by Lola Gabriel
“Penny, I love you. We all love you—”
“Goddammit, I can’t believe this.”
Cate gasped at the expletive, her face stunned, but a slow glimmer of absolution began to shine on her face, and Penny knew her fears were confirmed.
“There’s no need to fly off the handle, Penn. I’m your sister. If you need to go to rehab—”
“I’m out of here,” Penny hissed, grabbing for her purse.
“Penny! Where are you going? Please don’t leave!”
Penny wasn’t listening to her anymore, her feet flying across the foyer before the tears of frustration could fall down her cheeks. She made her way toward the driveway as Cate yelled out after her, but she didn’t turn back. She raced out of the cul-de-sac without giving her sister another look, her vision blurred with tears.
How could Cate believe that about her own sister? How could Ryland say that about her? It was becoming clearer and clearer that there was nothing he wouldn’t stoop to in order to hear her voice again.
Maybe I should just— NO! Penny didn’t even allow herself to finish the thought. If she might have considered a civil conversation with Ryland before, that ship had sailed the minute he had started spreading malicious rumors against her. I need to find another job and get away from that psycho before he does any more damage and sends me directly over the edge.
Penny found herself driving almost recklessly through the streets of Houston, disregarding the speed regulations and stop signs. It wasn’t until she was in front of a small, three-story hotel that she finally stopped, her heart still thudding in her chest.
The hotel was called The Ten Gallon Inn, and as Penny ventured from the guest parking lot inside the charming, modern lobby, her eyes registered that it was managed under Parker Properties. She knew the company—Veriday had organized events at other hotels run by the corporation. Idly, Penny wondered if that was how she had ended up there, on the outskirts of Pasadena, looking for a room.
It didn’t matter. All Penny cared about was climbing into bed, putting the covers over her head, and forgetting that her stable, comfortable world was coming apart at the seams before she’d even had time to find a needle and thread.
“Do you have anything available for a week?” she asked the receptionist at the desk, cringing as the words left her mouth. She knew how much that was going to set her back financially, but she didn’t have a choice. Her sister was against her, thanks to Ryland, and Penny was not going to beg Cate to believe her. Their parents lived in Louisiana, but she couldn’t afford to take time off to stay with them.
Why don’t I have any friends to turn to? Oh, that’s right, she recalled, because every time I got close to someone, Ryland would find some major flaw in their character and subtly force me away from them.
Each day, it seemed a new realization would knock the breath from her. Penny knew, though, that she needed to stay strong.
“A week?” the clerk echoed, confirming her words.
“It might be longer,” Penny sighed. Finding a new place to live was not going to be easy when she’d lived in such luxury for so long. The reality of what she could afford without Ryland was bound to be stunning.
“Sure thing, ma’am. ID and a credit card, please.” Penny slid the necessary documentation toward him and waited as he punched in the information. “Here you are,” the man, whose name tag read Jim, told her, handing her a piece of paper to sign. “I’ve set you up in room 319. If you want to extend your stay, just give us a holler.”
Penny couldn’t even manage a smile for him, but she did thank him and accepted the key card.
“Have a nice stay,” Jim called after her. Penny barely heard him. She realized that she would have to go out and find some clothes for work, now that Cate’s closet wasn’t at her disposal anymore.
Her cell rang inside her purse, and she was tempted to ignore it, but she reached for it as she let herself into her room. While it wasn’t fancy, it was clean, with a bed and bathroom, which was all Penny really required. When she looked at the screen of her cell, she realized it hadn’t been ringing at all, but an email notification sat on the lock screen.
Penny fell back onto the bed and blankly stared up at the ceiling.
I’m in trouble, she thought miserably. I’m in trouble, and I have no one to help me.
She’d never felt so alone, so abandoned before. How could Ryland have singlehandedly destroyed her? It seemed insane, and yet that was precisely what had happened.
