I was just a fraud, a little girl riding the coattails of a boy who wanted to keep her.
My throat burned as I slid against the wall, until my ass hit the cold floor. My fingers trembled as I dusted them off, wiping them on my jeans.
This wasn’t going to work.
I wasn’t going to get out of here.
I was close to hyperventilating when suddenly there was a sound coming from the left of me. These walls were solid, no doors or handles of any kind, but it sounded like…
Holy shit. A hole in the wall just opened, letting in a slice of sunlight.
I scrambled to my feet, trying to force my eyes to adjust to the way the light cut through the inky black room and the figure emerging through it.
Finally, the man did something on his phone, I could see the illuminated screen in his palm, and suddenly the room filled with light. I winced, holding my arm up to shield my eyes. Once they had adjusted, I realized who had walked in.
Wearing thick brown motorcycle boots, distressed jeans ripped in the knees, and a black t-shirt beneath a faded leather cut. The insignia patch on the front read, SOSMC and I knew that on the back there would be a skeleton atop a motorcycle on fire.
The name sewn above the president patch had a strange sense of hope replacing all the anxiety and fear that had been filling my lungs and chest since waking up here.
Alec Veda.
His dark hair was pushed away from his face, revealing gray eyes that had always looked at me in such a calculating way. My voice came out as a rasp as I took a step closer.
“Alec?”
“Well, if it isn’t my little hunter.” His voice was smooth and deep as he stopped in front of me, his callused finger found my chin, tipping my head back.
I abandoned the notion that he could have been the one who had taken me or had anything to do with this. Instead, my fear and terror evaporated as familiarity took its place.
“What are you doing here?”
His finger remained under my chin, and my head must have been a little muddled because he wasn’t explaining why he was the one who’d walked into the room. Or why he didn’t seem surprised to see me here.
All at once it clicked, and that sudden hope burned to poisonous ash.
“Wait…”
His face lowered, that grin revealing his white teeth. I pulled away, but he held me firm.
Hurt slid through my voice. “It was you?”
“It’s complicated, Artie.” His lips were nearly touching mine, and I tried to yank from his hold again as tears gathered behind my eyes.
“Silas will kill you.”
Alec smiled, against my lips. “He’s already going to, Artemis. The second we took you; we signed our death certificates.”
Alec wouldn’t do this…he was the president of a rival club nearby called the Sons of Speed. He would never win a war against Silas. He’d kept his distance all these years; there was no way he was going to try and create a war now, and certainly not by using me.
Dread curled in my stomach like a thundercloud. “Who’s we?”
The door cracked again, and a new face emerged. A face hauntingly familiar but one I was positive I’d never actually seen in person.
Alec shifted the smallest bit so he was blocking me. It was how he used to stand when I needed protecting. I tried not to let my memories get tangled in who this man used to be, because it was clear he was not the same person anymore.
The man carried himself like a king, and as he stared down at me, I felt every inch like an impoverished thief. As if I’d stolen something from him, it made something shift in my stomach, like when driving and you hit a dip you weren’t expecting.
Alec’s throat cleared, as the man stepped closer. If this was who I assumed it was, then he was a different breed of monster.