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I bristle, both because he set me up and because I projected being avictim. I thought I’d rid myself of that weakness, but I suppose all that’s happened has shaken me to my core. “A heads-up would have been nice.”
“He would have sensed it.” Dante frowns, looking guilty.
“So what do I do now?”
“He will lure you away from the party and roofie your drink.”
My eyes bug out. “What am I supposed to do about it?”
Dante places a roofie in my hand. “Pretend to drink his and give him this. Begin to act out of it. I’ll do the rest.”
My worried glance tells him what I think of that plan. He disappeared on me already, so how do I know he won’t do it again?
He squeezes my elbow reassuringly. “I won’t let him hurt you. Trust me.”
Yeah, trusting someone with my safetyneverends poorly for me.
Dante vanishes just as Ted returns. Dude, the man moves quickly.
Ted hands me the official cup of parties, the red Solo cup, and I hesitate, glancing down at the contents.
“Here.” Ted pours a bit into his mouth and hands it back to me. “See? All good.”
“Thanks.” I sip the drink.
“What’s your major?” he asks.
Whoops. I didn’t line up a cover story. “Oh. I’m not that interesting. What’s yours?”
“Microbiology.” He picks at his cup. “I’m a science nerd.”
“Nothing wrong with science.” I take another sip. “But I’m an art major. Not going to save the world with that.”
“There’s nothing wrong with art.” He grins. “The world needs both.”
My skin crawls. If it weren’t for the knowledge of what horrible deeds this man has committed, I might have found him appealing, but I do have a habit of attracting losers.
I down the rest of my drink, and he follows suit.
“Another?” he asks, and I nod, shyly. “Do you want to sit outside? It feels too crowded in here. Too loud.”
“Uh, okay.” I glance around but don’t see Dante. I hope he’s watching and not distracted with some cute sorority girl.
Ted leads me back to the punch bowl. The liquor in it alone could knock a lightweight on their ass, but I’m no lightweight. He scoops another serving for both of us but carries mine for me. If I wasn’t watching and didn’t know what to look for, I might have missed the moment where he spikes my drink.
We acquire two lounge chairs and set them by the pool. Before we sit, he hands me my cup, and we click them together. I pretend to take several drinks from my cup as we chat some more.
I stumble into him and then put my drink down. “I’m feeling woozy.”
He sets his drink next to mine and moves in close.
I go to step toward him but purposely roll my ankle, then I throw my hands out to steady myself. I allow my clutch to fly from my hand, landing several feet away. “Whoops, can you get that for me?” I smile as I sway.
“Of course.”
As he retrieves my purse, time slows down around me. It almost feels as if I’m drunk or roofied. It must be Dante giving me time to drop my drug into Ted’s cup.
Good. Dante has my back.
