Page 68 of Tis the Season to be Bullied

“Who are you, Trinity Malone?”

My head thumps along with that distant pain. Something new worms its way into me. Something warm and fuzzy and…

Nice.

“No one,” I murmur.

“What are you doing here?”

“Nothing.”

I want to fade away completely. But he keeps asking me questions I’m compelled to answer.

“How do you know Gabriel?”

“He’s my friend. Mybestfriend.”

There’s a long pause. So long, I almost do slip away. But then those fingers come back and touch the side of my face, tracing the outline of my jaw.

“I’d really hoped that wasn’t the case,” Zachary says.

The bed moves as he gets up.

I’m dimly aware this might not be my room. That I’m lying on a strange bed with my underwear around my knees and the back of my skirt hitched up. My hands tremble as I reach behind me, but Zachary snatches them by the wrists before I can adjust my clothing.

“You’re leaving. I’ll arrange a cab for you in the morning,” Zachary says. “Just give me an address.”

I laugh at him. “Fuck you.”

I hear the deep breath he takes, and that makes me regret what I said. But there’s no address I can give him. I don’t have anyone else. I don’t have anywhere else.

There’s a burst of dull pain as he yanks my underwear up my legs. “Sisters of Mercy it is.”

Hands slide under my waist. The world spins as he scoops me into his arms. Every thumping step he takes chafes my skin with fire.

We go down a flight of stairs, and then along a hallway. We’re back on my floor, headed for room 113. He barrels through the door and drops me on the bed.

On my back.

I flip onto my side with a hiss, tears pricking at my eyelids.

“Remember, Trinity, you chose the hard way,” Zachary says from the doorway. He tosses something my way, and it thumps against my tummy. Then he’s gone, my bedroom door slamming shut behind him.

I fumble for the cold, hard object pressing against my stomach.

The salve.

I wrap my fingers around it and curl into a ball.

I don’t cry, because there’s no point. Whatever I smoked dulled the pain enough that I can probably fall asleep. But sleep doesn’t come for a long time, because I keep replaying his last words to me.

You chose the hard way.

Just remember, Trinity.

Youchose the hard way.

Chapter 23

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