Silenced (24 page)

I try to close my eyes, knowing that I’m not going to be able to sleep. About what I guess is five minutes later, I prove myself right. I stand up, grabbing my flashlight, , and leave the holding cell. I swing the flashlight beam out into the hall, splashing the chipped walls in yellow light.

I walk down and into the main room with the circular desk. The room is washed in silver light. I glance out the front glass doors and consider going outside, before deciding against it. Instead, I stroll around the desk and saunter down the middle hallway. No idea what I’m up to. All I know is that I need to be up doing something that will distract me from the racing thoughts in my head. Walking seems as good an activity as anything else.

I come to the end of the hallway, turn around, and start to leave. A low muttering from the door on my left catches my attention. I glance over and notice a pale yellow glow coming from the crack in the door. With a frown, I wonder if something could have snuck in here. I peer back down the hall and consider going back to the cell to get something quiet—a knife, maybe—when the muttering gets a little louder.

As I inch toward the door and place a hand on the knob, my heart shoots off.

Please don’t be something that can kill me.

Shoving the door open, I utter a silent prayer that the door doesn’t creak. For once, the gods actually listen, and I enter the room noiselessly. I spot a desk with a lantern perched on top, and as I approach, the light throws my shadow onto the wall.

“No, shut up! You don’t even know him!”

My eyes dart left, toward the sound of the voice, and I find a figure huddled in the corner. She’s facing the wall so I shine my flashlight onto her back.

She freezes.

“Kiwi?” I ask in a measured voice. “You alright?”

She doesn’t turn around, so I glance around the room, hoping to find someone else. And I don’t.

Woman is definitely crazy.

“Who ya talking to?” I ask, pivoting back to her. I try to sound casual.

She whirls around and levels me with those pitch dark eyes. I gulp and try to keep my face neutral.

“No one,” she says with a hiss.

She raises her hand to shield her eyes, and I realize I’m shining my flashlight in her face. I lower it.

“What the hell are you doing up, anyway?” She crosses her arms over her chest.

My mouth opens, but I can’t think of anything to say.

“And why is your chest all out?” She sounds annoyed as she stalks toward me. Without thinking, I back up until I hit the wall.

“Uh, I… it got tight.” I shake my head to clear it. “Wait, you’re avoiding the question. Who the hell were you talking to?”

She glares at me and I meet her gaze, unblinking.

“My sisters.” She shrugs, like what she just said wasn’t crazy as hell, and turns away from me. Then, she hops up on the desk and adds, “You should get some sleep.”

“Yeah, so should you, crazy. What do you mean, your sisters?”

She actually smiles. A small, almost sexy and impish grin. She raises her chin. “You want to help me with that?” It comes out with a purr.

I raise my eyebrows. “Come again?”

She pushes her chest out. “I could use a little help getting to sleep. Do you want to help me?”

There is a tingle of desire in my man stick and have to fight not to roll my eyes. So don’t want to go there. Not after what she did to Sadie. Not after I’ve just confirmed she’s crazy.

“Uh, I don’t know if we should go there again, cra… Kiwi.”

“No?” She hops off the desk and sashays toward me.

There is no denying her strange beauty. She wraps her arms around my waist and kisses my chest. Another tingle, more persistent than the first, dims whatever arguments I just had in my head.

Then she steps back and starts to peel her suit away from her body.

“Um.” I raise my hand to block the view. “I don’t know…I’m gonna have to ask you not to do that,” I say, while I still have blood in my smart brain.

Instead of stopping, she tilts her head and bites the corner of her mouth. When the suit hits the floor, my jaw lands with it.

She’s naked, walking back toward me.

“Pike.” She stands on her tiptoes and presses those full lips against my ear. Her breath comes out heavy. “I want you to fuck me until I can’t think.”

I remember there were several good reasons I don’t want to do this. I can’t, however, remember any one of those reasons. I can only lean down and wrap my arms around her waist. I press my face against her neck. She smells like grime and gunpowder. It’s hot as hell.

“You sure about that?” I ask before dragging my lips along the crook of her neck.

She shivers in my arms and clings to me tighter. I take that as a yes and pick her up, then walk across the room with her and sit her gently on the desk.

I pull away and she looks at me for several seconds, before hopping off the desk. I open my mouth to ask where she’s going, when she tangles her fingers in the fabric of my suit. I’d almost forgotten that it was still hanging at my waist. She peels it away from my body slowly, lowering herself down in front of me as she does. When the suit is around my ankles, I step out of it and watch her lift herself back to standing.

I let my gaze fall up and down her body, then nod at the desk. “Get yo sexy ass back up there.”

She smiles and slowly does as I ask her, sliding one butt cheek, then the other up onto the desk. I saunter forward and place a hand on each of her thighs. As slow as I can manage, I trace my fingers up and down her smooth legs. Her nipples grow hard.

I have to swallow because she makes my mouth water. I lift my hands and run a few fingers up her stomach and cup one breast.

I lean forward to whisper into her ear. “No hitting this time.”

I feel her nod, then I pull away and bend my head over her right breast, the one I’m cupping. I give it a squeeze and gently place her nipple between my teeth.

She gasps and rears back.

“No hitting,” I remind her.

With a smile, I flick my tongue across her nipple then move over to give the same attention to her other breast. Then I run my tongue down her taut stomach, and she grabs a handful of my hair. I plant a kiss on the inside of each thigh.

“Oh, Pike,” she moans. “Just fuck me.”

I grip her legs at the back of her knees and pull her toward me until her ass is almost hanging off the desk. She bites her lip.

“I can do that,” I say in a hoarse voice as I rub myself gently against her clit. She gasps again and, for a few seconds, I enjoy the sight of her trying to catch her breath.

“Come on. Please,” she whispers.

