Page 56 of Soros
“Don’t even think about it,” Lios told us. “Attacking humans will be a colossal shit show when it comes to documentation of why it was necessary. Let’s stick to a non-violent method.”
“If we can’t mind cloud them that might not be possible,” Nerix pointed out with impatience.
Lios knew Nerix was right and addressed me. “You’re not a soldier, Soros. If it comes to a physical confrontation, you need to stand back and let Nerix and me handle this.”
He was right, but my need to find Tania made me fearless. “I want to help.”
Stanley ran out of patience with our silence. “I already told you to get out twice. Do you need us to toss you out?”
“We’ll just check out your VIP area before we leave,” I said and took a step forward. Right away, Stanley blocked me with a hand to my chest.
Dipping my chin, I looked down at his outstretched hand, and then I raised my head to look deep into his eyes. Everything about him disgusted me. He was a human but no better than the pirates whom I worked so hard to capture and stop from hurting others. The fact that he had touched me was good because now I could argue that I acted in self-defense. The difficult part about mind clouding was that you had to project the energy you wanted the person to experience.
“That’s no way to treat a friend,” I said with all the kindness I could muster.
Lowering his hand, Stanley frowned. “Okay, if you really want to see the VIP area, it’s fine. But only a quick peek so you can see that there’s nothing in there. The club is empty.”
Stepping aside, the three men watched us closely when one of them peeled the curtain aside and let us see that except for some couches and tables there was nothing in the room.”
“There are no doors,” I said telepathically with disappointment to Nerix and Lios.
Nerix however, widened his eyes. “Those are the paintings Star showed me.”
Again, we heard muffled sounds that made my skin crawl. Tania and Star might be fighting for their lives, and they could be dead before we got to them if we didn’t act fast.
“What beautiful paintings,” I said and pushed inside the VIP room.
Carlos followed me inside despite Stanley’s protests.
“It’s just a local graffiti artist who made those flowers. It’s the same guy who made the graffiti out front,” Carlos explained.
Stanley’s tone turned sharp. “Now that you’ve seen that your friends aren’t here, you can leave.”
I studied the paintings and spoke to Nerix and Lios. “They are large enough to hide a door behind.”
Nerix moved around. “But which painting is it? The painting Star is showing me is blurry so I can’t tell which one it is. Maybe this one.”
A bump and another muffled scream came from somewhere to the left and it made me turn. As soon as I took a step in that direction, Stanley stepped in. “I’m done telling you to leave nicely.” With an iron grip on my upper arm, he tore me backward.
Nerix reacted instinctively and within a fraction of a frollon, he and Lios pushed between me and Stanley, creating a protective wall.
“Carlos,” Lios said. “Your friends aren’t being very welcoming to us. Can you help?”
Without hesitation, Carlos pulled out a gun and it made the other three do the same.
Once again, I heard screaming and it stressed me out to think that somewhere behind these walls Tania and Star were fighting for their lives. We needed to urgently get to them before we all ended up dead like Ziba.
CHAPTER 21
Breakdown
Tania
At one point I wondered if hammering the wooden leg against the wall caused more damage to my arms and shoulders than the wall. My arms felt like heavy lead by the time the wall finally gave in, and a small hole showed. If I had a sledgehammer, it would have been much easier to break down the wall. It would also have helped me defend myself and the three other women when a crazy man stormed in and ripped the table leg from my hands.
I recognized him as the biker who had arrived when I was washing the blood from the floor. Stanley had called him Mikhail if I wasn’t mistaken. Yelling at me in something that sounded Slavic, he smacked me on the side of my head, which made me stumble backward. Another biker stood in the door opening with his hands on each side of the doorframe, effectively blocking our exit.
I didn’t understand the screaming man’s tirade but I guessed that he wanted me to pay for the repairs of the wall and the bed. With his teeth bared in a snarl, he pulled out a gun and pressed it against my right cheek while he used the table leg to squeeze the other side of my head. It hurt and my body froze in fear with my eyes squeezed shut.
