Page 35 of Cup of Lies

“I don’t know,” I admit, feeling sheepish.

“What are we going to do?”

Again, I don’t know.

What was I thinking? That I’d roll up to this house and ask them to let me come inside while I reminisced about my childhood? That’s delusional.

And yet…

“I say we introduce ourselves,” I mutter, mostly to myself.

This is stupid.

“Okay,” she says slowly. “I haven’t ever seen a chicken up close before. Do they bite?”

I chuckle, relieved at the levity of her question. “Well, they don’t have teeth, so no. They’re most likely more afraid of you. It’s the turkeys you have to watch out for. They’re mean as hell.”

She scans the yard, looking for one. If there’s a turkey, it’ll make itself known eventually.

“You’ll protect me?” she asks, voice small.

Though she’s not my flesh and blood, I feel responsible for her. There’s a love that’s been wired into my brain for her. Even if it was against my will, it still exists.

“With my life,” I assure her.

We exit the vehicle and a warm wind that smells of pollen and dust blasts us. The scent is so familiar, my chest aches. I can almost smell my mom’s kitchen—the air lingering with bananas, nutmeg, and cinnamon from her latest baking treat.

I get the odd sense that we’re being watched. This was a bad idea. We’re most likely freaking out the new homeowners by showing up on their remote property.

The last thing I want is to get shot.

“Maybe we should go find a hotel—”

The rumbling of engines cuts off my words. There are a lot of them. From the sound of it, a group of motorcycles are headed this way. I turn toward the noise and squint. As predicted, several burly men on bikes haul ass toward us.

Will they pass?

Or…

They slow to a stop and turn down the driveway. I yank LuLu to my side, a protective arm around her, as they circle us. The cacophony of loud-ass engine revving makes me want to cover my ears.

Why are they surrounding us?

What the hell do they want?

I get a sick, oily feeling in my gut. These men aren’t like the ones I run with in my circle. They’re all bearded, insanely ripped with muscles, and covered in tattoos. The thing that sticks out the most is they’re all wearing similar leather vests.

A man with an X scarred into his face snarls at me with pure hatred.

Another man passes, wearing a creepy but oddly beautiful grin on his face. On his second pass around, he smacks me in the back of my head with something hard and metal.

Everything turns black.

I wake, smelling something metallic. Blood? I’m unable to see anything and I quickly realize I’ve been blindfolded.

Am I back at the torture lab?

What will he do to me next?

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