Joshua
Will, Mike, and I barely got away from the desert clearing before the cops showed up. Fortunately, I navigated the way through brush and rocks, steering the van expertly around a giant hole in the ground and a hill that would have really held us back.
Will and Mike were high-fiving in the backseat, whooping and hollering about how we’d escaped. I didn’t feel so fucking great, myself; even though we’d gotten away with both Derrick and the guns, it wasn’t really what I could call a success. After all, Jasmine had betrayed me. Or she hadn’t been able to convince that bitch in her club that my guys hadn’t been involved with the rape.
Will had cut the ropes around Derrick’s wrists and ankles. Now he was sitting in the passenger seat of the van, rubbing his wrists and trying to get the blood flowing in his hands again. While he looked a little weak and hungry, I knew that he’d be just fine as soon as we got a beer and a cheeseburger down his throat. He was also being much nicer than he had before, as though the assault had taught him some manners.
“Thanks,” Derrick muttered when I passed him a big thermos of water. “Did you guys think they were gonna do anything to me?” He swallowed hard, making his Adam’s apple bob. “I mean, I wasn’t scared,” he added quickly in a casual voice. “I wasn’t really worried about what they’d do.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re fine, Derrick, and that’s what matters,” I said as I reached over and cuffed him on the shoulder. “You made it through, man, that’s what counts.”
Derrick grinned at me. “You still mad, boss?”
I stared at him for a second, then shook my head. Clouds of dust were billowing around the van and making it hard for me to see out the windshield. I was glad for the distraction; I didn't want to keep staring at Derrick. I wasn't mad at him anymore, but I couldn't stop thinking about the Wild Witches and what they'd done to get us into this mess in the first place. After all, it had been Jasmine's fault.
Or had it?
“Derrick,” I said sharply. “When was the last time you heard from Patti?”
Derrick swallowed hard. He took another long drink from the thermos and wiped droplets of water away from his chin. “It’s been a while,” he admitted slowly. “Maybe, like, two days before Leo and his guys took me?”
I nodded. “We need to get to the Wild Witches,” I said sharply, grabbing the wheel and turning it sharply. I was maybe an hour’s drive away from their clubhouse, but I had the worst feeling that something had gone wrong. After all, I hadn’t heard from Jasmine since the previous day. If Roni was really and truly up to something…
“Boss,” Will said sharply as the van bounced over the roads. “What the fuck are we doing? Where are we going?”
“We gotta get to the Wild Witches,” Derrick said. He turned around in the seat and stared at Mike and Will. “Boss thinks they know something about them cops who showed up.”
I shook my head, feeling sick. “Something’s going on with them,” I told the guys in a warning tone. “That Jasmine, she doesn’t trust about half of her girls. You’d better listen to her and everything she says, got it?” I glared at the side of Derrick’s head. “You’re not allowed to run off and fuck Patti. I know you just got out, but you’ll have time to catch up with her later.”
The van sped through a sleepy desert town. My eyes ached from all the warm, brown scenery around me. Suddenly, I wished that we were heading out of town. I wished that we were going towards a mission in the hills, or anything that would mean stepping away from the Wild Witches for a goddamned minute. I was still so angry with Jasmine, but I was starting to understand that in order to really fix everything that was going on, we’d have to put aside all of our personal problems.
“Derrick,” I said sharply. “Can you call Patti? See what’s happening at the clubhouse.” I grimaced as I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. Considering what Roni and some of the other women thought, I knew that we’d probably be in for a fight when we rolled up to face the Wild Witches.
“She didn’t answer,” Derrick said. He dropped his phone into his lap and gave me a look of disgust. “You don’t think she found another boyfriend, do you?”
I laughed. “Fuck that, Derrick,” I said sharply. “Right now, we have to let them know we’re coming. Mike! Will! Look at those guns we got—do we have any ammo?”
“Yeah,” Will barked from the back seat. “We’ve got tons.”
“Good,” I said as I pushed my foot harder on the gas pedal. “We’re gonna need them.”
When we pulled into the Wild Witches’ clubhouse parking lot, I noticed a couple of things. For one, I didn’t see very many bikes. There were only two or three, but the parking lot was full of skid marks. I frowned as I got out of the car. Leo had supplied us well—we had enough stuff to stay in business for maybe six months, maybe even a year if we did really well. Will and Mike and I had armed ourselves to the teeth. Even Derrick had a gun stuck in the back of his waistband and a pistol in his hand.
