Page 80 of Ruined
CHAPTER 22
Lucas
I peeled into the parking lot of the Dahlia District, screeching to a halt in front of the building. “Keep it running,” I told the valet. If Haley wasn’t here, then I needed to leave immediately.
I stormed in, bursting through the doors. A few heads turned. But I didn’t see her.
“Has anyone seen Haley?” I asked. A few people shrugged. I went to the lounge, to the stages, but she wasn’t there. I swung open the door to the Terrariums and the security guard yelled at me, but I went past him, checking each room for occupancy. There was only one that was being used, one that I hadn’t been inside of before.
“That’s for CBT,” the guard said. Haley didn’t seem like the type to do cock and ball torture, even when it came to serving. But I was at a loss again. Where was she?
The academy.
I had one last person to ask before I left. Mel might have a clue. I went to the lounge and peered into each circular booth. The servers and the members gave me questioning looks, but none of them were Mel.
Finally, I found a familiar face. “Teagen,” I said. She tucked a brown lock behind her ear. “Where’s Haley?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. She left.”
I pinched my brow. “I’m trying to help her.”
Teagen shrugged again. “I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can tell you.”
“What about Mel?”
“I think she’s in the Terrariums. Maybe she got booked for two hours? Not sure though.”
That didn’t leave me many options. I’d have to show up at the school and hope that Haley was there. That nothing had happened to her or Nora yet. That I wasn’t too late.
I handed Teagen my card. “If they show up, tell them I’m looking for them.”
“Will do,” she said.
Once I was back in my car, I raced out of the parking lot and dialed Haley, but it kept going straight to voicemail. Shit. Shit.Shit.
But then my phone rang. It was her.
“Lucas?” she asked.
“Haley,” I said, my voice eager. There was no time to carefully weigh my tone right now.
“Can you meet me behind the Theater in Sage City?” she asked. “I didn’t know where else to go. I’m parked behind the building.”
“Twenty minutes,” I said. “Don’t move.”
It should have taken an hour, but like I said, I made it in twenty. Luck was on my side.
I pulled behind the building. Haley’s dark gray car was parked with the engine off, and no one inside. I approached the car, then dialed her number. I pleaded that she was still okay.
A dark bun popped up from the backseat, then a glasses-wearing teenager followed. They had been lying down in the backseat to hide. She opened the car door.
“I didn’t know who else to call,” she said. “I didn’t have anyone else to turn to—”
“No apologies,” I said. We didn’t have time to discuss that. “What do you need?”
She gestured at her sister. “Aldrich is after her.” I didn’t say anything; I simply nodded. Recognition crossed over her face like a cloud. “You already knew? Is that why you were calling me?”
“A reason, yes.” But not all of the reasons. She held her arms around herself.
