Where Darkness Lies
Page 49

He nods. “Be careful.”
I smile. There are a few reasons why. The first is that Luke is letting me go alone, which means Dimi trusts me. The second is that Luke now trusts me too. Keeping my smile, I trek forward, shoving through people to try to make my way to the toilets at the back. The entire time I’m focusing on getting through people, Malibu is complaining because people keeping “grabbing” her ass. We reach the toilets only to see a fifty-person line-up.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Malibu snaps, then grabs my arm. “Come on, we’ll use the staff ones out back.”
I don’t bother to argue; I figure she’s been to enough fights with Dimi to know where the toilets are in the different locations. So, I let her drag me out back. We go through an old, cracked wooden door that leads out onto a dimly lit patio. There are cars lined up to the left and I can hear the traffic to the right. I’m guessing this is the staff car park.
“Come on,” Malibu says, leading me toward a set of two doors.
We’re just about there when I hear the sound of crunching boots. “Finally,” Malibu mutters, spinning us around. I’m confused for a second, unsure what she’s talking about. I can’t see anyone around, though I can still hear the boots. I also notice that she’s not yet let go of my hand.
“Good job, Livvie,” I hear a voice say.
Suddenly six men step out of the darkness and into the dull light. My heart stops beating. Roger is the man leading, and he’s got a smile on his face that tells me this isn’t a coincidence. My heart jerks to life and I try to tug my hand from Malibu’s but she’s not letting me go. I spin around, kicking my foot out and connecting with her shins. She screams and drops my hand, stumbling a few steps back. I launch forward, but I don’t get far before Roger has his hand wrapped around my arm, hauling me back.
I can’t scream because his other hand quickly goes over my mouth while two of his men pin my arms. I squirm, but it’s no use. The men are too strong and there are too many of them. Tears well in my eyes and I struggle to breathe as I realize the situation I’ve just been put in. She set me up. She knew they were going to be here tonight. She had this all planned. That’s why it doesn’t surprise me when one of the men steps forward with an envelope.
“Five thousand dollars, as promised,” Roger says, and I can feel his breath near my ear.
I gag behind his hand, which only makes him laugh. I watch in horror as Malibu opens the envelope and counts the money, before looking up with a grin. “Enjoy her.”
“Make sure Dimitri thinks she’s run off.”
No. Oh no. If Dimitri thinks I’ve run . . . oh . . . God. No . . . He won’t believe her. We’ve shared so much, he’ll hesitate, he’ll figure out something is wrong. He will. I begin to rattle, my knees turning to jelly. My body slumps and tears tumble down my cheeks as I make eye contact with Malibu.
“Sorry,” she mutters. “But you’re nothing more than a thorn in my side. I did what I had to.”
She turns to Roger. “He won’t believe I let her just run, so you need to make it look real.”
“With pleasure,” Roger mutters, letting go of my mouth and shoving me into another man’s arms.
“He’ll kill you for this!” I scream.
Another hand clamps over my mouth, and Malibu doesn’t seem affected by my words. No, she’s not, because she’s concentrating on Roger. She closes her eyes and scrunches her face up. What is she doing? I’m staring at her in confusion when Roger’s fist lashes out and connects with her eye. She screams and stumbles backwards, falling in the dirt, only adding to the effect.
“Pleasure doing business with you,” Roger says, turning back to me. “Time for revenge, Blair.”
I scream under the other man’s hand and squirm as hard as I can. It’s futile. Roger steps forward, extracting a needle from his pocket.
“Sleepy time.”
He jabs it into my neck seconds before everything goes black.
Dimitri
My eyes scan the crowd after my fight, but I can’t see her. Luke is staring around now too, looking a little concerned. I leap off the stage and shove through the grabbing hands and raving fans until I reach him. I take hold of his arm and spin him around. “Where is she?”
He looks confused. “They went to the toilet.”
“They?”
“Her and Livvie.”
I turn and start shoving my way through the crowd in the direction of the toilets. I haven’t got halfway there when Livvie appears. Her face is bloody, she’s wild with anger, and she’s covered in dirt.
“What the fuck?” I growl, taking her arm. “Where’s Jess?”
“How should I know?” she screams. “She punched me the minute we got outside to the toilet and ran. She fucking ruined my shoes.”
“What do you mean she ran?” I growl. “And why the fuck were you outside?”
“The toilets inside were too full, so we went to the staff ones. The minute we got out there she turned, said sorry, and punched me so hard I went ass up. Then she bolted.”
Bolted.
She bolted.
My chest seizes. Jess ran. She took a chance and she ran. All along, all the feelings, it’s all been just a way to gain my trust. My vision blurs and I find my fingers tightening on Livvie’s arm.
“Shit, Dimi, stop it. You’re hurting me.”