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  I got up quickly and checked the room, and the bathroom. No trace of her. The door was open to the hallway. I picked up my gun, took off the safety and crept from the room into the hall. My instincts are telling me she isn’t in the house, that no-one is but me. I find out they’re right after a quick search. Lawson’s car is gone from the driveway.

  Shit. I’ve got a bad feeling about this. I head back to the room to throw on clothes. I need to figure out where they went. I knew I couldn’t trust that guy.

  When I hear the creaking floorboards behind me, I’m zipping my jeans and my gun is out of reach. I make the move to grab it and pain floods my head. Someone hit me with something fucking heavy. My vision blurs as I fall to the floor. The steel-capped boots in my line of sight look serious. I groan as I take a kick to the stomach.

  “We got him,” a male voice says above me. “Bringing him in now.”

  I need to get my gun, but my head is swimming and I might puke if I try to move. I’m fucked. Seriously, and beyond a doubt. Maybe they’ll take me to Eden. It’s the last thought in my head before I pass out.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Eden

  As soon as I’m alone with the creepy God, things start to go south. Panic swells within me. I know I need to be strong, but that doesn’t feel as easy as it sounds. Cupid, where the hell are you? If this isn’t the kind of situation where I need you, what the hell is?

  “Sit down, Eden.” He motions to a chair.

  I move towards it, apparently of my own accord. I try to stop moving and find out I can’t. He’s commanding me. I’m forced to obey. I sit and he moves another chair to sit across from me. Our knees don’t quite touch, but he feels too close. My skin crawls at the thought of what’s coming.

  “If you’re expecting your guide to come and tell you how to get out of this, you’ll be sorely disappointed. Cupid avoids Gods at all costs. As long as you’re in the same damn room as me, you’re on your own.”

  Make me feel worse, why don’t you?

  “I don’t need him,” I say it like I mean it, but under the surface I’m freaking the hell out.

  “I just love bravado. The feisty ones always break the hardest. I’m going to shatter you, Eden. Snap your spirit into a million pieces.”

  I take a breath before I slide forward enough to let our knees touch. I focus to force the light into him. My head starts to pound. The pain is so harsh I gasp.

  “Trying to get into my heart won’t work. I have nothing but darkness inside. You’ll only cause yourself more hurt.” He leans forward and puts his hand over mine. “But go ahead and try.”

  I don’t know if he’s trying to psych me out but I’ll take any chance I can grab onto. I entwine my fingers in his and lock gazes. I grimace through the pain soaring through my head. I feel like I might pass out by the time my light is too bright between us to keep my eyes open. I close them and it feels like falling. Like the ground just fell out from under me.

  It’s so dark and I feel like my entire body is throbbing in agony. What have I done? I don’t know. I only know I can’t undo this. I’m stuck, trapped. I struggle to open my eyes. When I finally do it’s as if my other senses follow the vision.

  I see a kitchen floor under little hands. It’s dirty and there’s noise from some kind of machinery nearby. A woman walks in and grabs me by the ankle. No, wait, not me. Him. This is his past. A memory. I’m in his head. She yanks him out from under the table to start screaming at him. I can barely hear a word of what she’s saying. I just know it’s loud and it hurts and I don’t know why she can’t just be like other moms. She smacks him and he starts to cry.

  And then it’s over. I’m pushed out, back through the darkness and into my seat across from the creep I’m holding hands with. I let go and push his hand off of my leg. The headache from hell starts to recede. So that’s what happens when light forces meet dark.

  He smiles slowly at me. “Find what you were looking for?”

  He makes it sound like I got nothing. I wonder if he knows what I saw. “I guess you were right. You have no heart.”

  The smug expression he gives lets me know he has no idea I got something on him. I just don’t know how to use it, yet.

  “You made a surprising choice for bringing one of your lovers with you. This sheriff of yours is entirely mortal. You’ve seen how easy it is for me to break those.”

