Page 70 of Liar & Champion
He inhaled sharply. “About Nix. You should probably get away from him as soon as possible. I can set you up with a place, if you need one, and protection from your stalker. Cut ties with Nix clean, all at once, or things are bound to get extremely messy.”
Trevor elbowed him. “Wasn’t Flowers working on the ultimate weapon?”
All three men looked at me while I sat there in my yellow dress and magic bra and tried to look like I wasn’t about to burst into tears. It would not be pretty.
“I’m the ultimate weapon?” I sighed heavily. “Do you three know how ridiculous you sound? I’m the ultimate weapon against what?”
“The ugly side of the serum,” Trevor said, like that was obvious. “I should have realized at once when I saw her with Beastie. She had him wrapped around her little finger without the slightest effort. But why was he trying to set her up with me and Rog? It’s like he was trying to get her away from the ugly side, but then he sets her up with Nix?” He shook his head. “Makes no sense.”
“Right? So weird for things to not make sense,” I muttered and looked around for my bag. I wasn’t going to get rational answers, and I was too tired to deal with this kind ofridiculousness. Come to think of it, I’d left my bag in Beastie’s dressing room.
“I’m serious about helping you get away from Nix, to protect you from anyone who comes after you,” Horse said, fishing around in his wallet for a card that he held out, black with a gold embossed bowler hat on one side, a number on the other.
“No, thank you. For some reason I’m disinclined to trust those with such a tentative grasp on reality for my security and safety.” I stood up and then my legs went out.
Horse caught me, concern in his eyes as he held me up, trying to touch me as little as possible, like I really was a dangerous substance.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I said, frowning at him.
“You’re Nix’s wife. He’ll hurt me. Do you care about him?”
I blinked at him, startled by the question for a moment to think what to say. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I don’t like that he lied to me about the fighting thing, but that’s hypocritical. And anyway, I don’t owe you explanations after you kidnapped me. Do you care about Trix?”
“Everyone knows that I do.”
“Why do you make it so blatant if it’s not a lie?”
“Because I’m not a very talented liar.”
“That’s a lie,” I said.
He laughed and carefully released me, hoping I’d stay on my feet. I did. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just sometimes I fall over.”
“And you’re on morphine all the time,” Trevor said.
“And you’re used to being in hospitals,” Roger said, now frowning like he didn’t like what he was thinking. Well, I didn’t like it either.
I crossed my arms. “And?”
“You’re sick?” Horse asked, new concern in his eyes.
I shrugged. “I’m just a delicate female. Can’t help that.”
“You’re already bruising from the zip ties. They weren’t that tight,” Trevor the ever-helpful pointed out.
“Check her normal stats,” Rog said to Horse.
“You don’t need to know anything else about me now that you’ve discovered my secret biological father and my super serum,” I said, grabbing for the tablet, but Horse turned away, leaving me with his big strong back, and then he was scrolling and checking other things, the things my aunt always checked while I crossed my arms and tried not to look delicate.
He turned and faced me, looking comically stunned. “You’re dying. You’re disintegrating. The serum is eating you apart.”
I swallowed down the lump in my throat. “Actually, that’s my genetic disease, but thank you for putting it in an exciting new way so that I can see it in a different light. Move, if you’d be so kind. I have limited time left. I’d rather not spend it in the company of miscreants lacking any of the finer sensibilities.” I pushed past Horse, but he side-stepped quickly, getting out of my way. I came out in a hallway that looked exactly like my hotel. I walked down to the elevator, and then got in, pushed the button to my floor, and slumped against the wall. I’d been only a few floors down that whole time.
