Page 71 of Liar & Champion
I was shaking terribly. Taking my blood wasn’t a small thing because I needed every drop for my own functionality.
When the elevator opened, I got out, walking barefoot through the nice carpet until I got to the apartment. I wanted to go and lay down, but at the same time, I didn’t want to walk into that place and see the kitchen sink. I slid down the door and sat on that nice rug. It was so soft. I could just lay down and take a nap.
I slumped over and closed my eyes, not opening them until Trix’s voice disturbed me right before she grabbed my shoulders and hauled me upright.
“Sunshine, are you okay?”
I felt like dead weight, but she didn’t care. “Sh. I’m sleeping,” I told her without opening my eyes.
When I squinted at her, she was frowning down at me where she was crouched, still holding me up by the shoulders. “Are you drunk?”
“I don’t drink. I’m a virgin virgin. I can’t go inside, because then I’ll see the yellow fridge and be even more confused. Nix is a fighter.”
She nodded at me. “Yep. So am I, although I mostly run races. That’s what I’m best at.”
“He lied to me. I don’t know why I’m surprised, but I am.”
“If you can’t go into Nix’s place, you’d better come with me.” She picked me up like I weighed nothing and carried me down the hall with the easy gait of someone who was used to hauling engines around.
“I broke the heel off my shoe,” I said, like she needed an explanation for why she was carrying me. “I’m also dehydrated,” I added.
“Okay. I’ll get you fixed up, although my shoes won’t fit. I’ll send for some.”
“Thanks.” I put my head on her shoulder and kind of zoned out until she put me down to open her door, and then we were in the neatest apartment you could imagine, with mellow jazz playing in the background and an engine spread out on the coffee table while the rest of the room was painted in shades of muted blue.
“Sit on the couch,” she said, taking off her boots and setting them on a shelf by the door. “I’ll get you water and then start dinner. What you really need is pasta.”
“With meatballs?”
She smiled, a suddenly fierce grin. “Obviously. You haven’t lived until you’ve tried my mother’s meatballs. She sends mea package every few months, frozen, so not as good as fresh, but still better than anything you’re going to get out here.” She walked away towards the kitchen, because her apartment had a kitchen like a normal person, and then I heard her voice talking on the phone, but low so I couldn’t make out the words. Maybe she was ordering my shoes. Maybe not.
I walked over to the couch and fell over the side, landing in an ungraceful heap. I fell asleep before I had any time to fret, and the next thing I knew, Trixie was helping me up to a sitting position and holding a bottle of water to my lips.
I took the water and drank on my own and then took the plate she handed me that smelled so delicious, rich, herbal. “Thank you,” I said and then I ate. She ate hers too, and I wasn’t the only one who acted like a starving person once the silky noodles and rich sauce hit my tongue. Mm. It really was as good as she said it would be. And to think I’d wanted her to teach me jewelry-making instead of cooking.
“Nix wants to see you,” she said once I’d eaten the very last meatball.
I stared at her, feeling like a rabbit caught in a trap. “Why?”
She raised a brow, the one with a scar through it so it made her look extra edgy. “He was afraid that you got taken by your stalker. Tom lost you, so he told Nix, and Nix basically freaked out, called in the militia, but I’m the one who found you.”
“The militia?”
“His mother has people,” she said with a shrug. Ah. The Crocodile of Alabama. How nice to know that she was not a figment of everyone’s imagination and was now officially involved. Gulp.
“Oh. Nix was worried about me?” I didn’t want him to worry. Was he still the over-empathetic guy who I couldn’t tell all my deep dark secrets too? Mostly that I was dying. Would Beastie tell him? What a colossal mess.
“Yeah. We all were, particularly Jezebel. What’s the name of your stalker?”
“Michael Dupre,” I said without thinking it through then I blinked and focused on her. “But you don’t need to think about him. I know I try not to.”
She patted my head. “I won’t think about him at all. I’m not into vengeance with a twist of malice, but Jezebel, she loves putting bad guys on her personal list.”
“She’s a fighter too?”
“Oh, she’s capable, but she doesn’t perform like that often, only when she’s in the mood. Nix hates it. Doesn’t like to see women get hurt, even women like us.”
“Women like…”
