Page 13 of Pretty Monsters

"Did you drive around the building?" I ask.

He nods. "The guests are sketchy as fuck, but about what you'd expect at a no tell motel like this."

"The room is around the back, room one-thirty-seven."

"Sin, get in."

Instead, I take a step back and move toward the building. "Just go park. I'll meet you in the room."

Before he pulls away, Raven jumps out and follows me.

I look over my shoulder at her. "Stay with your brother."

As I predict, she ignores me. Lucien is no help. He shrugs and drives off.

"Calm your tits, it's just around the building."

"That's colorful language, princess."

"Would you quit calling me princess? I'm not some delicate damsel in distress."

Voices sound from around the corner, and I shove us both into the small alcove where the ice maker is stored. It's still too much in the open, so I cover her body with mine in the hopes that she isn't seen. There's no way any man alive will forget her, and being remembered isn't good for our chances for survival.

"It seems like I have to keep rescuing you," I whisper.

She futilely pushes against me. "Yes, protecting me from perfect strangers who don't give a damn about me."

I laugh, but there's no humor behind the sound. "As soon as your father realizes you are gone, there are going to be men looking for you. You don't exactly have a face that doesn't get attention. So for the sake of my neck and yours do as you're told."

Raven turns her head. "All I've ever done was what I was told."

"It's only for now." I'm lying, and I think we both know it.

She shoves me harder, and since the threat of her being seen has moved along, I allow her to move me. "Stop calling me princess."

"Did we or did we not rescue you from a tower last night?" I taunt her.

"I hate you," she says under her breath.

Grabbing her chin I turn her face back towards mine. "Good. Hold on to that feeling. I'm not someone to love, princess. I'm the one who will haunt your dreams and torment your days, but right now I'm the only thing standing between you and something much worse. Sometimes you need a monster to fight one."

Jerking her chin out of my hold she raises it indignantly. "Are you my monster?"

"Only if you are my princess," I toss back at her.

She huffs and pushes past me. "Good thing I have my brother."

Before she makes it past me, I grab her hand. "Your brother is my best friend, probably because he is my only friend. But he has no idea what it's like to be nothing."

"You don't think he'll fight for me?" Her voice has become soft and timid. I thought she and I were the same, that neither of us had anything in this world, but I just managed to take the last thing she had, the idea of family.

"I think he'll survive. If push comes to shove, Lucien has been conditioned to survive, even if he does so alone."

"Okay, so why should I trust you then? You've been trained alongside him, correct?"

"Because, I'm going to teach you to fight for yourself."

Raven drops my hand and her icy blue eyes bore into mine. "So your answer is not to trust you either?"

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