Page 22 of City of Salvation

CHAPTER 9

NIKKI

CLEANING UP HOSTAGE DRAG MARKS HELPS WITH PANIC ATTACKS

I neededto get some normal friends. Or better yet, some therapy. I hadn’t been even slightly fazed when Dex pulled out a knife, ready to stab the ugly fucker. Instead of the normal reaction—fear, tears, hell, a damn scream—my heart beat faster with the idea that he was protective over me. Some sick part wanted to see Dex wild, bordered on out of control. If I didn’t need more answers from Jardani, I’d have let Dex gut him.

There was a not-so-silent voice telling me the reaction was caused by the sheer reality that I wasn’t used to being a man’s choice.

At least not in a way that wasn’t solely sexual.

“I’m sorry, I must have had a stroke or a sudden loss of brain function because I thought you said you choked him out with histie.” The vein in Dex’s forehead popped with every word he bit out. If we didn’t need to be quiet on the whole account of needing to sneak out, I was positive he would’ve yelled. “Have you done that before? For the fuckingloveof god, please tell me you’ve done it before and knew what youwere doing before you tried to strangle a man twice your size.”

Sure, when he laid it out like that, it wasn’t the smartest idea I’d ever had. But honestly, most of my ideas weren’t all that much better—didn’t have the luxury when you were trying to survive.

“Yeah. Do it all the time,” I said to get him off my back before shoving all of my and Jardani’s shit into my arms so we wouldn’t leave anything behind. “Now, can we stop fucking around and get him out of here? He was meeting with the president and VP of the Reapers tonight. I don’t know how long it will be before they come looking.”

Torque let a low whistle from where he stood guarding the door.

Dex ran a hand down his face, clearly stressed. “Damn it, Nikki. We gotta leave him then.” He reached out a muscled arm, his hand latching onto my upper bicep. “If we get caught here…let’s just say I want you to run and not look back. They aren’t going to take kindly to Torque and me being here.”

Unease prickled over my skin, the comfort I’d felt seeing Dex in the parking lot waning. Their plain white shirts were like a neon sign of how much they were risking coming here tonight. They’d had to stash their cuts somewhere so they could rescue me from enemy territory. And now, I was going to ask them to help carry out the body of a high ranking Russian Bratva member.

I shut down that line of thinking.

There wasn’t room for guilt when trying to survive.

“No, we can’t do that.” The words were quiet, almost weak, the reality of the mess I’d dragged them into settling on my shoulders.

Dex’s arm shot out, pointing to the slumped man. “What the hell do you mean? He’s unconscious. You’re in a fuckingdisguise, which, don’t think you’re off the hook for those questions either, but he doesn’t even know who you are.”

In any other situation, the exasperation in his voice would have been funny. But not while we were hiding out in a room with shag carpet that the CDC should investigate. Thinking about the bodily fluids hidden within the fibers made me want to gag. Thank fuck I’d beaten Jardani with the shoe from my bag—at least my feet were still safe from infection.

He’s not going to like this next part…

“That’s kind of the whole problem,” I said sheepishly, tucking a strand from the wig behind my ear. “Hedoesknow who I am, and that is a very,verybad thing for me…”

Dex’s attention beat down on me, making me feel two feet tall. “Torque, help me get his jacket back on. We’ll carry him out between us like he’s had too much to drink.”

The two of them draped Jardani’s limp arms over their shoulders, propping him between them. I reached out and pulled his tie forward. My palms were still sore from when I’d pulled with all my might on the silky fabric from behind. I’d gotten lucky that the chair had a solid back, the perfect surface to brace my feet against.

Leverage was a girl’s best friend.

The two boys discussed how to carry him while I made sure the coast was clear. Lighting was non-existent, the only source at the mouth of the hall. Didn’t take a genius to figure out dancer safety and comfort wasn’t a top priority here, but the dark would help hide our exit. Giggles came from the room to the left, but otherwise, all of the commotion was still out in the main part of the club. I motioned the boys forward, dashing to push the exit open for them.

My shoulders cramped with how rigid I held myself. Closing the exterior door as quietly as possible felt likediffusing a bomb. Our fate depended on not drawing attention—we were so fucking close to being out of this mess.

Your mess.

Dex and Torque moved with impressive stealth—this was clearly not their first time playing in this kind of fire.

“There doesn’t seem to be any cameras on the backside of the building,” Torque said quietly.

I scanned the squat building. The entire back was one long windowless wall, nothing back here besides the singular dumpster and the door we’d come from. Still, I kept the wig and contacts on. Jardani may know who I was, but if a Reaper came out, I didn’t want them to realize their mark was basically in their grasp.

I looked around, unable to wait patiently by the car, needing my body and mind occupied so I wouldn’t fall into a panic attack. I’d managed to hold it back this long—I wasn’t going to fall apart at the end. The tips of Jardani’s shoes left a trail from where they dragged along the dirt, and I busied myself concealing the lines while Torque muscled our hostage into the back row with him. It was quiet, other than the sound of the tightening plastic teeth of zip ties.

Dex’s deep rumbled in my ear, his proximity causing my breath to hitch as he slid a hand across my waist, pulling me into him. “Nikki, I need you to follow directions now and get your perky ass into the car so I can get us out of here.” He gripped my chin between his thumb and forefinger, turning my head so our eyes met. “Think you can do that, spitfire?”

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