“Come on,” I said as I directed the guys closer to the building. “Come on, come on, we gotta get closer to the inside.”
Will and Mike glanced at each other. “Boss, isn’t this dangerous?” Mike asked. “Didn’t they just call the cops on us? What the fuck are we doin’ hangin’ around here?”
I shook my head impatiently. “They didn’t,” I said. “They had a member who did, and she’s fucking crooked. I have to tell Jasmine what happened, I have to get to her as soon as possible.”
Mike and Will stared blankly at me. “Man, I don’t know if this makes sense,” Will complained. He kicked at the ground with the toe of his boot. “I mean, man, I wanna help and all. But what if they just get angry, like they did when we showed up for that party?”
“Yeah,” Derrick said. He rubbed his arms with his hands and looked dour. “I mean, I wanna see Patti. But I don’t know what her deal is, and I don’t wanna go barging in.”
I sighed. "Come on," I said, gesturing for Derrick to follow me. After a few seconds, he walked closer and knocked on the door.
There was a lapse of about ten seconds until it was opened by a brunette girl. She was glaring at me. “What the fuck are you doing here?” She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t wanna see you around.”
“Patti!” Derrick exclaimed. He pushed past me and wrapped the surly-looking girl in his arms, pressing his mouth against hers and shoving his tongue inside. She squealed and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close and pressing her tight body against his. “I’m so fucking glad to see you,” Derrick murmured into Patti’s neck. She pushed away from him and then looked at me.
“I’m Joshua,” I explained. “I lead the Venom Brothers. I need to speak with Jasmine. There’s been…well, there’s been some kind of accident.”
Patti frowned. “Jasmine’s not here,” she said softly. “She just left.”
My phone vibrated in my pocket and I reached down to pull it up. “Hello?”
It was Jasmine. But when I answered the phone, I didn’t hear her voice. There was an odd ringing sound, like someone had picked up her phone from the ground and called my number. I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Before I could even hang up, Patti and Derrick pounced on me.
“What happened?” Patti was looking at me with big, scared eyes. “That’s what I was trying to tell you,” she said, swallowing hard. “Jasmine came and we talked and, um, we cleared some stuff up. Then when Roni showed up, Jasmine made her promise that she wouldn’t call the cops. They fought about it but Roni lost, and she and Taylor left.”
I frowned. “Who the fuck is Taylor?”
Patti blushed and glanced away. She got up on the tips of her toes and leaned towards Derrick, whispering in his ear.
“She’s the girl who was attacked,” Derrick said blankly. “She was the one who was raped.”
A sick feeling settled in my stomach and I clenched my teeth. "And she left with Roni?"
Patti nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “And now you’re getting creepy calls from Jasmine’s phone? Did something happen?”
I nodded. “Something must have fucking happened,” I growled. “I don’t understand what, though.”
"Roni's trying to ruin the club," she said. "Oh God," she added, her cheeks turning white and bloodless. "Do you think she tried to hurt Jaz?"
My hands made fists at my sides. “Probably,” I muttered. “Hold on.” I pulled my phone out, examining the call. It had only lasted for thirty seconds. I wondered if Jasmine was in danger, if somehow she’d gotten stuck in the desert. I wondered if she was alone, or if that snake Roni had found her. Most of all, I hoped that she would be okay. But I had no way of knowing.
“Man, look,” Derrick said. He pointed down at my hand. My phone was vibrating with a call coming in from an unknown number. “You should answer it.”
I glared at him before swiping my phone open and holding it up to my ear. “Hello?”
There was a dark female laugh that made me shiver. “Hello, Joshua,” the voice said. “I bet you know who this is.”
I closed my eyes and tilted my head back. “Roni?”
There was another laugh. “You got it, baby,” she growled in a low tone. “And I bet you can guess why I’m calling?”
“Because you want my MC fucking ruined?” I snapped into the phone. Anger coursed through my veins and I found myself feeling more vulnerable than I had in a long time. “What the fuck do you want?”
“I have Jasmine,” Roni said. “And unless you give up all of the weapons you just bought—every single one—I’m not telling you where she is.”
