Page 257 of Warlords, Witches & Wolves

“Don’t kiss men.” Gold Watch’s lip curled revealing what he thought of Bailey. “Cut your hair. Be an adult. You are eighteen now. You come to work on Monday.”

“I have exams next week. For the certificate you want me to have.”

“Don’t worry about it. You will learn on the job. With your special skills there is plenty for you to do.”

He doubted his certificate in construction included anything these men wanted him to do. If he left school with nothing, it would be that much harder to find a job. “I want that certificate.”

Gold Watch grinned. “You have spirit. I like that as it gives me something to work with.” He leaned closer. “To break.”

Bailey dropped the needle and thread. “I don’t need you to give me a job. I’ve been applying, looking for something that interests me. I might even do more study next year.”

Crooked Nose yanked his hair, lifting Bailey half off the sofa. “You will cut your hair and come to work tomorrow. Clear?”

“Yes.” Like fuck. He’d be gone.

* * *

As much asBailey had wanted to be up and gone before midnight, he knew that was stupid. He was too weak for a start and the men would watch the apartment, waiting for him to do something dumb—which he would do. But not tonight. He emailed Kass and let him know that things were going pear-shaped at home, then he tried to sleep. It was fitful. He was running and he could barely hear, and the walls kept exploding into the chunks of rock he ran past. He woke several times, sweaty and out of breath.

While it was a dream for him, that had been Kass’s reality.

His alarm sounded, and he got up as though it were just another school day. Although he had no exams that day, he was going to school to get out of this place, use the free wi-fi and make some plans. He pulled all the cash from under the carpet and stuffed close to five hundred dollars into his wallet. Too much to be carrying around any other day, but today was an exception.

He made himself a coffee and ate breakfast alone.

Gran shuffled into the kitchen as he finished up. “What are you doing?”

“Going to school.” A bare lie, but he no longer cared. Had she ever cared, or had he been a burden dropped in her lap by her departed daughter?

No one had wanted him as a kid.

“Go to work. They will be waiting.”

If he went to work, then he was never getting out of there.

“Have you ever lived, or have you always cowered and let those men boss you around? Is this how you cared for Mum? Did you let them box her in until she was caged and tamed and no longer wanted to live?”

“Do not speak of your mother that way.” She sighed. “You are too much like her.”

Questions burned on the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t want to know if one of the men was his father. If there’d been love, or it had been something his mother had to do.

His blood was bitter like the black coffee. He put the cup in the sink. “I will start work after exams finish.”

He shouldered his bag, took one last look at his grandmother, knowing that he’d never see her again, and walked out the door.

There would be no last exams. He’d fall with the finish line in sight. Matt’s dad had always said finishing school mattered, so they didn’t end up like him, always taking shit jobs that paid poorly. He considered calling Matt but didn’t want to drag him into the mess.

He was on his own.

Except for the man watching him. Anxiety knotted his stomach, but he kept to routine, walking the same route. They’d have been told that he wasn’t coming in to work by now.

Could he lie low for a few days and front up for the exam?

Out the front of the school were the usual clusters of kids, delaying the moment they went in. Bailey slid behind a group and drew himself in tight. His skin chilled.

The car that had trailed him parked opposite the school.

Bailey waited, not quite invisible—unnoticeable was more the right word—for a bus to rock up and spit out more kids. The crowd was thinning when a bus finally showed up. The car hadn’t moved.

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