Fire and Stardust

Chapter IX

My ears are ringing. I groan softly, head pounding, and lift my head up. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the absence of light, but I can eventually make out a large, open space. The only furniture seems to be the wooden chair I'm sitting on and the concrete floor is cool under my bare feet.

The panic doesn't hit until I try to stand and can't. My hands are bound tightly behind me by what feels like rope, as are my ankles to the legs of the chair. Wincing at the pressure on my broken wrist, I try to focus.

Where the hell am I?

Slowly, memories return to me in flashes: the fight at The Silver Bullet, the revealing discussion at Asher's table, Ellis comforting me after my nightmare... and something else, something that's harder to recall.

A figure in my room. A muffled scream. A pinprick in the crook of my elbow. Darkness.

"Oh, good. You're up."

A light flickers on and I curse, blinking a few times as my vision comes back. That voice sounds so familiar...

And then it hits me. "I'll be seeing you sooner than you think, cupcake."

To my utter shock, a pale teenager with sickly blue eyes steps into my view. He smirks, running a hand through black waves of hair. "I was wondering when the ketamine was gonna wear off."

"What the hell, Travis?" I seethe. My fists clench involuntarily as I realize that he was the figure in my room, that he drugged me. "What am I doing here? How did you even know where I was?"

"I followed you from the casino," he responds simply, shrugging.

"You're a Wolf?"

"Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't piece it together sooner. Ritha only came by a few times a month at the apartment. Did you really think the gang wouldn't have someone keep an eye on you?"

"But... you're just a kid. How did you get into this?"

Something dangerous and cold washes over his expression as he stalks across the room to stoop in front of me. My heart leaps into my throat but I refuse to look away from his enraged, burning eyes.

"I'm not a kid," he says, his voice eerily calm. "I've seen things. I've done things. You should know; you started killing at fourteen, didn't you?"

My gaze hardens and I set my jaw. "Why am I here, Travis?"

"Orders are to kill you," he sighs. "I was the only one out of those idiots to wait in the parking lot. 'Let's find their safehouse,' I said. None of them listened, so I decided to take measures into my own hands. Of course, I'm supposed to kill Asher as well. And take Ellis to headquarters. Seeing as I can't take on three people at once, I figured I'd set a trap."

"And I'm the trap?" I guess.

He nods. "Your boys will come running to save you after I call them from your phone, but you'll be dead by then. I'll be waiting with this beauty"—he flashes a black pistol at me—"to finish Asher off. After that, Ellis and I will leave you two here and let the evidence go up in flames."

He uses my thumb to unlock my phone and my blood runs cold. What can I do to stop him? I'm tied up. I can't escape. I probably can't get a message to Asher during the phone call. Even if I could, it wouldn't matter; I know he'd rush in to help me all the same.

As Travis rises and steps away from me, he takes a large, deep breath in. "Don't you just love the smell of gasoline?"

I cautiously sniff the air. True to his word, there's a sickly sweet scent, paired with the faint hint of soap and lemon. I look down, remembering that I'm wearing Ellis's flannel—and the sleeves are baggy. Maybe I can use that... But I have to distract Travis in the meantime.