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The group seems rowdier tonight, and there are only two women here, which is unusual. The girl with pink hair, Candy, is sitting in Slater’s lap, and tonight, for once, Lyle isn’t here. That makes me nervous since he’s usually the one to rein in Slater’s obnoxious behavior. The biggest downfall of Dmitri killing Connor was that Slater was next to take his place permanently.
“Well, if it isn’t, Little Miss Princess,” Slater announces to anyone who will listen to his antics. My gaze shifts around the room. Some look away uninterested, but others continue to watch on.
“More like nothing but a whore,” Candy says, and I’m taken aback but don’t show it.
Slater twists her wrist awkwardly, and she cries out in pain. “Now, now, don’t think you can offend our guest. That’s my job. And besides, you’re the only whore here right now.” He shoves her to the ground, and she cries out in pain, marks scraping her knees. “Oh, and that one.” He points to another woman who’s drugged out of her mind, leaning against the wall.
I want to help these women, but I don’t know how. I’d only ever been able to silently stand in the background like them. All I could do was focus on my own survival and it made me feel all the more a coward.
Candy furiously stares at me as she picks herself up from the ground, and Slater continues. “So, what boring little report should I put in about you today?”
“Not much, considering I spoke to The Lion this morning,” I say matter of fact.
Slater arches his head back with a smirk. He looks deranged and menacing. “You think you’re something special, huh?”
“I never said that.”
He raises his hands, turning down his lips mockingly at me. “Of course not. You don’t have to since you have our boss’s attention and cock. I can’t see what’d be so good about your little pussy, anyway.”
My skin tightens at the way he looks at me.
“Slater, she’s not that pretty,” Candy begs and clings to his leg for his attention once again.
He kicks her away, and I flinch under the harshness of the blow. But neither am I reckless enough to look away from him as he wipes at his nose. His eyes are dilated, and I don’t know what he’s on. I consider the gun in my purse. But even if I were to pull it out, I’d be dead in seconds. I’d prefer that than letting this man ever touch me.
He licks his lips as he breaks out into a smile. “She used to be a dancer, you know?” He turns to where Lyle is usually standing and is disappointed by the empty spot. The last time he tried this, Connor stopped him. But there was no one to stop him now, and it’s like he suddenly realizes that. He looks back at me with a splitting smile. “So maybe you should put on a show for us.”
My gaze darts across the room at the obvious attention we’re now getting, and Slater thrives on it.
“So dance,” he says cheerfully. When I don’t move, he whips out his gun, his demeanor quickly changing. “I said dance, bitch, or have you gone deaf?”
My throat constricts.
Flightless.
Broken.
Ugly.
These were all the things The Lion turned me into after he clipped my wings.
But I think of Dmitri and my sister. I would fight for them in my own way. I try to extend onto my toes as much as possible in the flat shoes I wear. Fire erupts up my feet, but I push back the pain and the knowledge it brings.
One spin. Two. Three. I lose balance, my ankle giving way, and I hold out the cry as I hit the floor. I catch myself so I don’t hit my head against the floor. When I look up, Slater is standing over me, laughing. The room erupts into laughter, and he thrives in the camaraderie. I wish I could sink further into the floor and disappear completely.
“Surely, then your lips must be better if this is all you can do.” He goes for his belt, and my heart sinks as I look toward my bag that had fallen near my feet, thinking of the gun inside.
But the click of a gun at his back stops him. I can’t breathe. Slater steps to the side with his hands in the air. “It was a joke.”
“I’m not laughing,” Lyle says behind him with the gun cocked to his head.
“Come on, man. I wasn’t actually going to do anything, you know that, right? I just wanted to spook her a little,” Slater casually says as he throws an arm over Candy, who stares at me with a lethal glare.
My ankle throbs and I’m too scared to stand up. Lyle offers me a hand. I try to hide my confusion about why he’s helping me, but accept it. Although The Lion’s word is absolute and they must oblige by his rules, I imagine some girls go missing all the time, and I don’t want to be the next.
“She’s made her check-in,” Lyle says as he helps me to stand and walks me to the entrance.
Slater throws his hands in the air as if Lyle had just killed all his fun. I push away from Lyle even though he continues to escort me out. I refuse to be dependent on anyone here to so much as walk myself out, no matter how painful it is.