“Fine,” I snapped. And that was it; in a moment, in an instant, everything that I’d worked to build for years was gone. The profits that Venom Brothers would have made over the next year, gone. Money and repairs for our clubhouse, gone.
Everything was gone.
Jasmine
For a time, I was asleep. I was dreaming that I was with Joshua again, and it was all those years ago. Instead of thinking about how fucked up everything was, I could only focus on all the beauty all around me. We were riding together, on the same bike, and my face was pressed into the back of his neck. I could smell his sweat and his cologne and the faint odor of smoke, and more than anything in the world all I wanted was for Joshua to stop the bike, turn around, and kiss me deeply.
But instead, Joshua drove faster and faster. I could feel the bike speeding up and changing gears under my legs, and I clung to his back as tightly as I could. We whipped through the trees and the forest like it was nothing, like we were gliding on air.
“Leslie,” a voice whispered in my ear. It sounded like Joshua, but that was impossible because he was sitting in front of me. “Leslie, I love you.” Now I knew that it was Joshua, and it made sense. “This is a dream,” Joshua’s voice whispered in my ear, the dark tones caressing my skin. “This is a dream, Leslie, and you need to wake up.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head from one side to the other. My head felt strangely heavy, and I realized that my helmet extended from my neck all the way down my sides. Instead of thinking this was strange, it actually seemed kind of nice. “This is weird,” I said back to Joshua. “Why does my helmet fit like this?”
“It’s supposed to fit that way,” Joshua said. I felt his hand stroking the back of my neck and suddenly, I was no longer afraid. “It’ll protect you in case we get in a crash. I wouldn’t want you to ever be hurt, Leslie. That would absolutely destroy me.”
And Joshua knew best. I closed my eyes and rested my face against the back of his jacket as we sped through the forest roads. Soon, we were deep in the forest, and I could no longer see the sky. Sunlight dappled the road, the rocks, and the trees around us. I breathed in and felt content—the smell of trees, mixed with Joshua, had always made me feel calm. It reminded me of one of the first times we’d ever snuck out together and gone to the woods.
As we drove further and further into the forest, I felt a chill come over my skin. Rubbing my hands on my arms, I realized that it was getting late. And dark. A bat flew across our path and the sunlight had suddenly changed to moonlight. Even though I was with Joshua and completely safe, I began to feel afraid and scared.
"Don't be frightened, Leslie," Joshua said, as if reading my mind. "I promise, everything's going to be just fine." He stopped the motorcycle and pulled me into his arms. Joshua felt even stronger and more protective than usual, and I nestled happily into his chest. Before I knew it, his fingers were dipping under my chin and nudging my head up for a kiss.
“I love you,” I whispered to Joshua. “I’m so sorry about everything.” I pulled away and gestured towards the empty air. “I never wanted to hurt you, I never wanted to do that thing.”
“What thing?” Joshua stepped closer. He held out his arms again, and I dove into them, rubbing my face against his neck. “What are you talking about?”
I wanted to confess. I knew that Joshua needed to know or else he’d be really angry, but I couldn’t make myself tell him. Snuggling in his arms felt too safe, too good to even begin talking about something dangerous.
“Nothing,” I murmured as I wrapped my arms around his strong torso and squeezed hard. “You’re my favorite person. I love you so much, Joshua.”
“I love you, too,” Joshua whispered. He kissed the top of my head, my temples, my hair, until I was tingling with love and pleasure. Arousal flowed through my body like oil as I turned my head up to meet his face. Joshua’s lips were soft and full and I moaned softly as they pressed against mine. When I felt his tongue slip between my lips, I knew I was in heaven.
“Oh, Leslie,” Joshua moaned. He slid his hands down my back and firmly squeezed my ass. It sent shockwaves of pleasure through my body and I shuddered happily at his touch. Joshua knew how to touch me like no one else ever had—or could. I was convinced he was truly the only man who could make me happy.
“Joshua,” I moaned softly, tangling my hands in his blond hair and pulling his head down towards me. “Oh, let’s run away. Let’s never come back to LA, let’s forget about everything and just be the two of us.”
Joshua grinned at me. “Baby, that’s all I’ve ever wanted,” he said in a husky voice. He stared at me in a way that made me feel he was looking at me naked. “That’s what we’re doing, isn’t it? We’re running away.”