  A chill runs through me. We left Eli sleeping at Lawson’s house. He won’t know where we went. If this God knows about him he’s in serious danger. He killed those men of his like they were nothing. If he’s looking to break me, he knows how to do that.

  “What do you want?” I can barely believe I’m asking. Thinking I could bargain with a psychopathic immortal man. How desperate can I get?

  “I already told you what I want. I’m going to break you. We live to destroy your kind.”

  My kind. Right. “So why did you let Lawson leave?”

  He laughs. “You think we let Lawson leave?”

  Oh shit. He can’t be serious. Lawson’s double cross pissed me off, but the fact that he was getting Skyler away from this creep almost made it bearable. If they didn’t get out of here, that was all for nothing.

  “We couldn’t believe our luck when he came to us. To make the deal to save his human girlfriend.”

  “When was that, exactly?” I’m back to the keep him talking plan. There has to be a way to use his little weakness against him, but right now I have no idea how to do it. Stalling is all I have.

  “Yesterday afternoon.”

  He must see the shock in my eyes, because he’s quickly amused.

  “Aw, what’s wrong? You thought he was a friend? There are no friends amongst Gods and Goddesses. Every one of us has our own agenda.”

  “What did you do to him?” To Skyler. My chest tightens. Please let her be okay.

  “Don’t concern yourself with that backstabber. I’m more interested in talking about your lovers.”

  Fuck no. “They’re none of your concern.”

  “Four men. Three of them mortal. Do you know what happens to a Goddess of Love when you take away her lovers?”

  “I know I can choose to go back to a mortal life whenever I want,” I tell him. “If you’re threatening to kill anyone, it’s a wasted effort.”

  “You would fold that easily? Damn. I think I’ve overestimated you.”

  “I’d sooner go back to being mortal than have you hurt anyone I love.” Even if that means my own death. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but if I have to, I’ll walk away from being a Goddess.

  “You’re serious.” He leans back in his chair. I think I’ve confused him.

  “Besides that, I don’t have four lovers.”

  He laughs. “I’m sure you think that’s true.”

  I don’t know what the fuck he’s talking about.

  “You have four, Eden. Maybe one of them isn’t a part of your life yet, but there’s this little thing called destiny and it marks people. I know who he is, and I’ll find him, if I need to.”

  He has to be talking about Blake. He’s only other guy I’ve clicked with who isn’t mine. Cupid did confirm he was going to be. We’ve barely even spent any time together and he’s going to be targeted because of me. I can’t let that happen.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Asher

  My phone is ringing while I’m closing up the library. The late opening helps for kids at the school in Haleton. A little influx comes in every other day between about six and seven. Ronnie loves working it to talk to college guys, but I don’t like letting her close up. As safe as Rapture is, it isn’t right to let a young girl take that kind of risk. We have a couple part-timers who come in more when I’m on vacation. They mostly cover lunches the rest of the time.

  I pick up my phone once I’m outside. “Still need help?”

  “I was thinking,” Logan starts.

  “Sounds dangerous.” Considering his thoughts about me were murderous the last t
ime.

  “You’re immortal. She can’t kill you.”

  “True enough.” I can’t say I like where he’s going with this but I’m willing to at least hear him out.

  “I need to know where to find her, and I’m going to need a distraction. That would be you.”

  “I hate this plan already.”

  “It’s not really a plan yet. You know where she’ll be?”

  “I think I know where to find her. I’ll text you the details once I know for sure.”

  “Don’t take too long. I want to move on this tomorrow.”

  He hangs up and I’m left wondering what the hell I just agreed to. It’s for Eden. Stopping Diana from becoming a problem is my only concern here. I wouldn’t be helping him otherwise, and I’m not going to blindly trust him.

