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Finn made his way into the room then. “What’s wrong, Samara? What’s going on?”
“Please just take me to the club before he wakes up,” my voice shook out, cracking.
Understanding washed over Ginger’s face, tilting her lips down in a heavy frown. “He loves you, Samara. You can’t keep running away from this.”
Tears burned my eyes. I swallowed, my breath shuddering. “I know he loves me, Ginger…but it’s like I told you last night, it won’t work. It’ll never work. Between the club, Damien, and my third trial, me being here is doing nothing but hurting the both of us. I have a job to do, and I just need to go. I-I can’t be here when he wakes up.Please.”
Ginger opened her mouth, most likely with a rebuttal, but Finn raising his hand cut her off from speaking. “It’s fine, baby, I’ll take her.” He leaned over and whispered something in her ear before he kissed her forehead. “You go ahead, Samara. I’ll meet you out at the car.”
Nausea rolled through my guts as Finn pulled up to the club and parked about fifteen minutes later. With Jace on my mind, on top of a thousand other thoughts overloading my exhausted brain, I couldn’t summon the strength to get out the car just yet. I had no idea what kind of mood Damien was in today. And Ginger was right—it's Saturday, the clubs busiest night— so I’d have to provide a damn good excuse if I had any real hopes of this working in my favor.
“You’ve been quiet the whole ride here,” Finn said, breaking the massive wave of silence. “You wanna talk about it?”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Samara.” Finn shot me a look only one would give someone when they knew they were being bullshitted. “You can trust me.”
Even if that was true, I shook my head, giving him nothing. Finn sighed then extended his hand to the center console. He pulled out a joint and lit it. He cracked open his window then blew the smoke out.
“Forgive me for saying this, but sheisright, you know. You can’t keep running away from him. Once you finish your third trial, you’re in for life. You’ll be an Outlaw, Samara. Avoiding each other will be next to impossible.”
“That’s the thing Finn…” I gulped hard, tears forming in my eyes. “I don’t want to be an Outlaw. Ineverwanted this. Being at the academy…being away from all of this bullshit, it just feels…”
“Right?” he questioned.
I nodded, not bothering to deny it. “Yes. There, I can be myself. The real me. I want to graduate, Finn, live my life the wayIwant to live it. I want to be happy, and I know I’ll never find true happiness as an Outlaw. I don’t want to become one of Damien’s slaves. I want to be free.”
“Freedom comes with a price.”
“Yeah, I know that already.” I wanted to be free. I craved it so badly I couldn’t stand it. But at the same time, I wanted revenge, to know the truth about what really happened to my father and why he abandoned me. It wouldn’t bring him back, but if becoming an Outlaw meant I’d finally get closure, then fine. I’d do whatever I had to do to get it. Even if it meant being enslaved to Damien for the rest of my miserable, pathetic life.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” Finn muttered under his breath. “You’ve heard that saying before, right?”
“Of course,” I nodded. “Who hasn’t?”
“I’d take that into consideration if I were you. It may not make sense now, but it will. Count on it.” Something weird flashed in his eyes as he said this, but whatever it was had vanished before I could pinpoint it. I wasn’t sure how to explain it. I mean, obviously I understood the logic, but the way he said it… It was almost like there was a deeper meaning behind it, like he was speaking in code. Finn wouldn’t spill though. I knew he wouldn’t, so it was pointless for me to ask.
After a small moment of silence, Finn took a few more hits off the joint before he opened his door and pinched the cherry off. “Come on. You said you needed to speak with Damien. Better to do it now while business is slow.”
He slid out his seat and shut the door behind him. I followed, thanking him as he opened the back door for me. After walking a bit, Finn had me wait outside Damien’s office. He stuck his head outside the door a few minutes later then waved me inside.
Damien was lounged back on his luxury couch with a large glass of liquor filled to the tip in his hand. He sipped it slowly, his eyes fondling me in such a perverted way it was repulsing.
“Samara. What an unexpected surprise.”
“Sorry for the interruption. I need to speak with you, that is if you have some extra time to fill me into your busy schedule.”
“Oh?” He angled his head to the side, scrutinizing me hard. “And what exactly is it that you need to speak to me about?”
Out of all of the dancers, again, I knew how to work Damien. Extending my hand to the empty seat next to him, I asked his permission to sit. He nodded then grabbed an empty glass on the table next to him, ordering Finn to pour me a drink.
I didn’t want the damn drink, though refusing it would be a dangerous insult to this man. As I sat, I accepted the putrid offering, making a sour face as I gorged all of it down in one swallow.
“I’ve run into some trouble with my third trial.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw as he observed my taut expression. “What kind of trouble?”
“I won’t lie to you, Damien. Fulfilling this duty has been…challenging. The place is locked down tight with security at all hours of the day and night. They’re heavily armed, and I haven’t been there long enough to successfully formulate a plan that will help me bypass them without blowing my cover.”