I nodded. I hadn’t thought of it before, but now it made sense. We were running away. Because we loved each other, and that was the only way we were going to be together.
“But there’s one thing you have to do first,” Joshua said. He smirked at me, and I blushed hotly, thinking he was going to ask me to suck his cock or let him fuck me. I shivered deliciously. Joshua never had to ask—he knew that I’d always do exactly what he asked of me.
“Of course,” I said as sweetly as I could, stepping forward and lowering my eyes. “What is it?”
“Tell me why you ruined this club!” Joshua roared.
I gasped, stumbling back and falling on my butt. Sharp stones pierced my jeans and scratched at my skin until I could feel myself beginning to bleed. I tried to scramble away on my hands and feet, like a crab, but the ground was too rocky and I yelped as a stone cut into my thumb.
“Joshua,” I whimpered. “You hurt me, why did you do that?”
But when I looked into Joshua’s face, it was no longer Joshua. The person standing in front of me was none other than Roni, my arch nemesis. She was just as tall and muscular as Joshua, and maybe even stronger from the look of hatred in her black eyes. As Roni stepped forward towards me, I scuttled back, crying out in pain as the sharp rocks continued to abuse my body. All of the arousal and safe, calm feelings in my body had completely disappeared and I felt more terrified and afraid than I’d ever felt in my life. All I wanted to do was get away from this monster, this creature, and find Joshua. If I lived, I’d find Joshua. I vowed right then and there to never leave his side ever again.
“Jasmine,” Roni said with a nasty grin on her face. She stepped closer and kicked me hard in the gut. I cried out and clutched my stomach, rolling over onto my belly. “Jasmine, you bitch,” Roni said calmly. “And what the fuck kind of name is Jasmine, anyway? You think you can fucking rule a motorcycle club?” She threw her head back and laughed viciously.
"Roni, I'm sure we can work this out," I begged, getting on my knees and staring up at her. For some reason, I could get to my feet. Then, I realized that I was frozen to the ground—Roni was somehow keeping me captive, walled in ice. Shivers crawled up my spine and I began to taste metallic fear in my mouth. I yelled loudly, but my scream only echoed in the trees. “Roni, please!”
Roni grinned and walked around me in a slow, deliberate circle. “Jasmine, you have to realize that you’re my prisoner now,” she said in a low, deep voice. “You’re mine, and you never get to escape.” She winked at me and sucked her teeth. “You have to do whatever I want, you realize that?”
“No,” I said defiantly, shaking my head and staring down at the ground. Maybe if I prayed, maybe if I thought hard enough, Joshua would be able to come and rescue me. “No, Roni,” I added. “I’m not doing that. I’m not living as your slave. I refuse!”
Roni laughed again before coming so close that I could smell her—a rank, sweaty scent, amplified by smoke and engine grease. “You told me once that I’d lead the Wild Witches,” she said casually, and my heart sank. “You told me that I’d be the leader, that everything would be worth it as long as I followed you.” Roni paused and the sick feeling in my stomach grew more intense. “You swore that everything would be okay. You swore it, you bitch. And now I’m here, having to do everything on my own because I can’t count on you as a friend anymore!”
“Roni, it’s not like that,” I insisted weakly. “You know I’d never do anything to hurt you! You know how much I used to care for you!”
"It was never enough," Roni sneered. "But don't worry Jasmine. I've figured out the way I wanna get my revenge on you." She smiled at me and I felt a chill of fear spike in my heart. "I figured out exactly what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna hunt down your precious Joshua like a dog."
In the distance, there came the howling of wolves. My skin prickled with fear and I glanced at Roni’s face in absolute horror. Surely she didn’t mean to chase Joshua down with a pack of wolves! Surely she wouldn’t ever do something so awful, something so hateful!
“Roni!” I cried loudly. “Don’t do this! Don’t hurt Joshua! I’ll do anything you want! I’ll give you anything! All of the money, the whole club, everything’s yours!”
