both excited and running on pure adrenaline.
"Yes! I remember Giselle. She was there. She welcomed me. Introduced me to Arthur with a smile. Said they were happy to see me. Acted like it was normal. God. I was so confused and scared."
"Did he hurt you?" he asks, deep and serious.
I shake my head. "Giselle shot a needle in my arm. I was euphoric. It felt so good. Oh my God. I did drugs and I liked it. But then it all got dark. I was in a room. They were gone. I felt like death. Giselle offered me more. I tried to say no, but she said it would make me feel better. They forced me to take the drugs. Then I woke up in the hospital."
When I look up, he's squinting at me, and his face is burning red like he's on fire. I need to get it together for him. My hands are shaking, but he needs me right now.
"I'm so sorry. Hold on. I'll take you somewhere to rinse that stuff off your face." I slam the car into gear and race through the streets to the first gas station I can find. I pull up to the air and water pumps and run around to Mace's side. Without thinking, I drop a quarter in the machine and open his door.
"Stop!" He holds his hands out, but it's too late. I already have the water hose in my hand.
I squeeze the water into his face and it dribbles down his chest. He shakes his head and closes his eyes. "Stop!" He swipes a long arm out and knocks the water hose out of my hand.
"I'm so sorry. I'm freaking out. Are you okay? I can't think straight. You need water on it."
"No more water."
"It's bleeding!" Red blotches fill the whites of his eyes like he's a demon possessed. I'm breathing so fast I think my heart is going to burst out of my chest. "We need to get you to a hospital."
"No. Just take me home. It's not bleeding."
Home. Mace's home. Twist Cabins. They hate me. "I can't do that."
"I'm fine. Get back in the car and take me up to Boulder Creek."
The last place in the world I want to go is Twist Cabins, but Mace helped me when I needed it, and it would be horrible of me to abandon him now. Maybe I could drop him off without being seen, but I really don't want to leave him like this. I don't know. My mind is racing.
He slumps in the passenger seat as I start the car again. He leans his chair back and covers his eyes with his forearm. "Mutherfucker threw cocaine in my face. Coward."
"I'm so sorry. I didn't want you to get hurt."
"Not your fault."
We sit in silent shock as I drive us to the highway as fast as I can without getting arrested.
Once we're headed south, he says, "You remember?"
I do and it's monumental, but I'm more worried about him. "How are your eyes?"
"The burning stopped. It's numb now. Tell me what you remember."
"I remember meeting with Helix about the missing girl. Her name is Hannah Clark. I wanted to talk with Morganna, but Helix said no. He said I could meet with Diablo instead and set it up. He kidnapped me. Was Helix in on it?"
"If he was, he's going to have an unpleasant run in with Volcano. Helix has been a friend of mine for a long time, but there's no trust amongst thieves. If he did this to you, I'll kill him."
"I don't know. I didn't get the sense he was in on it."
I'm trying to remember details from that night. Mace doing a striptease is not in my memory movie. "You didn't dance with me at Dragon Lounge the first time, did you?"
"Nope. Spur of the moment thing. I went off script. It happens."
I remember the wind on my face as I cried to my dad. "Then I went to talk to my dad on the bluffs. You followed me?"
"Yeah. You didn't seem like you were up to any trouble, so I left you there. Big mistake."
"I met with Diablo and he kidnapped me. Jeez. How could I forget that?"
"Your brain blocked it. Trauma."
"I guess so. God, the drugs were the worst. I felt like I was crawling out of my skin."
He nods and rubs his eyes.
"Do you feel high from the cocaine in your eye?"
"No." He chuckles.
We're quiet for a while, and I turn the