“I’m fine,” I said.
She looked me up and down and shook her head. “You want to stay that way, get out of here. You shouldn’t be here,” she said.
She was gone before I could muster a response, swallowed in the crowd of bodies that filled the room. I kept my eyes on the spot she’d left long after she was gone, her words replaying in my head.
I wondered if she knew how right she was. I got the sense that she shouldn’t be here either, hell, I wasn’t sure anyone should. Even still, I knew, at least for me, the alternative was not an open.
Even now, the thought of him leaving me there, of me being alone, no protection, no transportation, no way of knowing if he was all right…I couldn’t deal with it.
So even as I grew ever more impatient as the seconds ticked by, even as I became ever more aware of the eyes on me, I knew there had been no alternative.
I fought to keep the freak-out that threatened at bay, then fought even harder when the two men to my left, ones who had been watching me the entire time, began to point at me.
He’d be out any moment, and then we’d get out of here.
I kept telling myself that over and over, looking around but not letting my eyes rest anywhere long enough to see or garner more attention.
He’ll be out soon. He’ll be out soon.
I just kept that thought in my head and ignored the others, the ones that asked how I knew he’d come back, asked what I’d do if he didn’t.
There was probably some elaborate set of rules he had to follow, ones that were prolonging this. But he knew what he was doing, and we would leave soon.
My eyes continued to move at the same pace as my rapid thoughts, some of the tension that had gripped my stomach loosening. But only briefly.
It came back full force and more when my eyes landed on the table the two men had been at.
The table that now sat empty.
“Are you alone?”
At the sound of the deep, gravelly voice, the tension intensified.
I didn’t turn and I didn’t answer, but I was acutely aware of the huge form looming beside me, the one standing next to him. My right side was unblocked, but I wouldn’t be able to move quickly enough to make an escape. Where would I run? Would Priest find me if I left?
I wasn’t willing to risk it, which meant I would have to bluff my way out of this.
“I’m with someone,” I said, only belated remembering Priest’s warning that I speak to no one.
Though my lungs squeezed tight and my voice wanted to tremble, I made the words come out forcefully and at the same time I lifted my eyes to meet the one who had spoken. I assumed he was the leader anyway, and if I could convince him to move on to greener, easier pastures, the other would be content to follow suit.
He was enormous, even more so than Priest.
That didn’t make much of a difference. He could have been half his size, and I doubt it would have helped much.
I’d taken a self-defense class at the community center, but if this got physical—and I prayed to God it didn’t—I would come out on the losing end, be gone before Priest returned, and none of the people here would likely lift a finger to help me.
“Looks like you’re alone to me,” he said.
“Looks can be deceiving,” I replied.
I regretted that instantly, but I couldn’t take the words back, so I waited, tension rising with each second.
The man closest to me grinned, something that surprised me. He didn’t strike me as the type to appreciate sarcasm, but his humor was apparent.
“That’s funny. Because you don’t look like a whore. But you’re here, so you must be. Or are your looks deceiving?” he asked, moving his face close enough that I felt his breath on my skin.
Fuck. Not only did he enjoy sarcasm, he had no respect for personal space.
I raised my hands in surrender.
“Look, I’m here with somebody. And, no, I’m not…available. You should find somebody who is. I’m just waiting.”
“How much?” he asked, skipping over my words as if I hadn’t even said them.
“Like I said, I’m just waiting,” I replied, taking a step to the right, wanting to put at least a little more space between us.
The other reached up and grabbed my arm. “My friend asked you a question,” he said.
I attempted to snatch my arm away, something that was not possible with his tight grip.
“Yeah. I asked you a question. How much for the both of us?”
I was on the verge of full-blown panic. This would not go well. Not at all.
I needed to get out of here, so I tried to pull my arm away again, but to no avail. The second man tightened his grip into a crushing hold that I knew would leave a bruise.
“Look,” I said, making my voice as stern as I possibly could, “I’m waiting for someone. He’s not going to appreciate what you’re doing. You should let me go and move along.”