Roni threw her head back and cackled loudly. “Oh, I’m gonna do it,” she said, winking at me again. Despair overwhelmed my body and I began to sob loudly. “I’m gonna do it,” Roni repeated, louder than before. “He’s out there, running like a wild dog, and these wolves are gonna tear him apart." Roni reached down until her sweaty forehead was pressed against mine and I could smell the rotten stink of her breath. "And then I'm gonna use his cock as a hood ornament," Roni said. "I've always wanted to do that. No one ever took me seriously, but after I ruin Venom Brothers, Roni will be the name on everyone's lips."
“No,” I begged. Tears clouded my vision and my nose filled with hot, wet snot. “No, please don’t hurt him! Please don’t hurt Joshua! Hurt me! Kill me instead! I don’t care!”
“Oh, I will,” Roni said. She kept her voice low and soft. “I’m gonna hurt you more than you ever realized I could, Jasmine. It’s not going to be slow, and it’s going to be the worst pain you’ve ever felt. Are you ready to beg for it? Are you ready to beg for your own death?”
A sharp kick to the gut made me open my eyes. The air around me was hot and still and try as I might, I still couldn't move either of my arms or my legs. It took me a moment to realize that my arms were still bound behind my back and that the more I tussled and fought, the tighter the bonds became.
There was a strip of black cloth tied tightly over my eyes so tightly that it was giving me a headache. Every time I tried to open my eyes under the blindfold, hot, salty tears squeezed through my eyelids and dripped down my cheeks.
There was a huge lump in my throat. Whenever I swallowed, I could feel it bobbing up and down, threatening me to cry.
“You look like a pathetic little girl when you’re trussed up like that.” Roni’s voice was low and amused and I shuddered, remembering the vivid dream I’d just had. “Say, you don’t look like the leader of the Wild Witches at all. You look almost like a captive.”
“Because that’s what I am,” I said bitterly. My mouth was dry and it felt like the soft tissue inside would split apart just from the sheer effort of talking to Roni. “You know you did this to me, Roni. You know this all your fault.”
Roni laughed savagely. She threw her head back in the air and cackled. “You’re right, I did, honey,” she said. “And I have a little story to tell you.”
My stomach, anxious as it was, did a flip-flop at the sound of Roni’s statement. I couldn’t help but shudder as I felt her footsteps circling around me on the ground, like she was a vulture and I was already dead.
“Roni, cut the shit,” I said softly. “This isn’t worth fighting about. You can have everything you want. You can have the club, no problem. Take whatever money we have. Just let me go, and don’t hurt Joshua.”
“Joshua?” I heard the disdain in Roni’s voice. “Joshua, really? You wanna save your precious fucking little boyfriend?”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said sharply. My voice quavered with fear, hunger, and exhaustion. “He’s just a friend, but I know he’s a good man. He didn’t do this, Roni. He doesn’t deserve to go to prison for a crime he didn’t even commit.”
Roni laughed. I felt her hands twisting into my hair and ripping the blindfold away. I cried out—the fabric had been tied to my hair and Roni was now standing with a big chunk of it in her hand. I could feel where my scalp had ripped and now was bleeding. I glared at Roni, feeling hatred course through my veins. Never had I felt like this before, never had someone I’d loved so dearly managed to upset me so fucking much.
“You want me to save Joshua?” Roni’s face twisted into a sneer. She got down on her hands and knees and glared at me. “You really want me to save him? Why, Jasmine? Because he’s a man?”
“No,” I said sharply, wincing at Roni’s accusation. “Because he’s a good man, and he didn’t rape anyone. I don’t believe in ruining someone’s life just because you have it out against them!”
Roni laughed. She tutted and sucked her teeth. “You fool,” she said with a nasty glint in her eye. “You absolute idiot. You wanna save men just because they look good. Men like Joshua are scum, Jasmine. That’s the little story I wanted to tell you. Men like Joshua, with their MCs and their boys behind them, they’re fucking scum. They don’t give a shit about women. They don’t care what happens to us, don’t you get that? They don’t fucking care, Jasmine. They care about themselves, and following their dicks and getting rich. Joshua doesn’t love you. As soon as he gets old and you do too, he’ll dump you for the latest model. Jasmine, think about what you’re doing! You’re throwing away the whole MC for a man!”
“I’m not,” I protested hotly. Now I was really getting angry. I’d always known that Roni hated men with every fiber of her being, but this was something else. This was a senseless desire to ruin Joshua’s life, to wreck everything that he’d built. Sure, he may not be the most honorable man in the world, gun runners rarely were, but he wasn’t a rapist, and he didn’t deserve to go to prison.
