“I didn’t think so. Who knows? Because of this, you might even be able to wheedle a vacation out of Mommy and Daddy, hiding out just in case.”
My mouth dried. My parents. I couldn’t tell them what I’d done, what had happened. I just couldn’t. I’d have to admit that I’d lied and they would be disappointed in me.
I couldn’t stand their disappointment.
I was their only child, their “precious baby.” I didn’t want that to change. Really, one watery look from my mother and I’d want to cut out my heart. One “I thought I taught you better than this” from my dad and I’d sob.
“What if A.I.R. does know who I am?” I asked softly.
“They’ll hunt you down, so be prepared. They’ll interrogate you, asking you easy questions at first. Your name, your age. Then they’ll get harder. What were you doing at the club? What did the napkin say? Why did you follow me? Have you ever dealt Onadyn and if so, who’d you get it from? Don’t give them the answers they want and,” he shrugged, “you’ll suffer.”
“Onadyn?” Feeling like I was falling deeper and deeper into a nightmare, I shook my head. Like vampires needed blood to survive, some aliens needed Onadyn. Without it…because of my dad, I’d seen pictures of an Outer who’d died from lack of Onadyn. The body had been contorted, the face so pain-filled it hurt me now even thinking of it.
Legally, humans were never supposed to touch the stuff. They used it to get high and often died from an overdose, so it was strictly regulated. Selling it was punishable with a life sentence.
“I have never, in all my life, even been around it!”
Erik ignored me, continuing, “They aren’t bound by normal laws, so A.I.R. could even kill you if they wanted.”
“But why?” A sense of hysteria built inside of me and I straightened. Hunted, interrogated, maybe killed. Surely he was lying. Exaggerating, at the very least. I was innocent, damn it.
“You’re now linked to me, Camille, and I’m a suspected Onadyn dealer.”
I wanted to block the words from my mind. I couldn’t. They were too ominous. “But I did nothing wrong,” I insisted. How many times would I have to say and think it? “I can’t be linked to that.”
“You knew the code that got you into the back of the Ship, something A.I.R. has to know is used for dealers.”
“No. No, no, no. They can’t find me guilty.” I shook my head again, even though there were doubts in the back of my mind. “When I show them the napkin, they’ll believe me.”
“Or they’ll think you destroyed the original and replaced it with a blank one. You’ve had time.”
Damn him. I gripped my knees, nails digging into skin.
“I didn’t ask you to follow me, Camille.”
“No, you just singled me out,” I said bitterly.
He flicked me a narrowed glance. “If there’d been another way…but I honestly expected you to leave the club. I expected you to be hauled in, questioned, and released.”
That didn’t excuse his actions. “Why would you get involved with something like this?” I asked. “Why?”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you.” His hands tightened into fists. “I hear the disgust in your voice. But guess what, Miss Innocent? Sometimes there are good reasons to do bad things.”
“My dad is a lawyer, and I’ve heard him talk about some of his cases. Everyone has a ‘good’ reason for the bad things they do, but at the end of the day, other people get hurt because of those very things.”
“Don’t preach to me. I’m past the point of caring.”
“After what you did to me, I’ll preach to you if I feel like it.” The car hit another bump and my arm throbbed all the more. Tears again burned in my eyes. I gazed down at the wound. Blood had already soaked through Erik’s soft T-shirt.
God, could this night get any worse?
Erik sighed, losing all hint of his anger. “We need to patch you up.”
“No. I just want to go home,” I said softly. “That’s where we’re headed right?” Please, please, please.
Wait, I thought a split second later. If he took me home, my parents would find out I’d lied. There’d be no getting around it.
I could ask Erik to take me to Shanel’s.
Nope. That wouldn’t work, either. She was supposed to be staying with a friend, as well. Damn, damn, damn. What was I going to do?
A muscle ticked in Erik’s jaw. “Drug dealer or not, I’m your only lifeline at the moment. I take you home now, and your wound will become infected. I doubt your parents know how to treat the damage a Lancer causes.”
Not home then. My stomach tightened with relief—and dread. “So…if you’re not taking me home, where are you taking me?”
“My place.”
“No. No way.” I might have begun the night wanting to spend time with him. Now, however, I couldn’t wait to get away from him.
“Where else do you want to go, huh? And don’t say ‘hospital’ again. Your parents will be notified and the doctors will ask you questions I don’t want you to answer.”
No matter what, I didn’t want my parents notified. Whatever I had to do to keep them in the dark, I’d do.
More lying? I almost groaned. But if I had to, yeah. I’d lie some more. Worse than being disappointed in me, my parents would think they were at fault for my actions, wondering what they had done wrong, blaming themselves, moping. Just thinking about it made me hate myself.
I never should have left the house today.
Sometimes there are good reasons to do bad things, Erik had said. His voice whispered through my mind and I cringed. Lying was not a good thing, but I had a good reason for doing it—or so I told myself.
Could I trust Erik not to hurt me, though?
Probably, I decided a moment later. Despite everything he’d admitted to doing, he had saved me from the Ell Rollises. He’d lied for me—another good reason for a bad thing. He’d helped me to the car. He’d given me the shirt off his back.
“Will your parents mind?” I asked.
He flicked me another one of those are-you-kidding-me glances. “I don’t live with my parents. I live alone.”
“But how do you sup…port yourself?” I finished lamely. I could guess the answer: selling drugs.
“Not how you obviously think,” he muttered.