Page 54 of Slaughtered Firefly
“Listen to me!” I screamed, and he froze; the fight fizzled out of him.“You and I need to be smart about this if we all want to survive, there’s no getting Summer without first ridding ourselves of Midas, I don’t know where he’s at, I wish I did but I don’t. We have to be smart about this,” I ground out, releasing him and rolling onto my backside. A groan escaped me as the adrenaline ran its course; pain alarms dinged all throughout my body.
“There is no ‘we’ and if you so much as lift a finger against me, against Mi – Summer I will end you,” With that last word, Scott got up and left, leaving me to bleed on the tracks.
33
LIAR
Present Day
Iheld the door to the observation room open; the doctor looked at me warily but didn’t comment. I had a lot of thoughts about the woman in front of me, but I would sort those out as we went. We walked in silence to the elevator, and when I hit the ground floor; she gave me a curious look.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said the moment the elevator doors opened.
“Good plan, do I walk out of here ass out or do you have cash for the over priced gift shop?” She laughed out, and it took me by surprise.
How she built the walls back into her mind so quickly amazed me. Even I shut down for what seemed like days when forced to confront past trauma. I already knew that the results of whatever the doctor determined would be the turning point for the agency, they already agreed to give her immunity in exchange for more information on Midas’ operations. Addams and I were supposed to go over it when the psych evaluation was over, but clearly he didn’t take the whole being raped by your father’s business partner any better than Mia did. I wondered where the little prick was right now; it was obvious he had some deeper connection to her that was not being shared. Perhaps if I played my cards right, I would learn. It was cruel of me to search for any clues in her trauma-filled story, but I found a lead when she mentioned an uncle. My guess is that’s her true father.
“Go with the scrub bottoms, where we are going is not dress appropriate,” I commented when she pulled out a high-back blue sundress from the rack.
“And where is it you are taking me?” she replied, still clutching the dress in her hand.
“Not a place where dresses are worn,” I responded.
Mia turned toward the dressing room in the back section, and my eyes swiveled toward the book section that had caughtmy attention when we walked in. Thankfully it was by the exit, so if she did try to run, I could catch her.
There were a bunch of self-help and healing books, but that wasn’t my style. I knew that no amount of therapy or medical advice would cure my trauma, and there was no fun in reading a book that told me such. There were a few fantasy and sci-fi books, but mostly young adults, and I couldn’t care about those for now. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I could get behind a made-up world away from Earth, but I did not have the luxury of escaping.
I clocked a vibrant pink color and a cage on the top shelf in the adult section. There were your standard dark romances, the bratty females and the all too willing males, but this one stood out like a sore thumb; the horror aspect intrigued me. I must have been a glutton for punishment or something becauseIn love with the devilby Sky Blu had me trapped in that birdcage on the cover, my face deep in concentration as I read the prologue. What the fuck was this shit and why was I so addicted to reading more? I mean, I have never fucked a woman’s ass before, butJuliansure made it sound appealing, you know, rape aside.
“Ahem,” Mia tapped my shoulder and slammed the book shut. “I think you should read your torture porn elsewhere, this is still a hospital after all,” she finished, her eyes landing on my lower half. I coughed, hiding my embarrassment, as I readjusted my pants, pinching myself in the process.
“Why are you wearing the dress?” I frowned while she childishly made fucking motions with her hands, laughing at my reddened face.
“You said it was optional besides I don’t want to walk around in baggy scrubs,” she smirked, still making obscene gestures.
“Whatever,” I responded, and she smiled knowingly. Yeah, so she won the battle again, but I will win the war. I walkedup to the counter,In love with the devilfirmly gripped in my hand. The cashier scanned the tags from Mia’s gown along with whatever cosmetics she managed to shop for. I set the book down last, and Mia slapped another vibrant cover on top.Goddess’s Graceby Margareta Strööm,had a woman and a wolf on the cover.What the fuck is a shifter romance?“No,” I ground out.
“Call it a palate cleanser, and besides Adrian is the best kind of lover.” She winked at me, and I rolled my eyes.
The cashier smiled knowingly as she watched us debate over one book or two. “Fine,Goddess’s Graceas well.”
“Do you want me to wrap these? Your wife will love them, they are both very deep,” she said with a wink as she scanned the other book.
“No thanks, we will carry the books,” I replied smoothly as she totaled the items. Mia just stood there snickering like a hyena as I took the books. I handed her the bag she picked up.
We were out the doors in the parking garage when Mia commented, “I didn’t peg you as a smut reader.”
“Why? Because all smut readers are women?” I spouted, if this were a debate, I would win. Women aren’t the only ones allowed to read porn.
“Not at all, but you don’t seem like the bookworm type,” she shrugged and skipped in front of me, touching cars as she went.
A firing rangewas probably not the best idea, but something told me bowling was a nope. I wasn’t even supposed to take her out of the hospital, but that place was suffocating enough. That doctor was weirdly engaged in her story too.
“What is this place?” Mia questioned as I opened the car door for her.
“This is why you shouldn’t wear a dress,” I chuckled out, taking her hand and heading inside.
The inner section of the range was vast, with safety gear on a wall to the left side, the guns locked away behind the man at the counter. In front were several stalls where people were preparing targets to shoot. I led Mia to the safety wall, grabbing a pair of ear protection and dropping them on her head. She grabbed a pair of yellow safety glasses, and a large smile beamed across her face.
