Page 26 of Collide

I mean, what exactly could I do?

Firstly, I was in an elevator with no way out, and before I could evenconsider getting out of the elevator, I’d have to find a way of getting free from the hold the oaf had on me.Then I’d have to find a way to incapacitate him before breaking out,scaling down the elevator shaft, finding my way out of the building I was in and then somehow making it back to East Bay, all without getting caught by Kai fucking Wolfe or one of his merry men.

That plan seemed like one even John McClane would struggle withand this was my actual life, not fuckingDie Hard.

Finally, the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open. Hendrixtook long strides and I bounced on his shoulder from how fast he walked, which only added to the nausea swimming in my belly.

Not being able to see where we were going, I tried to make a mentalnote of the path he took, just in case an opportunity arose where I could escape, but trying to do that upside down was almost impossible, not to mention the place was like a fucking maze.

I managed to catch glimpses of rooms as we passed through, itseemed every room was surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows, and the entire floor was made of black and silver marble floors that sparkled from the spotlights that were in rows up on the ceiling.

As Hendrix took me through one room, the living room I presumedfrom thehugesofa in the middle of it, I caught a peep out of the window. Wherever we were, we were high up, likereallyhigh up. Hollows Bay stretched out for miles, lit up by a million lights. Even in my predicament, I could appreciate the beauty of the scenery.

The living room opened up into a grand foyer but Hendrix didn’t stop.He took the stairs that were also made of the same black and silver marble, and marched up them with ease, not at all fazed by the weight of a human draped over his shoulder.

When we reached the top, Hendrix continued along a hallway until hestopped outside a door, and a nervous anticipation coursed through me as a horrible thought popped into my mind.

What if I was being taken to Kai Wolfe’s sex dungeon?

From the difficult angle I was at, I managed to turn my head enoughto watch him use the pad of his thumb on a scanner to open the door. He strolled inside, tossed me on a bed, and sped out before I had a chance to get my ass up off the bed, still without saying a word.

Fucking coward.

The door closed and instantly a click echoed around the room indicating the lock had been engaged. I ran to the door and tried the handle, unsurprised when it didn’t budge an inch.

“Let me out of here you asshole!” I shrieked as I pounded on thedoor.

I’m not sure what I expected by making a racket, it wasn’t as ifKai was going to stroll in here and tell me this had been a prank and I was free to go. Still, I thumped and kicked the door for a good few minutes. When I eventually stopped, I put my ear to the door to listen but all I was met with was the sound of silence.

It was at that moment I noticed another fingerprint scannernext to the door, just like the one on the other side Hendrix had used to open the door.

I knew full well putting my thumb against the scanner wouldn’tmiraculously open the door, but I tried anyway. Unsurprisingly, the blasted thing beeped angrily at me, but that was the only sound, no clicks of the lock disengaging.

Resigned to my fate, I sank to the floor and leaned back against thesolid barrier stopping me from leaving this room.

There were no two ways about it, I wasn’t going anywhere until Kaidecided I could.

Unease swam through me as I wondered just what the hell he wantedfrom me. Hot tears welled in my eyes but I refused to let them fall. I was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. Dancing all night always took its toll on my body, not to mention the extra shift’s I’d been picking up thanks to that slacker Blaze. Add to that the shit I’d experienced after leaving work, I felt like I could sleep for a week.

Taking a deep, calming breath, I let my eyes roam around the roomthat was now my prison cell, relief flooding me when I realized it was a bedroom andnota sex dungeon.

As cells went, I couldn’t complain. Not that I’d ever been in a realprison cell, but you know, compared to what they show on tv.

For starters, it was a huge room, easily twice, if not three times thesize of my entire apartment. The walls were a crisp white, but on the far side of the room opposite the door I was slumped against, a thick black curtain ran from one end of the room to the other. It didn’t make the room dark though thanks to the dazzling spotlights in the ceiling.

An enormous bed dominated the middle of the room which wascovered in black silk bedding, and a mammoth flatscreen television hung on the wall in a prime position to lay in bed and watch it.

Fucking rich people.

At the foot of the bed was a beautiful ornate chaise lounge. Before I knew it, I was off the floor and reaching out to stroke the silver velvet, the material softer than anything I had touched in my life. I stood for a minute stroking the arm of the chair, completely hypnotized by the feel of the material against my palm.

Near the door stood a sleek, shiny black dressing table, with a largeoval mirror sitting in the middle. Around the frame of the mirror were small lights adding to the brightness of the room. The table was next to a small alcove that stood empty as if something was missing like a pot plant or another small table. But I didn’t give it much thought as curiosity got the better of me and I whipped open the black curtain.

I gasped at the sight.

This room also had floor-to-ceiling windows and looked out over thecity. It was easy to see from here that I was at least twenty floors up, if not higher. I wasn’t particularly scared of heights, yet fear crept up my spine at the realization there really was no way out of this room unless I wanted to plummet to my death.

I was yet to decide if death was preferable over facing the king ofHollows Bay.

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