Roni laughed. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back on one heel. “That’s what you say, Jasmine, but I’ve had another plan all along.” She grinned at me. “It was real fuckin’ genius for you to offer the Wild Witches to me, y’know, after you’re done with them.” She yawned and fanned a hand daintily in front of her face. “But I got a little sick of waiting. You were just so goddamn competent! The girls loved you for some reason!” Roni’s eyes flashed malevolence and anger. “And I couldn’t stand it! Where was their respect for me? After all, I’m the goddamn muscle of the whole group! You may be a charismatic leader, Jasmine, but everyone knows you suck at fighting.” Roni laughed again. “You barely even bruised me before, you bitch.” She spat the last word.
I felt confused and angry. “Roni, what the hell are you talking about? You need to tell me what the fuck is going on, and I mean right now.”
“I’m getting there, kitten,” Roni said in a patronizing little whisper. “You’re not listening yet. So, I had this great plan. Instead of you leading the Wild Witches, I decided that it should be me. And don’t be mad about that—everyone seems to like me better than you, and you know it, Jasmine.” Roni winked. “So…Taylor and I cooked up a little scheme, just the two of us.”
My stomach dropped and I shifted uncomfortably on the ground. All of the blood had drained from my hands and I was in intense pain but I knew there was no use in struggling. Roni was much stronger than me, and she’d bound me so tightly that I knew I had little chance for escape.
“Taylor faked her own assault?” The words sounded even worse out loud than they had in my head. “Are you fucking kidding me?” I shuddered, remembering the dark blood that had soaked through Taylor’s sheets and onto the mattress. She’d been in bad shape after that attack! She wasn’t even able to have children now, for fuck’s sake! And sweet, innocent Taylor! Taylor, whom Roni hated!
"I love watching you think," Roni growled in a low voice. It sent a shiver of fear through my body. "You ain't as smart as you think you are, Jasmine. You're actually pretty fucking dumb. I never hated Taylor, I just needed you to think that I did. She and I have been in this since the beginning." Roni made an obscene gesture with her fingers against her mouth and suddenly I understood. "We're lovers, Jasmine. Taylor and I are in love, and we wanted to take over the Wild Witches for ourselves. I knew that if we brought Venom Brothers down and got rid of you, we'd be the biggest MC in the city. And isn't that what you always wanted for your little girls?"
“No!” I shouted as loudly as I could. My world was falling down around my ears in a haze of fright and confusion and I had no idea what was going to happen. Roni dating Taylor? They’d been in love the whole time? They’d been working together? That still wasn’t nearly as chilling as the fact that she’d hurt herself so badly just for the sake of revenge against an innocent group of men.
"This is so fucked up," I said softly, leaning back and letting my head thump against the concrete wall of the warehouse. "I can't believe you, Roni. I can't believe you would fucking do this to your own goddamn club. What about Patti? What about Lana?"
Roni whistled. I was horrified as Lana and Taylor stalked out of the corners of the warehouse. They were clad all in black and holding assault rifles cradled in their arms. Lana winked at me.
"Hi, Jaz," she said with a grin. "I couldn't wait for you to figure out the plan! Isn't this great?"
I glared at her and scowled. “Fuck you, you bitch,” I said under my breath.
Taylor walked closer, all smiles like Lana and Roni. She still looked innocent and cute, but for once, that wounded air about her was gone and I realized it had been an act from the very beginning. For all her talk about being shy and quiet and young, that was all a fucking ruse to get my guard down. I felt rage seething in my body when I realized how badly Taylor had played me—even worse than Roni, considering I’d trusted her so blindly.
“You didn’t want to get revenge for me,” Taylor said softly. She smiled at me and I shuddered. “That was when I decided that I’d made the right decision to support Roni instead of you. You were a shitty leader, Jasmine. You only thought of yourself.”
“That’s not true!” I exploded loudly. “I hate you, you fucking cunt!”
Taylor gave me a cutesy smile and spun around in a circle. She walked over to Roni and put her arm around her waist, kissing her deeply. Roni broke the kiss and turned to face me.
“Any last words, Jasmine?” She spat my name and I shuddered.
“Yeah,” I said sharply. “You can go straight to hell.”