Page 99 of The Monster of Hotel No. 7
I don’t let myself marvel over it or think about my bleeding nails or skin or aching shoulder.
I keep running, my fingertips at last gliding over the outline of a frame. I slide my palm along the wood until I feel a round, cold knob. I twist it, hoping it’s unlocked, and as my heart thunders inside my chest and Sullen keeps pressing his palm to me, it opens up.
The scent of alcohol fills my nose, and I don’t understand why as I jog down the steps, Sullen at my back, a lot of commotion further behind us—laughter from Fleet, silence from the others, and frustrated yells from Writhe because they can’t see where we went in the dark and I think Sullen closed the door back. But as we keep going, the noises grow further away, my eyes adjust, and I see a dim thread of light over top of a glass case.
A smile curves my lips as I realize what’s inside of it.
Maude. You really are better than I gave you credit for.
Row and rows of liquor. Bourbon, vodka, rum, tequila.
This is like my own personal heaven. But when I glance over my shoulder and my eyes collide with Sullen’s, I see my hell.
Chapter36
Sullen
It’s pouring.
The wind whips rain up into our faces. Police sirens wail around the darkness of the city but the crack of lightning is sharper, fear slicing down my spine as I flinch, then reach for Karia with my free hand, our overnight bag I grabbed slung around my other arm. I draw her close and she leans into me, her head ducked against my chest as we scan the messy street.
When I look down, I see her blue eyes gazing up at mine, and there’s a bottle of Jameson dangling between her fingers.
I didn’t see her take it, but I don’t question her.
She’s trouble. She’s always been that to me.
“What did they do to you?” I ask quietly as we move down the street, sticking close to the unlit shops. My high-tops sink into puddles of rain, but I don’t stop looking at Karia. Her scream is lodged into my head, and although she’s here, under my arm in the October storm, her tanned complexion has gone pale, and I see from the orange glow of the streetlight the hand she has around the Jameson is trembling.
I glance up and catch blue lights flaring ahead, likely not close enough to spot us yet but we can’t take chances. I pivot into the next alleyway, Karia’s body following my lead. We step into utter darkness, no streetlights reaching here. The scent of the sewer and something fouler like death reaches my nose and I think of what Maude said to me.Revealedto me. Stein never told me much of his beliefs, his circle either within or outside of Writhe. But my thoughts flicker to the Gothic building of the original Hotel No. 7 and inside my head, I see blood along the carpets, staining the halls.
Still kept up by the same owners of the newer hotels, Maude believed. It doesn’t change anything, it doesn’t help me run, and I should want nothing to do with it. But it reminds me of my duplicate labs, my safe spaces at home and in the newer No. 7.
It could be a place to hide. In the end, Maude helped us despite the fact Karia was a horrible guest. A beautifully possessive one, but horrible nonetheless.
When she sat on my lap… It’s impossible to describe how I felt. Like everything I ever wanted but couldn’t articulate was coming for me all at once.
“I’m fine,” she bites out over the roar of the rain. The sirens sound as if they’re coming closer and I wrap both arms around her from behind then turn, so my back is to the street as we step deeper into the alley, the rainfall lessened here but the puddles beneath our feet worse. The bag along my arm is heavy and sodden with water but for now, it’s all we have.
I tug Karia into me when we’re deeper in the alley, my shoulder against the rough brick exterior of one wall. The sirens abruptly fade, and I think they’ve turned down another street.
“Where did they hurt you?” I ask quietly, my mouth near her ear.
“I said I’m fine.” She snarls the words and I hear the petulance in her voice but I think it’s only to cover her pain. “We need a plan, Sullen. The sun will rise soon. The city is crawling with people looking for us.”
“It won’t be for long,” I whisper, my lips brushing the shell of her ear.
“What if Maude sells us out? Or… Cosmo?” She says his name quietly and I know she doesn’t want to think of him betraying her again.
I bite down on the inside of my cheek as my fingers splay over her bare skin beneath her shirt, biting in against her ribs. I remember his face when he pulled my hoodie up. I don’t even know why he did it.
But a thought occurs to me, and I curve my nails deeper into Karia’s flesh, the leather of my gloves the only thing sparing her.
“What have the two of you whispered about me, Karia Ven?” I ask her in the dark as the storm rages around the city. “What have you laughed about, at my expense?”
She doesn’t move, going perfectly still. I’m very aware she has a liquor bottle in her hand and no problem using strange objects as weapons. But I do not feel fear. Instead, a horrible, sickly shame wells up inside of me, thinking of Cosmo fucking her while they laughed at all the things so incredibly wrong with me.
“I don’t have time for your insecurities right now, Sullen. What makes you think Writhe will stop looking for us in the morning?” She tries to turn in my grip, but I hold her still, one hand shooting up to her throat as I tip her chin up and stare down at her, curving over her body with my own.
