CHAPTER 40
ZIGGY
“Where the fuck were you?” I shouted at Blade, as he sat in front of me, his head hung in shame.
The Gods filled Lucky’s room, as I paced around like an angry panther in front of them, raging like a madman.
I’d returned to find Lucky’s room completely unguarded, and Lucky sitting on the couch like she was in a coma, dazed and wide-eyed. I saw the roses, Blade’s vest, and then read the note with growing alarm. Right away, I called everyone up to the room and a few minutes after they’d arrived, Blade came rushing in, buckling his belt, his hair disheveled and the guiltiest look I’d ever seen smeared on someone’s face.
“I’m so sorry,” he said.
“I told you I would be right back! I told you to wait for me.”
“Wait, what? When? I didn’t talk to you. I didn’t see you.”
“Dude, I was only gone ten minutes and you were at the door when I left, what the hell are you talking about?”
“Ziggy, wait a minute,” Ryder said, standing up and putting a calming arm on my own. It was no use. There was no calming me down here. “None of this makes sense. What are you saying, Blade?”
“Look, I fucked up, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to mention this, but I’ve been —,” he paused, his glance flashing over at Lucky before he lowered his voice to finish his sentence, “—I was with Becky.”
“Becky? My assistant?” Lucky asked, her voice full of surprise. “Where?”
“In her room.”
“You were in her hotel room?” Ryder, Lucky and I all asked at once.
“Yes,” he said, his head dropping into his hands. “I’m so sorry.”
“You fucked Becky?” Lucky said, half-laughing, and half-bewildered.
“Yes, ma’am,” he admitted.
“Wait, how is that possible?” I asked. “You were waiting at the door when I walked out and told you I was going to find the bracelet.”
“Ziggy, I swear none of that happened.”
“It fucking happened, are you trying to tell me it wasn’t you?”
“It wasn’t me. And that cut?” He pointed to his vest on the counter. “That’s the one I lost at breakfast.”
“Of course it wasn’t him!” Lucky cried out, jumping to her feet. “Are you people not listening to me? It was Nicholai! He stole the vest. He pretended to be Blade and he came in after you left, Ziggy. This isn’t brain surgery!”
“That’s not fucking possible, Lucky. I saw Blade. I looked at his face. I spoke to him! He spoke back!”
“Ziggy, Becky and I came up to her room before Lucky had even done the first encore. We didn’t come out until five minutes ago. Whoever you spoke to — it wasn’t me.”
“It fucking looked just like you!” I shouted, quickly feeling completely shaken. “How could I be so fucking wrong?”
“Ziggy, I told you, it’s Nicholai. He’s a genius. A horrible, evil genius,” Lucky insisted.
“This can’t keep going like this,” Ryder said, his voice a deep, angry growl that reflected the storm going on inside of me.
“This is fucking crazy,” Slade said, shaking his head. “And kinda brilliant.”
“Brilliant?” I shouted, the urge to punch him rushing through me.
“Sure, dude,” he replied. “Imagine how great it would be if we had these skills, or someone with them, on our team? It could be a huge benefit.”
“Slade, we’re not recruiting Nicholai to be a God,” Riot replied, rolling his eyes.
“Well, of course not, he’s an evil motherfucker! I’m not stupid, I’m just saying that it would be nice if we could do that, too,” he said.
“You all read the note,” I said. “He means business. What should we do now?”
“I have an idea,” Slade said, a gleam sparkling in his eyes.
“Dude,” Riot said, shaking his head.
“I mean it,” he insisted. “You have to fight fire with fire, right? What if we beat him at his own game?”
The smile that spread across his face must have convinced a thousand people to do things they weren’t comfortable with, because one by one, each of the Gods started nodding as they caught on, until the only one left scowling with uncertainty and worry was me.