Page 16 of Dark Ink

“What?”

“There’s someone hiding in the shadows down below. Listening to our every word like a creepy little stalker.” I keep staring at the sky.

“Are you fucking with me?” Ben sits up and crawls to the edge of the container, then looks down.

“You trust me a whole lot. What’s stopping me from kicking you to your death right now?” I extend my leg and place my foot gently on his lower back.

He doesn’t seem fazed by my threat, but when he turns around, his eyes are narrowed. His hand captures my ankle and snakes up my calf, removing my leg from his back and placing it back on the ground. His touch sends heat between my legs and I cross them quickly, pretending to be offended.

He stands up and smooths his clothes. “Did you just make up a random shadow person to make me leave? There’s no one below. Also, you wouldn’t kick me.”

I sigh and get up too. Why is his faith in me so irritating? Isn’t he supposed to be trying to win my affections back, not pretending I’m still sweet and lovely and wouldn’t hurt him?

If anyone knows what I’m capable of, it’s him. The memory of Valerie’s broken body flashes in my mind, but I shake it off like a bad thought. That’s exactly what it is.

“There was someone down there,” I say in yet another attempt to calm myself down. “Maybe they left after hearing us bicker.”

Ben grins. “Is this us bickering? Like a married couple?”

I roll my eyes. “Shut up.”

To my surprise, he actually does. I walk toward the other edge of the container, ready to jump down to the one below and then to the ground and go home.

His quiet words stop me.

“I miss how we were before. I know I fucked up now, but at the time I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I was a liability.”

Is he for real? I inhale, hold it in, then exhale. “I’m too tired to get into this tonight. Sometimes people are not meant to be in each other’s lives. Plus, what was so special about us before? We were just tied by circumstance and made the best of it. Nothing to tie us now that there’s no drama, right?”

He groans. “Don’t you remember? I never take sides, yet I always took your side. Always, even when it went against the Empress.”

“I don’t remember.” The words come from a nasty, vicious part of me. I say them because I know they will hurt him. And part of me shrivels because I do remember. In Lavender, when things got really bad, seemingly he was no one’s ally. But he had my back.

Which in turn made his betrayal hurt even more. Learning to trust someone, then them walking all over your heart, is a teachable moment. And I aced that course.

“I clearly have a better memory than you,” Ben says.

I jump to the container below, half-expecting him to follow. He doesn’t.

Chapter 10

Three years ago

The muted light in Lavender makes me squint more than usual today. My head hurts.

I haven’t even seen Tanya yet. That usually makes my time here a bit more worthwhile. I talked to the Arcana Empress again about getting out of here or doing something to help Tanya, Damien, and everyone else currently being crushed under Penelope’s thumb. She said no. So here I am, neutral on the outside, simmering with anger on the inside.

A thin girl with luscious dark hair comes to the bar to pick up an order. When she leaves, something falls from the tiny pocket of her short dress. I pick it up without rushing, making sure I don’t attract any attention with any sudden moves.

I unravel it and find the same message inside I saw last week on another dropped note.

Birds of feather flock together

They should really be more careful with these. The only reason why Tanya’s covert operation of saving girls hasn’t been found out yet is because Valerie and Penelope don’t lift a finger in this club, and I do my best to hide any that I see in the bar area. The cleaners must be in on it too because I bet notes get lost in the private rooms as well.

I put the note in my pocket and make a mental note to slide it into Tanya’s locker. That’s what I did with the last one. I don’t need her to know I have her back. Helping like this is enough for now.

It’s closing time when she finally comes to the bar area. The heavy diamond ring is glittering on her finger as she props herself up on one of the bar chairs. It would have been conspicuous if we weren’t in Lavender. Here, everything is expensive and sparkling. Except the abuse. Nothing sparkling about that.

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