  I get in my car and head back to Eden’s house. Dinner at Sasha’s, I remind myself as I park the car outside the gates and Eden’s security buzz me in. Nick is on the couch with his hands down his pants when I get inside, some kind of porno on the T.V. It’s so loud I should have been able to hear the moaning outside. He doesn’t even try to cover up what he’s doing. I shake my head and turn away.

  “Too much information, Nick.”

  He laughs and switches it off. “Aw come on, Ash. Everyone does it.”

  I’m not about to be drawn into an argument about masturbation habits, so I just clear my throat and pretend it didn’t happen. “You need to get dressed.”

  “I’m not naked.” He gets up and it’s still obvious he’s hard from the way the track-pants stretch out.

  I shake my head. Sasha would have a fit if I brought him around dressed like that. I have too much else on my mind to be amused at the thought of stressing her out over something trivial.

  “You can’t wear that to dinner. Put on jeans and a shirt, or something.”

  “We’re going out to dinner? What, are we a couple now?”

  “Ha ha. My sister invited us. She’s been bitchy about the whole thing with Eden having us both in her life. I called her out on it and this is her apology.”

  “So, she knows?”

  “She might think there’s more to it than that.” Now I’m not so sure messing with Sasha was such a good idea.

  Nick’s grin shows me how amused he is. “More to it?”

  I shrug. “I wasn’t explicit, but she took it as if I was.”

  “Oh. So, if I insinuate that we’re into each other, she might choke on her dinner?”

  “It’s kind of why I invited you.”

  “This is a new side to you, Ash. I like it. How far am I allowed to take this insinuation?”

  He’s too into it. This was a mistake. I blow out a breath. “No touching. Insinuation will be enough.”

  “Fine, I’ll make do.” It’s a joke. I’m sure. Kind of.

  “Can you get ready? We’re supposed to be there, like now.”

  “I’ll be five minutes.” He darts past me and I frown at the box of tissues by the couch. Yeah, this is a mistake. Too late. It’s happening.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Eli

  I wake up in a room with red walls, stiff-necked and sore all over. My head feels particularly tender. There’s a lump back there where someone smacked me with something fucking heavy. The room spins when I try to get up. Fuck. I’m going to puke. My stomach revolts at the movement. I lie back down and count to ten. The stillness helps.

  Where the hell am I? Where’s Eden? I have to find her. As soon as I can move.

  “They didn’t drug you,” a female voice tells me, close by. She sounds kind of pissed, but also a little like she might be high.

  I turn my head. All I can see is the red wall. I’m not trying to move again right now. My stomach’s already churning. “Who are they?”

  “Your worst nightmare,” she says, a bitter note to her voice.

  “That’s helpful.” I groan as the room starts to spin all on its own.

  “It doesn’t matter who they are. They’re bad people. You’re gonna wish you were dead.”

  “Who are you?” I still can’t see her.

  “I’m a dead girl,” she tells me. “I have been since the day I was born.”

  There’s something vaguely familiar about her voice. I’m probably imagining it. What are the chances of someone I know being in this room? Someone other than Eden.

  “Is this the cult? Children of...”

  “Moonlight.” She laughs.

  “Great.” Now I know. “Where are we?”

  “Some hotel. I don’t know the name. It’s new. That’s how they do it. They’re always moving. No-one can ever find them.”

  “The entire cult is in this hotel?”

  “No. The men who run it are here, and the top ranking members. The ones who are allowed to be free.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Almost. They have us too. The ones they’re going to break.”

  “Break?”

  “That’s what they call it.”

  “What they call what?”

  “Murder. Sacrifice. Death.”

  I try again to sit and this time I make it. I feel like hell for the effort, but I find out why I recognised the girl’s voice. Skyler is sitting in a chair across from the bed, in a slouched pose that looks a little awkward. Her lips twitch into a wry smile.

  “So I was right, you’re not drugged.”

  “I was knocked out.”

  “I’m drugged. I can talk now, but I can’t move much of anything.”

  “Is there anything you can tell me that might help us get out of here?”

