AllFreeNovel
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“The one and only.” He leans forward and pulls the sucker out of his mouth, shaking it at me. “Which is why you shouldn’t try to leave here just yet. Not until Kendrick and Bunny are sure it’s safe. If she sicced her guard on you, odds are she told Ramsey you were hitting on her. Last guy who did that ended up in the damn river."
“Not that I’m complaining about all the help, but why do you guys care if he’s out to get me? I’m not anyone special.”
A strange look crosses Keys’ face, but it flies by so quickly I can’t place the expression. “Don’t say that, Neil. I’m sure there’s someone out there who’s super worried that you didn’t come home last night.”
I think back to Bunnyluv69 and how she was expecting to hear back about how my night out went. “Oh. I mean, I guess so …”
“Need to borrow my phone or computer to contact anyone? Kendrick’s super strict about security here, so he has your phone locked up, but I can let you text or email someone if you need to.”
The problem is, I only know how to contact Bunnyluv throughBattlemages Unleashed. “You wouldn’t happen to be an online gamer, Keys? I do have someone who might be worried, but she and I use an MMO to chat. If I could log onto BU, I could send her a message that I’m okay.”
I can’t deny that the smile he flashes me is charming. He probably has girls fawning over him every time he leaves the Burrow.
“Yeah. Come with me. We’ll go to my control room. I’ve got all the tech you’ll need.”
Keys wasn’t kidding when he called it a control room. Wall-to-wall monitors, cables everywhere, and servers strewn about. It’s chaotic, but strangely beautiful. A programmer’s dream, almost. My OCD wants to organize it, but the geek in me appreciates what must be a case of making do with what he has.
As he pulls up BU on one of the monitors, I find myself wringing my hands in nervous anticipation. What will Bunnyluv say when she hears what happened to me?
“Here you go. I’ll leave so you can log in without worrying about me peeking at your password.”
He leaves, and I type in my info with shaky hands. The loading screen comes up, and I wait while the computer retrieves my character data from the server. My leg starts bouncing while it loads, thetap, tap, tapof my heel on the floor a metronome keeping the beat of my nerves. My avatar pops up, and I click the screen name. The cursor flies to the social button, and I click to see my friend list.
Bunnyluv’s not online.
Feeling dumb for not thinking that she might be asleep, my shoulders slump. A part of me had been hoping she would be waiting up to see how my night went. After sending Bunnyluv an in-game message, I log off with a sigh and clear my screen name from Keys’ game. Not that I think he’d do anything with it, more out of habit than anything.
I suddenly realize that I’m exhausted. The little bit of activity that I’ve done has drained me, and I want nothing more than to find a cozy bed and curl up to sleep. I shut down Keys’ computer and go in search of him. Instead of Keys, though, I come face-to-face with a mountain of a man, all tatted skin and bulging muscles. The bald, bearded man scowls, and I step back with a start and shrink away from him, worried that I’m about to get my ass kicked again.
“Oh, you’re up. What were you doing in the control room?”
Shit. He thinks I was snooping. “Keys let me log in to check something. See if a friend was online. I was just trying to find him to lead me back to my bed for the night, I guess.”
The mountain grunts. “You didn’t tell your friend where you are, did you?”
“No, no! I just let her know I’m okay, and that I might not be online for a few days. I swear, I don’t even know where I am to tell anyone. Bunny and Keys filled me in about Candy and the bodyguard who jumped me, so I know better than to tell anyway.”
He nods. “Cool. Well, I’m Kendrick. Follow me. We’ve got a spare room here. It’s more comfortable than the hospital bed you woke up in.”
We head down yet another mazelike hallway. With all the exposed plumbing and fluorescent lights, I get a very industrial vibe from the place. It feels more like a warehouse or factory than a “burrow,” and I suspect these people are squatting here. I sort of doubt that they’re here legally, anyway. I don’t say anything to Kendrick, though. I don’t need this big, burly man mad at me.
After a few twists and turns, we come to a row of rooms that looks kind of like a dormitory. Kendrick taps on the first door. “Bunny’s room. Do not enter,capice?”
I swallow hard and nod.
He continues down the hall, tapping on doors as he goes. “Doc’s room. Keys. Mine. This one we share sometimes. And this one …” He stops at a door that has a red X spray-painted on it. “This one is even more off-limits than Bunny’s.”
“Got it.” I decide not to ask about the shared room.
At this point, we’re almost to the end of the hall. I gesture at the last door, which has a small dent in the frame. “Mine, I’m guessing?”
Kendrick grunts again. “Yeah. For now.”
I don’t miss the fact that the lock is on the outside of the room, nor the conspicuous lack of an exit at this end of the hall. I’ll have to pass by everyone else’s room to get out of here, and I suspect that at least one of these weirdos is a light sleeper.
“You need anything else?”
“There’s a bed in here, right? Blankets and all?”