Penny wasn’t going to let him. She still had a job and some money. She would be back on her feet, and then she would deal with Cate and tell her how betrayed she felt at her siding with him. They were family. They would get over this. Right?
At that moment, Penny wasn’t so sure anything would be all right again.
Slowly, she threw her legs over the side of the bed and rose to stare at herself in the mirror next to the bathroom door. She looked liked she’d aged five years in a week. There were dark circles under her usually brilliant blue eyes, which now seemed to have lost their spark of intelligence. Her hair was limp, lifeless, and Penny grimly decided to take a shower.
I won’t let him beat me down, she said to herself again, and she forced herself to believe it. Without giving herself another moment to wallow, she stripped off her tracksuit and turned on the shower fully, allowing the steam to fill the tiny bathroom.
Stepping inside the acrylic shower, Penny let the heat of the water rain down on her head, washing away the sense of gloom which had followed her for days. She scrubbed her body harder than she ever had before, and when she finally turned off the water, she felt raw, flushed, but somehow more relaxed, like she had managed to dissolve some of her stress down the drain as she’d intended.
Penny wrapped a thin towel around her slender frame, wincing at the reminder of the full, fluffy towels she’d abandoned at Ryland’s condo.
You didn’t abandon them, she reminded herself. Ryland stole those from you. He’s stolen everything from you. Clenching her jaw firmly, she begrudgingly changed into the same clothes she’d been wearing and sighed. She didn’t even have a stick of deodorant with her. She would have to go shopping.
The grumble from her stomach made Penny realize how hungry she was, and she started mentally tallying how much money she had in for everything she needed to do. She hurried out the door before she could change her mind. The transition was costing her much more than she had ever considered.
It wasn’t until she was in her car and driving toward the Crossroads Center mall that she remembered she’d forgotten her cell on the bed in the hotel. Not that it mattered. There was no one she wanted to talk to, anyway.
The mall would be closing in a couple hours, and Penny knew she had to find a few outfits to tide her through the work week without spending a fortune.
She parked and sprinted toward Payless Shoes, her eyes scanning the rows for a comfortable but stylish pair of flats she could match with anything. It didn’t take her long to find what she was looking for, nor did it at the other shops she found. In less than an hour, Penny had equipped herself with three decent outfits, each which could be switched up to create a new ensemble. She’d spent almost a hundred dollars more than she’d allotted for, but she reasoned that, for the peace of mind of getting out of the mall unscathed, it was worth it.
On her way back to the hotel, she stopped at Wendy’s and ate half her fries before finally making her way back into the sanctuary of her room. Not bothering to unpack anything, Penny fell onto the swivel chair at the desk and inhaled her veggie burger, demolishing the rest of her fries without taking time to breathe in between.
Oh, I needed that, Penny thought, taking a long sip of her soda before ambling back toward the bed. She was suddenly insurmountably tired, and she curled up into the pillows, closing her eyes. See? You already feel better. You got this. Just take it one day at a time.
The fire alarm woke Penny from a deep slumber. She hadn’t slept so well since
leaving Ryland, and she couldn’t help but feel slightly bemused at the rude awakening.
Of course there are bells waking me out of this sleep, she thought wryly. Why would God grant me any serenity when he’s out to get me these days?
Her smile quickly faded when she realized that it was not the fire alarm going off at all, but the sound of her phone ringing incessantly. Groggily, Penny sat up and reached for it, her eyes slowly adjusting to the sunlight streaming through the window.
Oh, my God! What time is it? I forgot to set my alarm for work! In the blink of an eye, she was wide awake, her gaze bugging as she stared at the screen. It was work.
“Hello?”
“Penelope?” It was her supervisor, Greg.
“Hey,” Penny greeted him.
“Did you not get the email about your meeting with HR this morning?”
She bolted upright and shook her head, even though she knew Greg couldn’t see her. “No…”
“It doesn’t matter now. You’ve missed it. It’s after ten.”
Shit! Penny looked around furiously for something to wear. “I’m on my way in,” she choked. “I-I’m sorry. Something came up.”
