Insidious(128)

“Please don’t,” I panted, slapping one of the women’s cell phones away as she prepared to dial. I lay my face down on the cool, steel tabletop. “I…need…to hide.”

“From what? A doctor?” the other woman yelped, trying a little too late to lower her voice.

“An…ex.” I guess it was sort of true. I managed to look up, watching nameless bystanders walk in and out of frame from the café’s window. No sign of him.

I stifled a sudden cry as the base of my ring finger scalded with a fiery rage. Sure enough, cheekbones sharp enough to split a hair came into view from the other side of the windowpane. I muttered a curse as I turned away, trying to lift my head up off the table as discretely as I could. My nails dug into my hand, clenching around the skin that I could see lighting up even under the guise of my glove. It was the weird entwined rune wrapped around my ring finger. Had I activated it, or had he?

Letting my hair fall into my face to obscure my features, I snuck a look around a mass of matted locks to see Blaine still standing there, his eyes scoping out the crowds.

“Damn it,” I growled.

The two women followed my line of vision, and their faces contorted in disbelief. I could only imagine what they were seeing. Another twenty seconds or so passed, and he eventually walked out of view towards the north end. I slumped back in my seat, taking the last decent breath I could afford. After a solid minute passed, it seemed safe to say the coast was clear. Muddled messes of music overwhelmed my senses as the blues guitars from the street mixed with the hip-hop and dance songs pouring out of the bars and nightclubs. I couldn’t even tell if the pounding in my chest came from my heart or the ear-aching thumping of three different bass numbers clashing into one another.

Slithering my way between people, I kept my head down, finally making some headway back towards the front gate. The courtyard was much more crowded than the streets, and I appreciated the additional coverage. Just keep moving, and stay down. Just keep moving, and stay down. The south end exit from the courtyard was in sight. Thirty more yards, and I was home free. A hollering pack of frat guys came barreling down on me, forcing me against the wall in front of some Creamery that offered Chicago-styled hot dogs. Squeezing by, I passed the narrow alleyway between the buildings, and I knew before I even felt the yank on my arm that it was a mistake.

“Well, look who wandered in. About time.” Blaine tossed some kind of food wrapper into the dumpsters behind us as he pinned me against the brick siding.

Seriously? I was trying to stay conscious long enough to get away, and here this asshole was, idly eating a hot dog, just waiting for me to show up. He was right. I was out of my league. He didn’t have to bother holding me with both hands. I started sliding down the wall, feeling my shaking legs caving out from under me.

Of all things, he propped me back upright. “My, my. You are tenacious, aren’t you? Stupid, but tenacious nevertheless. I’ll give you that much.”

“How’s your face?” I scoffed, barely mustering the breath to get the words out.

He smirked, thumbing his bruised cheekbone as he surveyed me over. “Better than the rest of you, I’d reckon.”

I writhed about in his hold, but we both knew the effort was futile.

“Can we just skip pretenses here, or do you really want to keep this going? ’Cause either way, this all ends the same.” Blaine’s fingers gently brushed the matted hair out of my face.

I returned the favor by slapping him in his, but he caught my hand before it could connect with his good cheek.

“I’ll take that as your answer, then.” He sighed, almost mournfully, keeping my hand in his hold beside his face. “There’s nothing here for you anymore. You do understand that, don’t you?”

“Just because Adam let you go, it doesn’t mean he won’t come after you, not if you take me,” I growled.

His features hardened. “Who said Reynolds let me out?” He could see my eyes widen, and his hold on me lessened ever so slightly. “He made up his mind, and I’m sorry to say it, but you didn’t make the cut.”

“You’re lying!”

“He left you, just as everybody else has…or will. That’s a fact.”

“Reese won’t,” I growled, trying to suppress the tears burning the back of my eyes.

“Much good he’ll do, considering he’s hauled up in a jail cell right now.” He moved in closer. “It’s about time you accepted your new reality here. After the transformation’s complete, this isn’t going to be something you can hide. So long as you fight your nature, it’s going to backfire on you, and it will expose you. You really think Mommy and Daddy dearest are going to be accepting of you? They’d jettison you from all decent society if you so much as got a B on your report card. What do you think they’re going to do with a freak in the family?”