Page 49 of The Demons We Hide

His eyes turn distant. “That’s… one reason,” he hedges, which tells me the real answer. They’re likely going to Eastpoint for something else—probably something having to do with what kind of work they do for Darrio Vargas.

I sigh and my stomach grumbles. Turning away from him, I peer into the front window of the small restaurant, spying both Lex and Gio through the glass sitting on either side of a booth. Their heads are bowed, but Gio’s hands are gesturing wildly as he points to something on the menu.

It’s only the weekend, I remind myself. Just a few days of forgetting Silverwood and all the bullshit that comes with being who I am. It’ll be over soon enough, but maybe for now, I can just pretend that we’re what we seem in this place. Just a few teenagers out for a day, having a good time, touring a college we might all go to one day.

“Juliet?” Nolan’s heat reaches me a moment before his body with my name on his lips. His chest touches my back as he comes up behind me. “Are you okay?”

No.I want to scream the word until my lungs burst.I’m not okay. I haven’t been okay in months, possibly years.

Today, though. Today, I want to be.

Tipping my head back, I give him a soft smile and his eyes widen in surprise. “Yeah,” I say. “Come on, let's go in. I’m hungry.”

Then without waiting for him to stop me or ask me any more questions that I don’t want to answer right now, I take his hand and lead him into the restaurant that smells like salsa and taco meat.

20

JULIET

Eastpoint is the exact same as I remember it from the few times I visited with my dad. Tall archways, spiked towers, and an almost antique grace that I’ve only ever seen replicated in European cities. Eastpoint is like its own world, one that I worry I might no longer belong in.

Lex’s beat up SUV sticks out like a sore thumb as we drive closer and closer to the university. My face is pressed as close to the window without it actually touching as possible, and the guys are relatively quiet. Once lunch was over, the rest of the trip had flown by with an ease that I didn’t even realize I’d missed until it was back.

I beat back the urge to worry about what will happen when we return to Silverwood whenever it rears its ugly head. Just because I’ve got the weekend settled out doesn’t mean I’m not still homeless when I get back. I know I have to figure something out, but for now, I’m content to pretend that I’m nothing more than a potential college student visiting her hopeful future.

The song on the radio changes and21st Century Vampireby Huddy comes on as Lex turns down a road and speeds through a yellow light. More buildings fly by. Clean, expensive pillared homes and white-brick boutiques and shops. Eastpoint is the kind of place I’m more accustomed to. It reminds me of my old neighborhood in Silverwood. The difference is that Eastpoint seems to have a more casual air compared to the stuck-up snootiness that the northside of Silverwood presented. It’s nice.

The SUV heads away from the university part of the city and towards downtown. When the vehicle slows several minutes later and comes to a crawling stop, I glance up and frown. I’d expected a cheap hotel. Maybe even a run-down apartment set up as one of those “check in yourself” short-term rental places. Not… a club.

The neon sign situated above the flat brick face of the industrial building is turned off, but even without the illumination, I can still read it.Hellfire. I sit up as the SUV pulls up and Lex parks.

“What are we doing here?” I ask.

Nolan casts a look over his shoulder. “There’s an apartment above the club,” he answers. “We’ll be staying there for the weekend.”

I’m hesitant to get out, but the guys all don’t seem to notice as they clamber out of the vehicle and begin stretching. Left with little in the way of options, I follow. Lex circles the vehicle until he gets to the back and lifts up the hatch on the SUV’s trunk.

There’s no sign of broken glass left in the bed from the night that I’d lost my shit and shattered his window. A small pulse of shame coats the back of my throat as he reaches in and hands me first my backpack and then my duffle. I take both and turn away.

The rest of them had packed far lighter, a backpack each. Then again, none of them held everything they owned in two bags. I wonder if this weekend might be a good opportunity to see if I could bargain to get my other shit back from Nolan’s. The thought has barely taken root when the man in question marches past me and heads for the building. As one, the rest of us trail him.

Instead of going to the front door, however, Nolan takes a gravel path around the side of the building to what looks like a kitchen exit with a black metal door and no windows. I only notice the intercom box next to the door a split second before Nolan presses the button and waits.

Crackling comes over the line, followed by a deep and gruff male voice with a twinge of a southern accent. “What the fuck—Nolan?” A whirring noise draws my attention up and explains how the man knows who’s standing outside. A high-tech camera is mounted above the door. The bulbous head of it swivels side to side as I assume the man over the intercom directs it from inside. “Oh, shit, what time is it?” he barks. Then before Nolan can reply, the man continues. “Sorry, I was sleeping. Gimme a sec and I’ll let y’all in.”

Nolan doesn’t have to say a word, and within seconds, there’s a loud beep and a lock disengaging. Lex reaches forward and pulls the metal door open, holding it wide. Nolan enters first, then Gio, and me. Lex offers me a small smile as I pass him and I give him one of my own.

The longer I spend with them without the tinge of anger marring my senses, the more guilty I feel over my past actions. Did I have my reasons? Yes. Abso-fucking-lutely, I did. Now, though, I’m wondering if they were justifiable.

Shaking my head at those thoughts, I trail the others into the darkened interior of what looks like a nightclub. Not that I couldn’t have guessed as much from the plain exterior of the building, but the inside is even more obvious. Dark wash bar counters on either side of a massive room that hosts a flat, wide tiled dance floor. Lights hang from beams overhead, illuminating the emptiness of the open space.

I tighten my grip on both of my bags as Lex comes up next to me. “You okay?”

“Fine,” I say despite my uneasiness.

A man appears in the mouth of a hallway, looking slightly rumpled as if he just fell out of bed. His hair is dark and swiped back from his face, a face that has a rather odd birthmark that covers the lower half of his jaw and descends down his neck.

“Zeke.” Nolan greets the man and hands his bag to Gio.

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