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The world jerks to a stop after a few seconds, and Opal swings me up and onto another balcony. I drop to my knees, my whole body screaming with anxiety, and I dry-heave. The quick fall fucked with my insides, feeling as if my organs have been rearranged. Opal flips onto the balcony and slaps her burned hand to another palm pad.
“What the fuck?” a man growls, hollering at the beam of light cutting across the backs of his naked legs as he kneels next to a bed and sucks on one of the room service donor’s dicks. I knew that some offered extra services during feedings for bigger stipends, but it throws me off that it’s the vampire sucking the donor’s cock.
But then I see the bleeding bite marks on his thighs. Shit.
Opal slams the balcony door closed and ignores the vampire cussing at the burns on his legs. He doesn’t bother to get off the floor and turns back to his donor, seeing we’re not a threat and only a mere inconvenience to his end of the night meal.
Dragging me with her, she pulls me toward the door. She tightens her grip on my wrist, keeping me by her side as she glances at the video feeds on her com device. I pretend like I’m going to wait by her side while she figures it out, but I shift on my feet and get ready to fight. I don’t have a weapon, but I can try to slow her down with my teeth and nails. I can use the fact that she really doesn’t want to hurt me against her.
“Opal, please think about what you’re doing,” I say, trying to distract her. “You’re running with me, but it’s pointless. The Bella Crew will get me. Am I really worth risking your life for? I love you. You’ve taken care of me and taught me how to survive with very little, but I can’t stay. It kills me that you can’t see how badly it hurts for me to exist in this hotel anymore.”
“Hayley, I know it’s hard. I know you’re unhappy. I also know it will pass,” she says, taking a breath and cracking open the hotel room door.
“When I’m dead.” I tense, preparing to fight against her.
She flicks her attention to the hallway and then to me. “Alexander won’t kill you.”
Fury rushes through me, sending heat through my body. I clench my jaw, my mind and body aligning to get me through this. Shadows edge my vision, and the second Opal tries to grab my waist, I swing my hand out and slap her as hard as I can.
“Help!” I scream as loudly as I can, projecting my voice in hopes that one of the Bella Crew members in the hotel hears me. “Sawyer!”
Opal growls and spins me, rushing into the hallway. A gunshot pops, the noise startling me. I whip my attention in the direction of the noise and catch sight of Monroe and Knox standing at the end of the hallway, armed with more than just knives. How did they find me? I don’t even fucking care.
“Ms. Aris, put Hayley down.” Sawyer’s voice booms from the opposite direction. “There isn’t another balcony you can jump onto in a safe distance without risking Hayley’s life. I know you don’t want her hurt.”
“You’re making a grave mistake, Mr. Noble,” Opal says, keeping her voice low. “Alexander has returned and he seems to have brought in a new security staff. I will allow you to leave now if you agree to forget about Hayley. She doesn’t belong to you.”
“I don’t think you realize that we don’t fucking care,” Monroe says, aiming his gun. He shoots at the ceiling, breaking one of the lights.
Opal intakes a breath but doesn’t comment. “You won’t hurt me. I know you won’t. Hayley will never forgive you.”
I purse my lips and shake my head. “Then you don’t know me. I don’t want you dead, Opal, but I can’t stay. I’ll die. I won’t put my life beneath yours. You’re not my master. You’re not even my damn protector. You promised to take care of me, yet you can’t. Why can’t you see that you’re not enough? My mom would want you to do this. Letting me go is protecting me. It’s the only way I’ll ever have a chance to live.”
A soft sob escapes Opal’s mouth, and her lips tremble. “I don’t want to lose you. They could hurt you. They don’t know how to take care of you.”
“I can take care of myself,” I say, managing to ease out of her arms.
Reluctantly, she lets me go. “Hayley...”
Grabbing her face, I stare into her eyes. “Opal, I’m not a child anymore. You need to accept that this is the only way things can be. I will die here. Alexander made me that promise. And if I don’t die right away, he will make it so I beg for it. Please. You can better care for the others if I’m gone.”
Sawyer, Knox, and Monroe slowly make their way closer. I wave my hand at them, silently asking them to give me a second more. Opal searches my eyes like she might find the answers she needs to see in my gaze. And I hope she does. I hope she can believe the truth to my words. I hope she finally realizes that it’s more than about the show and being her gem. About some old promise she made a long time ago. For once in my life, I need her to see that it should be for me and only me. I no longer need her as my keeper and caretaker. I need her to set me free.
Opal leans in and presses a kiss to my forehead. “I hate to let you go. I want to be here for you.”
“You can,” I say, stepping back until I bump into Sawyer’s hulking body. “You will. Letting me go with them ensures it.”
Opal rubs her lips together. “There is something I need to tell you before I can let you go.”
I frown and tilt my head. “What?”
The shock alarms suddenly go off along with the lights. Voices boom from every which way, and I cover my ears, trying to figure out what’s going on.
“Quick, in the room. I’ll call them off and distract Alexander,” Opal yells, motioning Sawyer, Knox, and Monroe to take me into the room with the vampire and blood donor. “Wait ten minutes and take the elevator. Everyone will expect you in the stairwell.”
Without waiting for us to respond, Opal disappears.
Monroe pulls out his com device and growls into it. “Get fucking ready. This might be war.”
