Page 23 of Inside the Wicked

I huff a bitter laugh. “Right. God forbid anyone observe you have a talent that requires passion of your own sweat and blood, not draining it from others.”

“Keep your sights on yourself,” she says, stepping closer to me, and the space between us hums like a warning. “Right now, that means figuring out how to get Silas to fall for you and carry out this plan, or you won’t want to face what Alistair might do if you fail. Don’t tell him anything but what he wants to hear. And get the job done.”

CHAPTER 9

Anastasia

It’s midnight and I’m curled up on the deep black sofa in my apartment. The TV playsGrey’s Anatomy, but after five seasons of outlandish scenarios and every couple failing, it’s become mere background noise in my attempt to busy my restless thoughts.

A six-beat tone jerks me from my numb state, and I scramble to untangle myself from the two blankets I’ve buried myself in. Shadow leaps off the sofa, alert eyes tracking me.

It’s the phone Rix gave me.

Heart beating in my throat, I snatch it from the coffee table, and there’s one notification from an app I don’t recognize. I tap into it and read the text:

Leave the apartment on my signal.

I shoot up and rush to stuff my feet into boots and sling on a black jacket. I pull up the hood of Rhett’s sweater that’s starting to look old and tired, but I don’t care.

At the door I wait, hardly able to be still in my racing anticipation. Shadow sits by my heel. He never said I couldn’t bring him.

The first message disappears, and I stare at the dark gray background, chewing my thumb and waiting for another to appear.

When it does, I feel as if my heart will burst from my chest.

Hall is clear. Take the elevator to the garage floor. Don’t get out until I say.

I don’t miss a beat. My blood soars as I make my way hurriedly down the hall. I glance up as I reach the elevator, clicking the button too many times as if it will bring it twenty-two floors up to the top level faster.

Rix must have cut the camera, and he’s probably only cutting one at a time so the missing time will be a near undetectable few seconds in each feed. Tony recently switched with the night guard posted outside my door after checking I was safe inside. I wonder how Rix made him wander away long enough for me to slip out.

The chime of the elevator is music to my ears, and I slip in, heading down. It’s like a chase, as if there’s someone after me this very second, and if Alistair discovers me missing, the consequences don’t bear thinking about. He’s a controlling, possessive man, so finding out one of his own has eluded him would be as good as any betrayal.

The doors open, and my heart thrums in the silence.

Then the message comes.

Now.

As I leave the elevator another instruction comes.

Left exit. Walk down 5th Avenue.

Merging into the trickling pedestrian traffic, I clip on Shadow’s leash, more for other people’s peace of mind than as a necessity. I march fast.

Another message chimes.

Slow down before someone stops you out of suspicion.

Scowling at the device as the message fades away, I try my best to slow. Be calm. But between the giddiness of hearing from Rix and the potential I could be caught by Alistair’s spies, a wrecking ball swings loose in my mind.

A black car with reg XDL will approach you. Get in.

Suddenly I’m awash with doubt. Nerves. What if it wasn’t Rix at the club? In my desperation I believed him, but now, reservations I should have had back then freeze me. The car approaches, and I can’t move. I stare at it like a fool.

The window rolls down, and the driver—Rix—leans over the passenger seat. “Less than forty seconds until those street cameras come back on, Red,” he hisses.

That snaps me to move.Shit.I have no other choice.

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