Page 19 of A Hint of Delirium

“So, in exchange for my freedom, you want my time? Because I’m not giving you anything else, in case you think this little bargain includes getting the registry information from me.”

He grinned. “I’ll get what I need from Luka.”

I felt bad for the guy, but it was him or me. It was survival of the fittest out here in the concrete jungle. “Then you have yourself a deal.” Somehow, I knew this would come back and bite me in the ass.

“Shake on it?” Alec extended a hand to me, his eyes beguiling and filled with glimmering secrets.

I stared at it for a moment, taking the time to shake out my nerves. When he came to collect, I would have to be ready. God only knew what he wanted.

I placed my hand in his and he clasped it firmly, pulling me toward him in a flash. I stumbled forward and placed my other hand against his chest to steady myself, and Alec grabbed the back of my head and slammed his lips against mine. My eyes widened and I tried to shriek, but my lips were kinda busy. No matter how hard I tried to pull away, he maintained a firm grip, a stark contrast to the softness of his lips as they parted mine. He tasted like Spring rain and spearmints. It almost made me forget what he was doing. Almost.

When he pulled away a few seconds later, my hand was ready. I slapped him across the face, the smack resonating loudly in the hallway.

“You son of a bitch! You can’t just go around kissing people! That’s like … like … like lip abuse!”

His mouth fell open in surprise as his hand rubbed the sting from his cheek. “It’s the only way to make our deal binding, Violet. I thought my brother would’ve informed you of that part, at least.” He rubbed his cheek, moving his jaw side to side. “Either way, our deal is set in stone. Until next time, Vi.”

With a wave of his hand, Alec opened a portal behind him and stepped in, disappearing in a blink and leaving me stranded in an unknown bar.

Barefoot.

10

VIOLET

The instant the portal clicked shut, a head poked out from the threshold of the office. When we made eye contact, he hurried back inside. I think Luka was afraid Alec was still around, or that I was working for him. I needed to convince him otherwise, because I needed his help to get the hell out of there. I had no money, no ID, nothing. He was my only chance at getting back to Ansel.

I tiptoed to the office and stepped inside. Luka was pacing as if waiting for something bad to happen.

“Luka?” I whispered. “I need your help. I’m a friend of Ansel’s.”

He jerked to a stop and turned to me. “Is this a trick?” he asked, his voice rising at the end with a hysterical laugh.

I shook my head adamantly. “No! Alec kidnapped me from Ansel and left me here. I need to get back to Ansel. If you can just call him to verify, I promise you—”

“Why were you willing to help him then, if you’re friends with Ansel?”

I crossed my arms over my chest and popped a hip. “Why wereyou?” I snapped back with as much attitude.

Luka grunted. “Point taken. I’ll call him, but if your story doesn’t match, there will be consequences!” When he glowered over his shoulder at me, I nodded. He pulled his cell phone from his back pocket, dialed Ansel, and pressed the phone to his ear. “Ansel? Sorry to bother you again. Yeah, I know you’re busy, but real quick, I have this girl here, she says she knows you—”

Before he could finish the sentence, a portal opened behind me and Ansel stepped out, his shaggy hair tossed everywhere from the wind. His eyes were wild as he searched the office until they landed on me.

“Vi!”

Without thinking, I ran to him and he pulled me into his arms. I didn’t even realize we were hugging until a full minute later, as focused as I was on breathing in his scent and trying to stop a fountain of irrational tears from springing up at the mere sight of him. I exhaled a sigh of relief, not stopping to dissect how safe I felt around someone who I’d considered a stranger just that morning. My heart fluttered, and when I realized we were still locked in an embrace, I jerked away self-consciously. It wasn’t that we were besties or anything, but it was nice to see a familiar face. Plus, he was fun to look at. And I wasn’t going to lie, I was scared shitless.

I hopped from one foot to the other as I rambled about my adventure, barely pausing to take a breath. “Ansel, that guy Alec is looking for a registry, and he’s looking for the last name on it … which I told him I knew because I assumed it was the lady you were with at The Black Keys, but I didn’t tell him that because then I made a deal with him for my freedom, but I think I messed up. I don’t know what I did, but I—”

Ansel grasped my upper arms and shook me gently. “Relax, Vi. Breathe.”

I took in a deep breath and exhaled, trembling under his fingertips. “I think he knows,” I whispered.

Ansel looked past me to Luka and then back at me. “We’ll talk when we get back to my place. Let’s head back.” He moved around me to Luka and extended a hand. “Thank you for calling me. I owe you one.”

“Let’s call it even after what I did,” Luka replied sheepishly.

Ansel nodded and they shook on it. He opened a portal and waved goodbye to Luka before we stepped inside and were gone.

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