Page 60 of Spider

“Alive!” Acid calls back.

There’s no response from Ghost. “Ghost!” I yell again. Getting to my feet, I cough. I quickly lift my T-shirt to cover my mouth, not wanting to inhale any more dust. “Ghost!” I repeat, trying to look for him, but the smog from the explosion is too thick.

“Got him!” Acid yells.

“Keep yelling!” I shout.

“Here,” Acid yells, over and over until I find them.

“Thank fuck,” I sigh as I see Acid alive. He has a cut to his cheek, but that’s it. I look down at Ghost and see he’s out cold, a large cut to his head. “Fuck.”

“Ghost!” I hear Beast yell.

“Over here!” I yell. I look over and as the smog begins to lift, I see them approach. “We need to get him to a hospital,” I state. Beast and Rage bend down and pick Ghost up. I wrap my arm around Acid, pulling him to me. “Glad you’re alive, brother,” I say, slapping my hand on his back.

He smiles. “I ain’t going nowhere.”

“Put me the fuck down,” Ghost complains.

We look down and see a pissed off Ghost. Beast and Rage quickly help him to stand.

“You need to be seen by a doctor. You were out cold,” I suggest.

He touches his cut, seeing the claret on his fingers. At the same time, the manager comes running out on the phone. “You!” Ghost barks. The manager turns petrified at his tone. “You got a first aid kit?” Ghost asks.

“Yes, but it’s only basic,” he whimpers.

“That will do. I ain’t going nowhere until we bury this fucker,” Ghost growls before storming off into the manager’s office.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

NOVA

I was pleasantlysurprised by what Spider had in his cupboards. Queenie obviously stocked up, but he had no idea how to cook anything with the ingredients. Deciding on baking a chocolate fudge cake, as well as a British steak pie for dinner, I set about cooking. The music was on and I was in my element.

As I was frying the steak, the alarm system made a weird beeping noise. I frowned, wondering what it was. I wasn’t scared, as it wasn’t loud, and I figured it was probably some kind of glitch. I decided to check the screen that he had shown me before he left. I open the storage cupboard where he had the main security system set up and look at the screen.

“Shit,” I whisper as I see men at the back of the house trying to get in. I turn and panic, wondering what I should do. I run into the kitchen and grab one of the large carving knives before I run upstairs and shut myself in the wardrobe. Crouching down, hiding myself amongst the clothes, I sit and wait. It occurs to me my cell is on the nightstand. I quickly and quietly get up and grab it before returning to the wardrobe.

I call Spider, but it just rings and rings. No answer. I hit call again, and as I do I hear the sound of glass being smashed.

“Come on,” I plead.

“Sweetheart, now ain’t a good time,” he answers.

“They’re here,” I whisper.

“They’re what?” he repeats. “Sorry darlin’, I can’t hear a thing at the moment,” he says loudly down the phone.

“They are here!” I whisper loudly.

“They are there? Who?” he asks. I don’t speak as I peek through the slate, seeing the silhouette of a man walking into the bedroom. “Nova? Nova?” he repeats, his voice panicked.

The wardrobe door swings open and I gasp. “Hello, my girl.” Dean smiles.

I hold my knife up. “Leave me alone, Dean,” I warn, my voice breaking with fear.

“Oh, but you are forgetting I own you,” he sneers. He clicks his fingers and two of his men bend down and grab my ankles. I scream, stabbing the knife forward, trying to stop them. “Leave me alone!” I screech. “No!” I scream, trying to fight them. As I wave the knife out, I manage to slash one of their arms.

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