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RUPERT
I couldn’t believe that woman was going to be our new roommate. Matthew, Sebastian, and I had lived together in harmony for so long, mostly because we respected each other’s business and were smart enough to keep our private space private. We had guests in the past, sure, some of whom were women. But having a woman live with us?
It was inconvenient, to say the least, especially with the problems we had going on already. It was even more of a hassle because I couldn’t pinpoint her. Sophie was young and carefree, getting along well with Sebastian if their laughing together was any indication. She was innocent, too, the complete opposite of who I was. I wasn’t innocent at her age, and I was even more jaded now.
But she was also something fierce, the fire in her eyes when I wouldn’t give her the time of the day earlier snapping with abundance and so much intensity. I could tell there was a storm inside her, just waiting for the right opportunity to burst.
And instinct told me she was going to be trouble.
I needed to talk to Matthew about the previous night. Maybe I could ease into the topic of his friend, too, and how her appearance in our home was going to change things. Warming up to the idea, I left the storage room.
That was when I heard the scream coming from the back.
I broke into a run, recognizing her voice and hoping it wasn’t anything trivial. I was already irritable, and this wasn’t helping. People steered clear of me when I was in this mood and I liked it that way. They didn’t confront me, didn’t insult me, and didn’t make me keep thinking about them even when they weren’t there anymore. Annoyed that all three happened with the same woman, I opened the door.
“What the hell is it—”
The words vanished. So did my sarcasm and annoyance when I spotted all the blood and its source. Rats were normal in the city, especially in alleys, butthiswasn’t, and Sophie knew it. She turned at the sound of my footsteps, her blue-green eyes darker than I remembered and haunted.
“Sophie—”
Before I could think of what to say or approach the bloodied pile, she turned to me and wrapped her arms around me. I could tell it was instinctive, but it caught me off guard all the same. Then I felt her shaking and snapped out of my dumbfounded state to tentatively wrap my hands back around her form. I expected her to push me away, but she only sank deeper into the embrace. Stunned, I patted her back awkwardly, at a loss for words.
“It’s okay. They’re all dead.”
“They’re all dead,” she repeated, whispering it in horror against my chest. “Twisted.”
“Twisted?”
“Broken legs. Someone broke those poor things’ limbs.”
Something inside me went cold. I understood how she must have felt when confronted with that kind of twisted ugliness, so I stopped patting and just pulled her closer. She surrendered easily, her body molding against mine as she sought comfort.
“It’s okay. Don’t look at them again.”
“But…”
“It’s okay. I’m here.”
She relaxed at the words. I tried to keep some distance, but I couldn’t help but notice how soft and warm she felt in my arms. She smelled familiar, too, and it dawned that it was my soap. She smelled of my soap, and she smelled good with that scent on her.
My body stirred, reacting to that knowledge. My mind protested, not liking how I noticed. Before I could come to terms with any of it, footsteps sounded, both from the alley’s entrance and the restaurant. Tension vibrated in the air as Matthew came through the door first, and I met his gaze.
“Take her,” was all I said.
Then I was nudging her to him and sprinting out of the alley.
There was no way to tell if the footsteps outside were coincidental or something else, but the same instinct that brought Sophie to me told me it was the last thing from coincidence. That was proven right when I spotted a hooded figure glancing back and felt his alarm that I was on his tail.That’s right. I’m onto you, you asshole.
He turned a corner. I kicked up my speed, zoning in on my target and hungry for retribution. Did they think they could mess with us and get away with it? I growled, refusing to let that happen. They eluded me once.
I couldn’t let them elude me again.
I raced down shortcuts and narrow paths, my eyes fixed on the figure. It wasn’t until he darted out of view for the nth time that I realized we had branched out of my neighborhood and were already in a seedy one, which I tended to avoid because it wasn’t my turf. When I couldn’t spot him anymore, I slowed down, looking around at the buildings that surrounded me. Half were abandoned while the other half had darkened windows and dim lighting. Up ahead, fire flickered from makeshift bonfires beside dumpsters. There was raucous laughter, then an argument breaking out.
Whose turf was this again? I couldn’t remember. But I couldn’t stay visible.
Common sense had me avoiding the bonfires and going in the opposite direction, but not before I took a peek to make sure the hooded figure wasn’t among the laughing men. I kept going until I reached an area where the streetlights were broken, pondering where he could have gone. An empty corner lot beside an abandoned building caught my eye, so I entered the building to watch from there.