I clench my jaw because I wasn’t going to be able to tease her for that much longer. I slide inside her. Gently at first. My eyes want to roll back in my head, she feels so good. She feels more than good. She’s the best I’ve ever felt.

There are so many things wrong and right about that.

She slides closer to me and clamps her arms around my neck.

“Harder,” she grunts between clenched teeth.

I roll my hips faster, thrusting in and out of her so fast and hard the desk starts to slide across the room with our movement.

“Oh, God… Pike. Oh, yeah.” She lets out a moan that bounces off the walls, then her eyes widen slightly. She pushes up into my arms and buries her face into the crook of my shoulder, I guess to stop herself from calling out again.

I still do my best to wake everyone in this goddamned jail. I take her from every angle I can think off. I take her until she moans that she can’t take anymore. I take her until the first hint of morning sun trickles in through the box-shaped window above us. She’s mine until the morning yawns hello and we must continue our march toward death.

I wake up with Kiwi’s head lodged against my neck. My first thought is that I’m sore. My second thought is how the hell did we get back here? I peer through the darkness, and even though there is only a trickle of light illuminating the room, I can tell we’re in the holding cell I originally intended to sleep in. I lift my head a few inches and glance at the floor.

Our shit is piled up in a mound next to the bed. Weapons are scattered everywhere. And the last hint of light is dancing within the lamp Tripp brought me the night before. With a sigh, I glance down at Kiwi.

I’m about to shake her awake when I hear, “Everybody up! We move out in forty-five!” It’s Tripp.

“Shit.” I scramble for a blanket before I remember that I don’t have one. Then, the door squeals open and a bright light is shining on us.

“Hey, get up, ma—“

I glance, frozen under Tripp’s flashlight and narrowed eyes. We stare at each other for a few long moments. Finally, I manage a small smile. Then, I wave. “Hey man, gotcha. I’m up.”

He plants a hand on his hip and shakes his head. “Mm hm.” With that, he closes the door, and his steps trail away from us.

I let my head fall back onto the pillow and sigh.

“Great.” That’s just what I need.

After a few seconds, I shake Kiwi awake. She moans in protest.

“Come on, craz… I mean, Kiwi. We got to get up, girl.”

She moans again, before slightly lifting her head. She covers her eyes with one hand and pouts. It’s pretty damn cute, and my heart responds to it by beating faster. I shake off that feeling and smack her on the ass.

“Come on, girl. Get cho ass up.”

She removes her hand and hisses at me. I try not to smile. No. I do not like this woman. Not this crazy, child-screwing-over woman. I sit up and push her off of me.

She backs up on the cot, sits up on her knees, and scowls. “You know, you can be a real ass cannon.”

I pause in the process of swinging my legs over the side of the cot. I shoot her a glance, then plant my feet on the floor.

“Right,” I mutter, grabbing my suit so I can seal myself back inside of it. “
I’m
an ass… whatever.” I lean over and shove my legs into my suit and start working it up over my torso.

“So you’re still mad about the…” She doesn’t finish her sentence.

Not that she needs to. We both know what she’s talking about. It’s a good question, and one I don’t have an answer to. I’m angry about so many things.

Finally I say, “I don’t think we should talk about it.”

“Fine.” She snatches up her suit, stalks to the corner, and starts getting dressed. I stare at her for a few seconds before I finish putting on the rest of my gear.

Once my suit is on, I reload myself down with weapons. I’m almost finished when the door opens and shuts. When I look up, Kiwi is gone. With a sigh, slide my last knife into my forearm holster, put my backpack on, and stand up.

When I make it to the main room, everyone is standing around the circular desk, chowing down oatmeal from dark plastic bags and canned peaches. I plant myself on one side of Juliet and as far away from Tripp as I can manage. He stands across from me, eating and glancing between Kiwi and myself. I try my best to ignore him and work on my own breakfast.

I finish after everyone else. Beside me, Juliet claps, and I glance over at her.

“Alright, people. We have to get going. Make sure you have all your things, find a place to relieve yourself, and get loaded into the vehicles. Remember, we have to make part of this next stretch on foot.”

Everyone rustles to life, moving this way and that. I start off to find somewhere to take my morning piss when Juliet places her hand on my arm.

“Wait, I need you.” She raises her voice. “And, Jameson, I need you here as well.”

As soon as everyone clears the room, I look down at Juliet.

“What do you want?” I ask.

She flips her hair, then glances from Jameson and back to myself.

With a sigh, she says, “You were right.” Her gaze travels from me and lands on Jameson. “I need you to kill him. Is that okay with you?”

My eyes dart to Jameson, whose face is crimson, and raise an eyebrow. “Um, I guess I’d need more information.”

“You were right,” Juliet says without looking back at me. “There is a witch back at Compound 6. And this… traitor has been working with her.” She glances back and flashes a polite smile. “I was going to put a bullet in his brain, but I figure you could use the fuel.”

“Hey!” Jameson shouts, sweat streaming down his face. “I don’t know what in the hell you’re talking about!”

Juliet turns back to him, clearly unfazed. “Don’t, Jameson. The witch, Lester Sinclair outed you.”

“He’s lying!” Jameson backs away from us, shaking his head.

“Really, darling? Then how else did he come to know the specifics of our mission? How did he come to know where we were and when?”

Jameson’s mouth gapes open, and I kind of feel for the dude. Only for a second. I don’t have room for all that anymore. I have to be the monster. I have to be Sadie’s monsters, and I have to get back to her.

Juliet turns back to me with wide, expectant eyes. “Well, are you going to do it? Or am I? We need to get going.”

I shrug. “I’ll do it. Wait outside.”

Juliet nods at me and heads for the front door.

“What the…” Jameson swivels back and forth between us, face angry but pleading. “Now hang on just a damn minute!”