“No,” Greg told her flatly. “We were hoping you would be mature enough to handle this like an adult, but instead, you blew off the potential for a resolution. You’re suspended until we can figure out what to do with you, Penelope. Without pay.”
“What?” Penny gasped. “W-why?”
“Maybe if you read your emails, you would understand,” Greg retorted shortly. “We’ll be in touch.” He hung up the phone, and Penny was left staring at the device in her hand.
Did I just get fired?
There was a strange humming in her ears, and Penny was consumed with the feeling that she had floated somewhere else. Abruptly, she heard maniacal laughter in her ears, and it took her several seconds to realize that it was coming from her own mouth.
I just spent three hundred dollars on new clothes for work, and I don’t even have a job. She laughed harder, tears pooling in her eyes as her body shook with near-hysteria. I’m living in a hotel, penniless and jobless.
Hiccups joined the party, and Penny doubled over, gasping for breath until she was sobbing, her face buried in her hands. Her life had been ruined with two simple words: it’s over.
Yes, she thought mournfully. It’s over, but not for Ryland. For me.
4
Oscar Lucas was a slithery character, not uncommon for the Hollows, but perhaps knowing that he was willing to steal from his own kind made him seem worse than he was.
Whatever the reason, Reef wanted very badly to slap the Lycan’s oily face as he cowered in the corner of the barracks, only a chain attached to his ankle. Reef was surprised he hadn’t shifted in his upset, but he reasoned that even someone as scummy as Oscar knew better than to antagonize one of the dragon princes. His only hope for salvation was remaining humble, even if his eyes were glistening with malice.
“Oh! Thank gods!” Oscar moaned. “I thought I was being left here to die!”
“You won’t die unless I kill you,” Reef reminded him conversationally. He plopped down at Oscar’s side, kicking the tin plate of uneaten gruel away from him.
“How long are you going to keep me down here?” the Lycan complained. “Why don’t you just cast me off to purgatory and be done with it?”
Reef bared his teeth, his head jutting outward, his face transforming into a snout. Steam escaped his nostrils, and Oscar jumped.
“Are you telling me how I should handle your thieving ass?” Reef hissed furiously. “Tell me again what I should do.”
“No! No, boss! I-I never said anything like that!” Oscar cried, lowering his head into his arms protectively.
“Good.” Reef sat back, his handsome face overtaking the dragon scales, but his breaths still let out puffs of smoke. “Because I will leave you here to rot for eternity, Oscar. I really couldn’t care less what happens to you. You already stink. It can’t get much worse.”
“But Reef, I swear—”
“Did you just call me ‘Reef’?” the dragon asked in shock. “Seriously?”
“No! No, I said, ‘boss!’ Mr. Parker, boss!”
“Since we’re on the topic of bosses, Oscar, what makes you think you can go to my brother and be forgiven for your crimes? Surely even a pea-brained imbecile like you should know better than that.”
“I-I was just trying to help,” Oscar squealed. “I had information that I thought he could use, and I wanted him to know. I did what any good citizen would do.”
“Did you just associate yourself with being a good citizen? Are you okay?”
“I was just trying to help!” he whelped again.
“And yet you are absolutely useless. Isn’t that incredible?”
“I can’t help you anymore. I’ve told you everything I know about the mortal travelers.”
For over a week, Reef had been on Oscar, pressing him for every little detail of what he’d learned about the mortals in the Hollows, but he was beginning to realize that Oscar didn’t know much. The only thing Reef knew for certain at that point was that the pictures the Lycan had taken were authentic and not photoshopped. He’d sent them to Elsa, his best technician, and he believed her when she said there was no way they could be doctored. Reef hadn’t wanted to bring anyone else in on what he’d learned, but he had to be certain he wasn’t chasing a scam.
“Tell me again where you took those pictures.”
