out the other entrance. I have a friend's key to her flat just over the road,' Kerry shouted.
I did as she said, swearing when we almost ran straight into another man with a black outfit. He wasn't expecting us to emerge so he wasn't able to grab us. He gave chase as we shot across the road. Cars narrowly missed my legs as I threw us into the communal door that Kerry indicated.
‘They'll know we're in here,' she said as I dropped her to her feet.
‘We don't have a choice, I can't keep running.'
My chest burned as I tried to pull air into it. I coughed as she led me up a flight of stairs. She fumbled in her bag as she ran, digging out a set of keys.
‘Is your friend not here?' I asked.
I couldn't hear anyone following us. The entrance door didn't open behind us. I hoped the men had given up.
‘No, she's gone travelling for a few months,' Kerry said, letting us into a small flat and slamming the door behind her.
I went to the window. My shoulders relaxed when I saw that the view was over the street we had just crossed. The men that had chased us stood across the road, looking up at the building.
‘What the bloody hell was that about?' Kerry shouted.
Flipping my cap off my head, I threw it on the small sofa. My muscles were on fire. I paced the tiny living area before returning to the window. The men lounged against the wall of the river, right next to the steps that lead down into the tube station. It looked like they had set up a guard post.
Kerry stood in the kitchen doorway, her hands on her hips. Her chest rose and fell as she breathed hard. My blood was pumping. I glanced away from her, wishing that it was Sophie standing in front of me. The adrenaline started to leave me as I surveyed our surroundings out of the window.
///
‘Is there a back entrance to the building?' I asked.
‘No,' she said, moving to the sofa and letting it catch her as she fell back.
Smacking my lips together, I moved towards the kitchen. I needed water. My breath was returning to normal, but my heart rate was still doubled.
‘Are you going to tell me what just happened?'
Her voice wasn't whiny like the other girls. She was a bit more matter of fact than my watery sister.
‘We were chased,' I stated.
As I downed the water I had poured myself, I tried not to smile as she clenched her fists.
‘And what about Cancer?'
‘I know, she's annoying, isn't she?'
I rinsed out the glass I had used and refilled it. Offering it to her, I waited for her to take it.
‘No, it's you that's annoying,' she said, snatching it from my hand. The water sprayed her and she huffed, glaring up at me.
Her dark blonde hair fell away from her face as she tilted her head to look up at me. It struck me as odd that I had met two women that were similar within a week of each other. Sophie was much nicer than Kerry though. She was happier and liked me, which helped.
‘We need to keep our heads low until they go,' I said, gesturing out the window as I moved back over to check on our guards. They were still there.
‘Will Cancer be okay?' Her voice was strained.
I couldn't ignore her probing questions anymore. It wasn't fair. ‘I have no idea,' I muttered, annoyed at myself for even arranging the meeting.
What had I been thinking? Why had I trusted a man that worked for our enemy? I hadn't thought of Nick as an enemy because he seemed like a pathetic man. It was Aries that had declared him someone to reckon with. Even Father had warned us against him our whole lives. I wasn't afraid, though. Maybe that was the problem.
‘Right, I'm going to phone the police.' Kerry dug her phone out of her bag and started to dial.
I moved before my brain knew what it was doing. My body crushed down on her as my hand wrapped around the phone in hers.
‘Ouch!' she screeched as my weight pushed her into the sofa.
Her body moulded to mine as I wrenched the phone from her hand and turned it off.
‘What are you doing?'
She tried to push me off, but I was too heavy. The left over adrenaline in my veins kicked in. I closed my eyes and buried my nose in her hair, sniffing when she went still. Her sudden complacency startled me, so I thrust away from her.
‘Sorry,' I mumbled, going back to the window.
She cleared her throat and thumped the sofa with her small fist. ‘Why can't I call the police?'
‘Because Cancer isn't in any danger.'
How could I explain the predicament we found ourselves in? I couldn't let her know that we were fighting evil men that didn't want us to have relationships. It sounded bloody ridiculous. Aries had dragged me along for the ride when we had rescued Father from Nick. I hadn't been interested in the politics of it. A part of me wished I had paid more attention.
‘Why are we hiding out up here?'
Her questions were going to grate on me. If I didn't tell her something to shut her up, I would have to find another way to close her mouth. An image of Sophie popped into my head. I groaned as the memory affected me in the most inappropriate manner.
‘If you're not going to tell me, I'm leaving,' she declared, getting up from her seat and going towards the door.
‘I need help,' I blurted.
She paused, looking over her shoulder at me. The strap of her top was threatening to fall off.
‘You need help?'
My brain tried to think of the best way to divert her attention away from the men outside. If she was scared, she would probably call the police. The last thing I needed was the cops to find out about my family.
‘They were right about my drug problem.' The words stung as they left my mouth. It wasn't true, but my mind tried to grab onto something to sound plausible.
‘You're making no sense.' Kerry turned towards me.
Her body was shaking. The small movement caught my eye as she watched me. She was scared. I hadn't even noticed.
‘I'm sorry about all this,' I said, gesturing towards the window. ‘Cancer has fallen in with a man from a bad crowd. He loves her, but it's pretty complicated.'
I made no sense on purpose. I wanted her to draw her own conclusions. Hopefully they would be as tame as possible. She would never guess that the men were from a group called the Dysfunctionals.
‘Oh, I get it. Cancer fell in love with your drug dealer?'
It could be true. It could also be used to my advantage. ‘Yes, but he's married. So his gang are gunning for him. I was just trying to keep Cancer safe.'
///
‘By setting up a meeting with him?'
It was a stupid thing to do. I couldn't deny that I had put my own interests above Cancer's. My selfish intrigue about Nick had put my sister in danger.
‘Haven't you ever been in love?' I asked, clutching at straws.
Her shoulders relaxed. ‘No.'
Her confession startled me. I blinked and checked out of the window again. When would the men move?
‘We can't leave here until those men go,' I said. If she was already scared, there was no need to hide that from her. ‘They are after me because I … '
My mind searched for a lie.
‘Do you owe them money?'
She was making up the fake story better than I was. Would she hate me if she ever found out the truth? I didn't care. I wasn't trying to be friends with her, I was trying to keep her safe. It was her fault she had been dragged into it in the first place.
‘Yeah, I owe them money. They're going to stand there until I come out. They'll probably shoot me if I leave.'
She gasped. A niggle of guilt wormed its way into my head. I pushed it down.
‘Are you going to ring Sophie?'
I chewed my lip as I debated her suggestion. If I rang Sophie, she would worry and tell the others. If I didn't tell the others, I might have to stay locked up in the flat with Kerry forever. Aries would kill me when he found out what I had done.
‘Let's just chill out here for a bit. I'm sure they'll get bored soon and go.'
I hoped Kerry was right. She crossed her short legs and drummed her fingers on her plump thigh. Her blue eyes glanced at me when I didn't respond.
‘Sounds good,' I said, going to the fridge. ‘There's no beer,' I whined, checking the cupboards.
‘You could probably do with a break from all that,' Kerry chastised.
I glared at the back of her head as I came back into the living area. She glanced up and caught me. Her eyebrows rose but she didn't say anything.
‘Cup of tea, then?' I offered.
‘I doubt there's any milk.'
Rolling my shoulders, I slumped on the sofa next to her. No booze. No tea. At least I had a joint.