handsome guy when I left his office earlier. I don’t give a hoot that he’s got a flower behind his ear. He’s the kinda guy that can overpower you in a single move. Those muscles don’t lie.
I shoot him a glare, refusin’ to show him my fear. “I dunno, maybe it’s the fact that Mickey over here now looks like he’s covered in bark and has leaves accessorizin’ his fingers. Or that they”—I point over at the couple who continue to casually watch everythin’ take place like it’s the best entertainment they’ve had in a spell—“now look like some kinda close encounter of the third kind!”
I point my stick at the faceless people, and they shrink back slightly as though I’m the threat here.
“They don’t have faces!” I screech.
Alder’s brow furrows, and the marble guy next to him looks taken aback. No one says or does anythin’ for a moment, the bar turned completely quiet. I don’t know what to make of that.
It’s marble man who speaks first. “Wait, how are you—”
“Flint, look at her stick,” Alder interrupts. “Anything about that look familiar to you?”
Flint—I guess his name is—studies the stick in my hand, and I suddenly feel the need to do the same, or maybe drop it because...what the hell is wrong with it?
But maybe this is a ruse? Some kind of tactic for me to abandon my only weapon and become even more vulnerable?
Nice try, pretty spider, but this fly ain’t gettin’ caught today!
“Where did you say you found that staff again?” Alder asks me casually, a little too casually, as he also takes a step closer.
I take a step back, and he immediately freezes.
Got ya, you weird bouquet of flowers and muscles.
“I stepped on it outside, like I already told you.”
I take another step back.
“Could we have a Delta on our hands?” Flint asks, his voice quiet as though he’s almost afraid to say that out loud.
“That’s what I’m wondering,” Alder confirms.
Delta? I ask myself, clearly not in on their criminal lingo.
“How?” Flint asks, his tone now filled with awe as he looks at me with the same expression clear as day on his face.
“How in the Morning Star’s wings would I know?” Alder retorts, and then they both take a step closer to me.
One second, I’m retreatin’ even further away from them, feelin’ more and more threatened and fearful. The next, an eerily familiar blackness bleeds into my vision. But it’s worse than earlier in the truck. Way worse. No amount of rubbin’ my necklace or countin’ my breaths is gonna stop it from takin’ over.
Oh, shit.
The last time this happened, I took out five of Arkansas State University’s startin’ line.
I attempt to fight the darkness, but somethin’ inside of me knows it’s too late. I try not to panic, because that just makes whatever this is worse.
The last thing I hear is the distinct sound of metal bein’ unsheathed before the darkness I work so hard to hide takes over.
Oh Lord, please don’t let me kill anyone this time.
4
The chorus of Imagine Dragons’ “Demons” fills my ears, and I groan into my pillow. My head is killin’ me, and I can feel my pulse in my foot for some reason too. I slap around for my phone so I can turn my cursed alarm off, but if it thinks I’m openin’ my eyes to find it, it’s got another thing comin’.
I finally find my charger cord and trace it back to the phone that’s now oddly gone silent. A chirp goes off, lettin’ me know I have a voicemail, and I groan again, because now I’ll have to open my eyes in order to listen to it.
I peel my lids back, and my head throbs in protest.
Damn, how much did I drink last night?
My mouth tastes stale, and I unglue my tongue from the roof of my mouth as I unlock my phone and play the voicemail. I hit the speaker button and then wait for what I expect to be Kiara or AnnaMae givin’ me shit for the rare form I must’ve been in last night. It’s usually them who get all drunk and wild, but I guess they talked me into one too many shots.
“Medley Bell, how dare you leave your truck parked in the lot with the keys still in the ignition! If there had been any doubt before, you can rest assured that you are fired. I oughta take this out of your hide, but lucky for you, there’s no damage