“I didn’t…I wouldn’t…” Dang it! The words were snagging in my throat.
There was only one person who hated me enough to accuse me of something that skeevie. Mackenzie Love. Was she truly that vicious, though? I mean, I’d seen my social death in her eyes; I’d expected
Sadly, I found no sign of her.
“Thanks for the intel, girls. Try and do a little damage control, and tell people how stupid they are.” Kat twined our fingers and led my protesting form away. “As for me, I’m going to the bathroom and I’m taking Ali with me,” she called over her shoulder.
I glanced over at Cole. He was speaking to Frosty, but his eyes were on me. Surprise, surprise, he was glaring. He also stiffened with every step I took away from him. Had he heard the rumors, too? Would he do anything to his ex when the truth came out?
“A place Reeve showed me last night and swore me to secrecy, since even she’s not supposed to know about it,” she whispered, sounding scandalized. “But you don’t count, since you’re one of us. Besides, you need a moment to calm down and we need someplace to talk in private. Just get ready to be weirded out!”
She pushed her way through the crowd, snaked several corners, went down a flight of stairs, and finally, we were alone. No matter where I looked, I saw plush furniture and shiny knickknacks. The walls were papered with cherubs, and there were even alabaster columns to guide us to each new room.
“What do Reeve’s parents
We worked our way down yet another flight of stairs, the fresh air turning musty, with a copper tinge to it. My nose wrinkled. I recognized the scent of blood. I wanted to hold my breath, but there was another odor infused with it, one that caught my attention. Was that…rot?
“Kat,” I said, tugging at her hold. “I think we should stop.”
“No way. It’s just a little farther.”
My heart beat so hard against my ribs I feared they would crack.
When we reached the end of a long, narrow hallway, Kat stopped in front of the only door. I was shocked to my soul when she pulled a lock pick out of her bra and shoved the tip inside the tumbler.
“Do you always carry one of those?”
“Of course. Frosty once told me I had to be prepared for anything. I said, ‘What about being kidnapped, locked inside a room and held prisoner as some weirdo’s idea of the perfect female?’ And he said, ‘Totally,’ then showed me how to free myself if that happened. He refused to tell me how
I allowed her to pull me past the entrance. I’d find out what had caused the odor, make sure there was nothing nefarious going on, and then I would force Kat to bail with me.
A few steps in, she released me, held out her arms and spun. “Well, what do you think?”
I studied our new location. No longer was the floor carpeted with thick, soft fibers. There was dark, dank tile. There were several metal tables, some with cuffs for wrists and ankles—and there were drains underneath every single one of them.
I thought…I thought she’d brought me to some sort of…torture chamber.
Trembling, I reached into my purse and palmed the blade. Before I could talk myself out of searching for clues, I slipped past her, doing my best to hide the metal behind my arm.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she whispered. Whispered, yeah, but still her voice echoed.
“Probably not,” I muttered.
“So you don’t think Reeve’s dad needs to buy a case of Febreze? Well, then, do you think he does secret surgeries down here?”
“I think it’s none of your business,” a male voice boomed from behind us.
Oh…crap.
I felt like a Tilt-A-Whirl as I jerked around, facing off with the intruder. He was only a little taller than me, which put him at just above five-eleven. His pin-striped suit did not look anything like the suits my dad had sometimes worn to church the few times he’d attended. He had salt-and-pepper hair, skin tanned to a deep bronze and weathered with a few thin lines, though not unattractively.
For an older guy, he was pretty hot—and he was eyeing us like we were rats in a cage.
With my free hand, I grabbed Kat by the forearm and shoved her behind me, and maybe I used too much force because she stumbled and
. “Who are you?” I demanded, more with bravado than anything.
“I am the owner of this house,” he said at the same time Kat muttered, “Say hello to Reeve’s dad.”
Kat peeked out from around me and waved. “Hey, Mr. Ankh.”
His jaw clenched as he nodded in greeting. “Kathryn.” To me, he snapped, “And who are
Footsteps sounded, and I was shocked to see Dr. Wright enter the room behind Mr. Ankh. “You shouldn’t have allowed your daughter to—” Lips glossed a bright red clamped shut when she spotted me. Her eyes narrowed to tiny slits. “Alice Bell, what are you doing down here?”
Kat clutched and twisted my shirt, whispering, “Is that Dr. Wright?”
Neither adult turned to her but continued to focus on me.
“It’s Ali,” I said.
“I am still waiting for a confession,” Mr. Ankh said. “After all, you are the one who arrived with—” a sneer “—Justin Silverstone, are you not?”
“Justin Silverstone?” Dr. Wright asked with a clear flare of dislike. Every day she’d wrapped her slight frame in some sort of business suit. Tonight she wore a soft, flowing dress completely at odds with her take-charge demeanor. Was she the new girlfriend of the week? “Cole won’t be happy about that.”
Kat pinched me on the arm.
I wasn’t sure what she wanted. I was too confused. Dr. Wright, the principal of Asher High, was hanging out with Reeve’s father in a room full of dried blood and gurneys, but her biggest concern was my escort?
Okay. She might care more about her students than her social life…even though her social life might just get her killed. Unless…had Mr. Ankh kept zombies down here?
Yes, I decided a moment later, he had. That smell was too distinctive to spring from trash or mold.
Did
And if all the slayers hated Justin—and they must, considering the way they’d reacted to the mere mention of his name—I had to wonder if he was pro-zombie or something.
What could Mr. Ankh possibly do down here, though?
Their lips were swollen and red and damp. Twin pink circles appeared on Reeve’s cheeks as she peered over at me. I took pity on her.
“I saw nothing—except when I mention this to Kat. You know I’ve gotta tell her, or we’ll both suffer. But you might want to go check out your living room,” I said. “Cole and Justin had a slight, uh, disagreement and, well, they broke some stuff. Also, your dad is downstairs.” Waaay downstairs.
Her mouth dropped open wider with each ball of information I tossed, and she finally pushed her way out of the pantry.
Bronx attempted to follow her, but Cole stepped into his path.
“You know you’re not supposed to hang with her.”
A muscle ticked under Bronx’s eye. He remained silent.
“And yet you thought it’d be okay with her father if you stuck your tongue down her throat?”
Still refusing to answer, Bronx shoved his way out.
“Why can’t he hang out with—” I began.
“Nope. Not discussing that with you.” Cole snapped the door closed, every shadow returning.
Giving him a minute to calm down and myself a moment to adjust to the dark, I stood still and quiet. Bit by bit, I began to make out the different areas of the storage closet. As a whole, the enclosure was bigger than my bedroom. There were cans of food on the shelves, Crock-Pots and toasters on the floor. There was a ladder, and other things guys found necessary.
“Reeve’s dad texted me,” Cole said, “and told me you were downstairs.”
“Is he one of you?”
Several beats of silence passed before he admitted, “Yes. He and my dad are friends, and he funds our activities. He can’t see the zombies, but he’s seen what they do to us and helps us when we’re bitten—on the condition that Reeve stays out of it.”
Good to know. “And Dr. Wright?”
“She knows. We needed someone on our side at school, and she was it.”
As I’d suspected. Now, switching gears. “What was the fight about?”
“Justin asked me where you were. I told him I didn’t know. He told me to go to hell and stay away from you. I told him you’d made your choice and he needed to deal.”
“So he hit you?”
“No. He said you belonged on his team and if I tried to recruit you you’d be killed.”
“So you hit him?”
“I did. Broke his nose, too.”
I scrubbed a hand down my face. “Let’s backtrack a little. He has a team?”