Page 50 of Bad Demon

The clubhouse was empty when we walked out, and I was more than a little relieved. One grumpy hound was enough for the morning, thank you very much. The parking lot was quiet as well, apart from whoever was working in the garage; the music was already on, and the roller doors were up, the shop open for business.

Relic turned to me, and without a word, he held up the jacket I’d fallen asleep under last night.

“Is that your way of telling me you want me to put it on?”

He narrowed his eyes.

“Fine. Whatever.”

I slipped my arms in, and he maneuvered me so I faced him again, then zipped it all the way up. He got on his bike, started it up, and motioned with a jerk of his chin for me to get on behind him.

Okay, looked like he was sticking with quiet time for now. I climbed up, and like always, he reached back and pulled my arms around him, as if he knew I found the intimacy of it difficult, so he made it easy for me by not giving me a choice. I huffed like I was annoyed by his heavy-handedness, like I did when he got into bed with me, because I didn’t know how to be close to someone in any way or in any situation. I felt awkward and out of my depth, but secretly, I craved it, and I was thankful that he made it easier on me. Gods, I was so fucked up.

We took off, and I had to admit, I was starting to enjoy our rides. I liked the wind, and the speed was kind of fun, and yeah, I liked how warm Relic was when he forced me to wrap my arms around him, and I was even warmer now in his jacket, which was like a freaking dress on me.

I was starting to love the feeling of freedom I had riding behind him. Even though I had no control over the destination or any of it, sitting back here, holding on to Relic while the wind whipped through my hair, it was like nothing else. I didn’t need to think; I could let it all go for a little while. I’d spent too many years of my life not feeling the sun on my skin or the wind on my face, and I couldn’t help but love every moment of it.

“I’ll never be free again, will I?”

I squeezed my eyes shut to stave off the memory that rushed forward out of nowhere, but it was no use. There was no stopping it.

“You will.” I brushed Harks’s sweaty hair back from his forehead. “You have to fight this.”

He’d told me his name after The Chemist threw him in here with me. He’d contracted the virus two days after he was forced to have sex with me, just like The Chemist had hoped. He was a good male, kind. He never wanted to hurt me, he was just trying to save his brother, but Grady had killed the younger male anyway. Now Hark was dying as well. It was only a matter of time. Somehow, I could hear his heartbeat, and it was growing weaker with every passing hour.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“I-it’s not y-your fault.” A shiver racked through him, and I pulled my blanket around him tighter as he gasped in a desperate breath. “Y-you have to escape here. Promise me you’ll f-find a w-way.”

“I promise.”

I’d only known Harks for a week, but he was the closest thing I’d ever had to a friend, which was fucked up, considering how we’d met.

He struggled to draw his next breath; his mouth opened, panic filling his eyes—then he went limp in my arms—a moment later, he turned to ash.

I stared down in shock as tears slid down my face.

I didn’t know how long I sat there, unmoving, but the sun had gone down when The Chemist finally walked in.

He took in the scene. “The virus works,” he said triumphantly. “He had witch blood as well—did you know that? Just like you, yet he died, and you did not.” His head tilted to the side. “What are you, Estelle Burnside?”

He didn’t want an actual answer. I was a mystery, a puzzle he was desperate to uncover. No matter what he did, I didn’t die. And he wouldn’t be happy until I ended up like Harks.

Nothing left of me but ash.

The bike pulled to a stop. We’d reached Seventh while I’d been lost in the past. Relic kicked down the stand, and I quickly jumped off.

Relic swung off, his head tilting to the side when he looked at me. “You okay?”

How did he always know? But there was no way I was going to tell him what I’d just been thinking about, so I lied, “Yep.”

He stared at me for several more seconds, but thankfully, he didn’t push for more and let it go. He did close the space between us though, and instead of taking my hand, like he usually did, Relic’s fingers curled around the back of my neck. I jerked and spun on him, but he didn’t look at me, just kept walking, scanning the street, that firm grip on me moving me along at the speed he wanted. What he did not do was keep talking. A quiet Relic wasn’t natural.

“Relic?”

He looked down and did the brow-raising thing again.

I blew out a frustrated breath. “I’m sorry if I offended you, okay? Can quiet time be over now?” I hated it.

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