Chapter Eleven
Brody’s father was notoriously violent about his son’s shortcomings. It was one of the first things Theo learned when he came to work for the guy. Brody tried to keep things fair for everyone involved. His father didn’t give a shit about what was fair. He had his eyes on the bottom line, and Brody had to jump through his hoops to avoid punishment suffered through the death of his friends. Theo knew that. He was at risk.
The irony made him smile. If it wasn’t for Skye’s safety, he’d welcome death at the hands of his friend’s arsehole father. Brody had picked a terrible time to pull this stunt with the girl. Collateral damage didn’t bother his father at all, so Theo was going to have to find a way to keep Skye safe from his murderous sight.
“This is going to sound pretty fucked up,” he started, hands on his hips as he tried to figure out how to deal with the problem. He didn’t even know where to begin explaining this, and there wasn’t much time to do that, besides.
“I heard the phone call. What did she mean?”
He considered it long and hard before he leaned down and pulled her into his arms. “She meant we need to hide from someone who might kill us for just the hell of it.”
Her gasp against his chest tickled his skin. She put her arms around his neck as he turned and started to move. He shifted her weight in his hands as he reached into the bathroom to turn out the light. The glittering shards of glass on the ground looked sharp. He was glad now that she hadn’t managed to kill him. Who knew what that might have meant for her?
“Where are we going, exactly?” She was whispering, a hint of fear in her tone.
He moved to the wardrobe and kept his voice low as he spoke, “We need to hide, and we need to keep quiet.”
He slid open the wardrobe door and laid her inside. She got into a sitting position and put her back against the wall as he got in beside her and closed the door. It was a roomy, though not quite a walk-in, but it still felt wrong to be sitting inside.
“How quiet?” she whispered into his ear.
He turned to face her, keeping his voice low, “We need to not speak at all.”
She raised her eyebrows, and he could see the apprehension in her expressive face as she slumped back against the wall.
He shrugged at her by way of apology, worry beginning to nag at him as he stretched out his enhanced hearing. He closed his eyes, ignoring the pain as his stomach cramped. Starving himself had seemed like such a good idea at the time, but he was really beginning to regret it now, if only for the inconvenient side effects. His concentration was too split to really allow him to hear anything beyond the beating of Skye’s heart and the increasingly shaky sounds of her breathing.
He opened his eyes as she leaned into him, whispering into his ear. “Can’t you fight him?”
He wished it were that simple. He could tell by the look in her eyes when she pulled back that she was confused underneath the apprehension. She’d never met a vampire before, so he doubted she’d ever met a witch either. The relationship between the two was a double-edged blade. Witches had created the first vampires, binding human body and soul to a demonic soul looking for a way to walk the earth. Witches were the original makers of vampires, and retained complete control over the vampires they created. Though vampires could become makers too, it didn’t happen as often because of the risks involved.
He leaned in and whispered, “He uses magic. I can’t fight that.”
Her eyes widened. She opened her mouth and closed it again. Shaking her head, she leaned back against the wall.
He wished there was something more he could do to keep her safe, something other than hiding like a coward, but the truth was there was nothing. If Brody’s father decided to kill him, a simple word spoken would be enough to end his life, doubtlessly engulfed in flame as he seemed so fond of doing to the vampires his son became attached to. He smiled wryly just thinking about it. Brody had saved him, but he might also become his death. If it wasn’t for Skye, he could live with that thought.
He glanced at her, her eyes closed as her lips moved soundlessly. She was counting silently, it seemed. Her breath was shaky on every exhale to begin with but normalized as her lips kept moving her count into high double digits. He promised himself he’d find a way to get her out. He knew Brody would do what he could to stop his father. He just needed to have faith in that. As soon as this threat had passed, he’d get Skye out of the brothel. After that…
He shook his head. After didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting her out of harm’s way.