Page 10 of Battling Aries

Black does as told, hand staying on the handle. Cordelia steps just inside the room and doesn’t even glance around, eyes coming directly to me.

“Do you know where Rory is? She’s not in the room she was given, and I can’t find her anywhere else.”

I don’t bother answering Cordelia. Rage threatens to consume me. “You’ve got to be fuckin’ joking.”

“No,” Cordelia murmurs, shaking her head. “She’s gone, Aries. I should have known. Last night, when I talked to her, she had that look in her eyes. I’d told her that she needed to talk to you, and she said she’d think about it. I should’ve known.”

“Prospect was on the gate all last night,” Cyrus remarks.

“How the fuck did she manage to get out of the clubhouse?” Mace demands. “She’s in no condition to be anywhere but resting.”

I ignore Mace’s statement and twist to Vulture. “You didn’t see her leave on security footage?”

“That’s on me, brother,” Wolf states, grimacing. “I took over watching the cameras for Vulture since he was busy doing a deep dive. I’d gotten a call and looked from the cameras. But it was no more than a minute, two tops.”

Fuck me.

For him to look away, it had to be important.

“We’ll get back to that later.” Viper grunts, eyes coming to me. “Make your decision, brother. She gonna be your responsibility, or we leave it alone.”

“She’s mine,” I grind out, gritting my teeth.

Fuck.

“Rory is my goddamn property.”

When I got my hands on her, I am going have to teach her a fucking lesson. I told her yesterday, she’s mine to decide what to do with. I hate myself for not being able to say fuck her and washmy hands of her. It doesn’t help the shit Vulture was filling us in on. The bullshit she’d gone through floats around in my head, and I don’t know what to do with it. Something in all of this isn’t adding up.

CHAPTER 6

RORY

“I’ve got to be the stupidest person on earth,” I mutter to myself, making my way to the lousy-looking motel.

In the middle of the night, I decided to get out of there before anyone could realize I left. I’d gotten out of the clubhouse quickly enough, but off the property, not so easily. I followed the fence line to the very back of the property and was able to climb a tree that that was situated right there near a corner with limbs going over the fence. I didn’t dare crawl up the limb, but I used it to balance myself enough to get to the other side.

My entire body was hurting, and I just wanted to go to sleep. I’d gotten as far away from the clubhouse as I thought possible. I mean, I didn’t think that they’d care either way, but just to be on the safe side, I wasn’t risking it. I couldn’t. I needed to be able to give my body a break. If I didn’t, I was going to end up hurting myself further.

To make things worse, I found someone's room and snagged the money out of their wallet. I didn’t look at the ID inside. I just took the money and ran. It wasn’t much. But it’d get me a roomfor the day to sleep. I can travel at night. It’d probably be best for me to do it that way. There is less chance of someone seeing me.

I quickly make my way up to the office, not surprised that the manager has a pot belly, a stained shirt, and a balding spot on top of his head.

“What can I do for you, pretty lady?” he says, grinning, eyeing me up and down.

“I just need a room,” I tell him, doing my best to ignore his leering eyes.

“How many nights are you looking to stay? We also have rooms by the hour.” He leans onto his elbow, those beady eyes of his giving me the creeps. “You know we could even make a deal, save you some money, you come on back here with me. We could have some fun.”

“Ugh, no thanks. I’ll just take a room, one night, farthest from the end that you have available.”

There’s no way I’d stay here if I didn’t have a choice, but I needed to get some rest. I hope that I don’t end up catching something from this seedy place. To make it worse, this guy was gross. No way would I want him trying to get near me. Plus, he must be a desperate jerk to think he could get some out of me. I mean, I look horrible with my face and body banged up the way it is. For freaking sake, my wrist is in a damn cast.

The manager quickly checks me in, takes the thirty dollars, talk about cheap, and gives me a key. “Don’t worry about turning that back in. Just leave it in front of the TV, maid service will pick it up tomorrow morning.”

“Great, thanks,” I tell him and get out of there as fast as possible. I find the room, unlock the door, and step inside. Thankfully, it’s much cleaner than I expected.

Locking myself in, I use the last of my strength to move the old scarred-up table in front of the door, close all the blinds, and finally crash out on the bed. Well, I crash after pulling the coversoff and checking for bugs. To be on the safe side, I leave the blankets on the floor.

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