  “I wish. I got out once and that was hard enough. Like this, there’s no way.”

  “There’s a way.” Getting onto my feet takes considerably more effort than sitting up. I groan as I make it, having to stand and concentrate on my breathing for a while. Christ, this is torture. My body is aching all over. No wonder they didn’t bother to drug me.

  “Suit yourself.” Skyler closes her eyes. “Don’t say I didn’t tell you so.”

  She’s quiet after that, looks like she’s sleeping, but she’s still enough to worry me. I curse under my breath as I realize I need to find a way to get her out of here too. This is the reason Eden let a virtual stranger drag her out to L.A. Even if she wasn’t Eden’s best friend, I couldn’t just leave her here. Who knew what the hell this cult had planned for her.

  When I start to feel a little less like I’m going to collapse, I go over and check Skyler’s pulse. It’s strong, she’s just out of it. I can see her chest rise and fall very slowly when I look for it.

  I drag my hands back through my hair and regret it when I feel the lump at the back. I wipe the blood on my jeans and take a look around slowly. We’re alone in the room, it seems. So, either they don’t think we’ll be giving them any trouble, or...

  I head to the door. The peephole shows a big, black-clad arm. Yeah. Expected as much. They’re not going to just leave us in here completely unattended. I check the bathroom and start looking for something I could use as a weapon. So far, the shower rail looks like my best bet. It’s an artsy pole style of railing. It feels pretty solid.

  I move my hand back. It’s not exactly stealthy, and I doubt our captors will ignore the racket I’ll have to make to remove it from the wall. Keep thinking. What else?

  I don’t get the chance to find something before the door opens and our guards enter, armed and with tight expressions. Damn. I should have tried to yank that pole out of the wall.

  They manhandle me out of the room after a second’s pause. Putting up a struggle is a bad idea. I’m starting to feel woozy again. I need to keep it together while I work out how to get out of this messed up situation. I don’t bother to ask where they’re taking me. I’ll find out soon enough.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Nick

  I rush up the stairs to haul a change of clothes out of my case and get rid of the massive erection that was caused by thinking about Eden’s gorgeous bo
dy and then finding a skin flick to help alleviate the tension.

  I get a pair of her lacy panties and entwine them around my fingers before I finish stroking my cock. I close my eyes and think about what we did in her closet yesterday morning. She looked so devastatingly sexy sitting on that cabinet, stroking her sweet pussy. The memory alone is enough to push me over the edge. I soak her panties with my come and my shoulders relax as I drop them onto my bed.

  Asher’s announcement that we were going to dinner at his sister’s house had thrown me. I guess the guy has a sense of humor that likes to come out sometime, but he’s still pretty fucking uptight.

  Damn. I need to get in some serious male bonding time with the guy. Loosen him up some. There’s no way he’ll get into a situation where our dicks might accidentally touch if he can’t handle a bit of hand holding. Not that I want that. My kink doesn’t extend to wanting to touch him inappropriately, which I’m sure he’d be glad to know. I just want to have a partner in pleasuring Eden. I want to take her to the edge of ecstasy, to push her boundaries as far as they’ll stretch.

  Fuck. I’m getting hot just thinking about it.

  Probably shouldn’t joke too much about things at dinner. He’ll take it all the wrong way. I don’t want him shutting down my ideas to celebrate Eden’s return. I have a lot of them, but most involve giving her two cocks to play with at once. I know how much she’ll love it, but he needs to be into it too.

  I throw on a slightly crumpled black shirt and designer jeans. I roll up the sleeves of the shirt and go splash on aftershave in the bathroom. My hair is a little haphazard from laying around on the couch most of the day. I swipe some gel through it to tame it, and now I’m ready for the apology dinner Asher managed to get us invited to. I head down the stairs and he straightens as I approach and give a quick twirl.

  “Better?”

  He nods. “Let’s get this over with.”