“I told you,” Oscar groaned, but the look on Reef’s face seemed to change his tone instantly. Oscar cleared his throat and sat up straighter. “I was outside a bodega, kinda hidden—”
“Because you were casing the place, yeah,” Reef rushed him. “Then what happened?”
Oscar’s jaw firmed, though he wisely didn’t argue Reef’s assessment. “I saw them in a small group, huddled together and looking terrified. Of course, I knew they were mortals—you can smell them from a mile away.”
“I’m aware,” Reef grunted. “Go on. You whipped out your phone and started snapping pics of them? Who was with them? Surely they weren’t alone.”
“Maybe their ‘tour guide’ sensed me there and made himself scarce. Who knows? All I know is that they were walking freely. They weren’t contained. I didn’t think that the mortals could survive the portals, so I thought maybe I was wrong, that maybe they were Brownies or something, something with weak abilities,” Oscar said. “I thought maybe they were hybrids with overpowering mortal genes. I never thought that they could actually be real, you know? Not until I saw the second group a week later, in a completely different section of the Trenches.”
“And it was always in the Trenches? Never anywhere else?” The Lycan shook his head.
“I knew this time that it had to be something else going on,” he continued, “so I followed them and listened to their conversation. They thought they were on some paranormal tour.” Oscar whooped with laughter, as he always did when he told that part. “Stupid mortals. They pay money to look for things that are right in front of their faces.”
“Can you skip the commentary?” Reef growled. “Think hard. Which portal could they have accessed?”
“There are hundreds of portals in the eastern hemisphere!” Oscar whined. “How the hell would I know?”
Reef’s mouth twisted into a grimace, and he advanced on Oscar again. “You better find something better than that to tell me.”
“So what’s the big deal if a few mortals sneak in here anyway?” Oscar complained. “They can’t possibly understand what the Hollows are. What’s the harm if someone is trying to make a few bucks?”
“You know who it is, don’t you?” Reef asked, stepping forward. “Tell me who this tour guide is.”
Oscar’s eyes widened. “I swear I don’t know! You have my word.”
Reef snickered and whirled away, but as he reached the door to the barracks, he paused, pivoting back as something occurred to him.
&nbs
p; “What did they sound like?” Reef asked suddenly.
“Who?” Reef was unsure if Oscar was so adept at playing dumb that he simply appeared that way or if he actually was an idiot.
“Who do you think?” he demanded. “The mortals! What did they sound like?” Oscar gaped at him, apparently not understanding the question. Reef inhaled to contain his aggravation. “What language were they speaking?” the dragon tried. He hoped Oscar had enough sense to at least identify that much.
“English…” Oscar’s eyes grew larger, and Reef felt a spark of excitement building in him. The Lycan seemed to be remembering something. “They had southern accents. Texas? Alabama? Something like that.”
That narrowed the search down, but not by a lot. There were still a lot of portals to check. If there was only one.
Even though the task before Reef was daunting, he willed himself not to get overwhelmed. He left Oscar in the barracks, blocking out his whinging cries. If he hadn’t needed the little cockroach so badly, he happily would have carted him off to purgatory, where he belonged, though Reef had a feeling that Oscar knew more than he was aware.
As he stalked up through the dank underbelly of the palace, sidestepping rats as he moved, he wondered what his next course of action should be.
Even if Reef were to check every portal in the southern United States, how was he supposed to prove it was the one he was looking for? He couldn’t very well grab an unsuspecting mortal and shove him through as a test. Again, he was plagued with the question of how this tour guide had learned such a feat was possible.
Reef shuddered to think it had been a matter of trial and error. Unless, perhaps, the tour guide had found some miracle drug that gave the mortals temporary powers? There were too many questions and not nearly enough places to start looking for answers.
Reef stalked toward the residential part of the palace. He needed a shower and some rest before devising a game plan for finding the tour guide and bringing him to justice. He paused when someone called out his name. When he turned, Reef stared with surprise. Keppler stood with his arms wide open, grinning at him.