Page 79 of Off the Rails

When Cyrus’ machete dropped to the floor with a sharp clang, my heart stuttered. I held my chin high as she stormed toward me, ripping off her mask as she moved. Her broad frame blocked out the light from the living room.

I had no idea what she wanted — to scare me?

But just when I thought she might make a grab for me, she shouldered past, nearly checking me through Blade’s open bedroom door.

Blood smeared across the arm of my sweatshirt as she stormed down the hall. Unlocking her deadbolt with a heavy clunk, Cyrus disappeared into her lair, slamming the door behind her.

A moment later, the sound of water beating down from her showerhead reverberated out into the hallway. While she got clean, I’d never felt dirtier.

“Fucking bitch,” I muttered, pulling the crewneck carefully over my head.

Nash and Blade’s eyes dropped down to my exposed arms and belly in my cropped tank. I feared that baring my skin might have been a mistake. But then again, so would be catching hep B from whoever the fuck they’d just murdered.

I still wasn’t sure how to process that — the murder of it all. Shock and childish relief battled for control of my brain. The jealousy that had niggled at my mind earlier was quickly replaced with smug vindication. For once in my life, someone meant it when they said that they wanted me, and that felt good.

But how fucked up was I that I wanted validation from a bunch of psycho killers?

Talk about daddy issues.

I should have been terrified. They could have been hunting anybody out there. How many degrees removed was I from being their next victim?

It sure seemed like Cyrus wanted me dead last Friday.

But she hadn’t hurt me — Blade and Nash wouldn’t let her.

Lawless as they might seem, the Freaks played by a strict set of rules — ones they set out for themselves. I’d seen it in my time here: the tarot cards, refusing to hurt me, playing fair during Fright Night.

It would have been so easy to break the rules, to bait me with a cash prize and refuse to pay it out, to keep me prisoner in their little house of horrors for eternity. But they were too principled for that.

As far as their hunting? I was no stranger to the violence of the world. There were a dozen people I could name off the top of my head who I’d give anything to hurt like that.

And even as the possibilities of who they’d killed looped through my brain like a film reel, my mind clung to everything I knew about them, everything Blade had told me.

In my gut, I knew whoever it was deserved it. Just like the men who’d chased me in here.

And for tonight, that flimsy sense of assurance was enough. It would have to be.

Clearing her throat, Nash set her mallet down by the entryway. “Dibs on the first shower.”

As she headed down the hallway toward me, our eye contact was charged. I knew she wanted to reach out and touch me — I could practically feel the electricity humming between us — but she kept her hands to herself, leaning into my ear with a smooth, husky, whisper instead. “Hope you enjoyed your night, Sweet Lamb.”

I held back the shudder she sent down my spine, but the blush that rose to my cheeks couldn’t be helped. And as she disappeared into the bathroom that connected her and Blade’s rooms, I was left all alone with my most unnerving captor.

“See anything interesting?” Blade smirked, still dripping with blood.

I tried to keep my face straight as she wiped the crimson-stained handaxe off on her shirt, the flat edge jostling as it rippled against her tensed abs.

“I… don’t know what you’re talking about.” I swallowed, lifting my gaze from the weapon. But her boyish smile made all the blood drain from my head.

Bad idea.

Leaning against the wall for balance, I tried to look relaxed as she strode over to me, Meanwhile, her gaze shifted between my nervous face and her bedroom door. Holding both axes in one fist, she nudged the door open.

“No? You know nothing about this?”

The creak of the door rattled right through my chest. I turned to look, feigning ignorance. But try as I might to furrow my brows, my eyes still snapped to the hard points with undeniable familiarity.

Blade chuckled, a deeper, darker sound than I was used to. With one hand pressed against the doorframe, she leaned close to me, letting her warm breath wash against my clammy skin.