Page 12 of Hide From Me

“I will be right there.”

I knew X’s voice and was thankful it was him. He didn’t exactly know what was going on, but he wouldn’t breathe this to anyone. Everyone knew that I had a photographer coming and that she was to be guarded, protected, and allowed all access for a secret project. No one questioned my motives. He would though. Just later.

I still needed one answer before I left.

“Tell me, blossom. Why did you come back?”

She sucked in a breath.

“To find you,” she said.

Fuck me.

I pulled away.

“Fix yourself up. And,” I paused to grab my suit jacket off, “and put this over that. I hate that fucking dress.”

She smoothed down the bodice of the dress and looked at it and then at me.

“I liked it,” she said.

“Rylee, take the fucking coat or I will ban you from here while burning that goddam dress. I could kill my grandmother.”

She eyed me but took the coat as if she was pretty sure I wasn’t kidding. I wasn’t.

“I. Okay. Well. Is that who picked it out? Your grandmother has great taste, but fine. Can I go take photos now? Of…” She paused and peeked around the corner.

“Is all this art yours?”

I shrugged. I watched her try to see it all. There was a lot. There always was. We needed to get rid of enough metal that I never had a shortage of supplies, and when I never slept? It helped me clear my mind.

“It’s beautiful,” she said.

Rylee turned back to me, and I was completely mesmerized by her as she reached into her dress, the top pulling down a bit as she reached for something and pulled it out.

“I kept this,” she said.

At the end of a long chain was the hideous little ring I’d given her from some old, discarded shit I found around the ever-crumbling yards. It had been the only thing I could give her to protect her at night. Back then, the barbs were out and sharp.

“A lot of good it did, eh, blossom.”

She looked at it again and tucked it back away. It looked like she’d had the barbs sanded down a bit, hard to say, but who knew why she kept that awful thing.

“Well, I have to go. Sign the papers and you are free to photograph whatever you want. I will have my guys come get the images two days from now.”

She nodded and watched me walk away.

“And, Rylee? You cross me, and you will pay far more than your father ever did.”

Her eyes were wide. Good. Couldn’t make this too easy.

I walked out and strolled towards the center of the gallery. The auction was about to start now that everyone was here. The city’s elite and the sickest. Some asked for pieces to be commissioned as a memory of an enemy they had contracted us to take care of and they were sick enough to want a memento.One that the cops wouldn’t be able to trace. One the cops wouldn’t dare try to trace. Other pieces were just that. So many of them exuded sexuality, and that got the wives of these pricks loosening up husband’s wallets.

I didn’t care. Each time one of them sold was money in my bank, and money meant power. It meant safety.

I stopped in front of the crowd.

“Thank you for joining me at Enigma. You know the rules. Bid on any piece. The highest bid usually wins,” I said and grabbed a glass of whatever these rich douchecanoes drank. “Never remove your mask. Use your ID number and enjoy the show. Welcome to Arcane Alchemist and the demons from within.”

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