Nightstruck - Jenna Black Page 0,68
there’s no one to tell you you shouldn’t or try to make you feel guilty for it. It’s like I’ve been living in some cramped little cage all my life and someone’s finally opened the door.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, unable to comprehend what she was saying. “It’s a world where potholes come alive and bite cars. Where nice little old ladies get their heads chopped off.”
“You’re getting hung up on the details,” Piper said with a dismissive wave. “The night isn’t for everyone, and people like that old bat and your dad and the Boy Wonder here aren’t welcome. But you would be. Just think how much fun we would have together if we didn’t have to follow anyone’s stupid rules! You can be free, just like me. All you have to do is let go.”
Luke’s eyes met mine across the room, and he looked as lost and confused as I felt. I didn’t know what had happened to Piper when she’d run off into the night, but it had made her almost unrecognizable. Something had changed within her, something so fundamental that Bob had sensed it long before we did.
“You’re crazy,” I said, but it was a lame-ass response, which she didn’t dignify with an answer.
“We should get you to a doctor,” Luke said. “You need help.” I could see he wanted to go to her, despite the cruel things she’d said. Thanks to Bob, that wasn’t an option.
Piper rose to her feet, and I reflexively raised the gun and took a step back. It felt completely surreal to stand there holding a gun on my best friend. If she’d been remotely herself, she would have been shocked or hurt or scared. Instead, those green eyes—eyes that didn’t belong in Piper’s face—glittered with amusement.
“Relax,” she said, smiling indulgently at me. “I’m not here to hurt anyone. Not tonight, at least. I just came to give you the pitch.”
“The pitch?” I repeated stupidly.
“Yeah. The sales pitch. Come with me. I promise you, it’ll be the most fun you’ve ever had in your life, more fun than you can even imagine having.” Her face sobered for the first time since she had set foot in the house. “Trust me, if you decide to fight it, you’re in for a shitload of misery. Come with me tonight, and you won’t have to suffer one little bit.”
“If you think I’m setting foot outside this house, you’re nuttier than a peanut butter factory,” I responded.
Piper stared at me intently, one hip cocked to the side while she rubbed her chin in what I supposed was thought. Then she glanced over at Luke and Bob. “I suppose if I tried to drag you out by force, your boys there would object.”
“Lay a hand on her, and I’ll let Bob go,” Luke warned. He sounded like he meant it. I’d never seen him look so furious before.
“Is that any way to talk to the girl you gave your cherry to?” Piper mocked.
Luke flushed red as a beet, and I winced in sympathetic embarrassment. That was so not something I wanted to know. Assuming it was even true.
He rose to his feet and took a couple of steps closer to Piper, bracing himself against Bob’s lunge. “Get out,” he told her. “I don’t care what you look like or what you sound like. You’re not Piper.”
She gave a throaty laugh while still managing to keep a respectful distance from Bob’s snapping jaws. She turned back to me.
“Enjoy him while he lasts,” she said with a wink. “I certainly don’t have any use for him anymore, and he’s tolerably good, if a little unimaginative, in bed. But I want you out there with me.” She jerked a thumb in the direction of the front door. “I used to think I had to apologize for what I wanted, or had to wait for someone to give it to me. I know better now. I can take whatever I want, and I don’t give a shit whether you or anyone else disapproves. Someday soon, you’ll be one with the night, just like me, and you’ll understand.”
I had the brief thought that maybe I should try to stop her as she sauntered to the front door. Maybe if Luke and I could restrain her, we could get her to a good psychiatrist in the morning, and she could be deprogrammed, or whatever it was she needed done.
In the end, I let her leave. It’s a decision I will