by AJ Sinclair
Eli nodded down the street. “I see a hotel.”
A hotel. Beds, privacy. Jack cast a sideways glance at Cody and spotted him grinning at Indie. Austin and Eli hid smiles. They seemed to be thinking the same thing. Should they? They outnumbered her four to one.
Indie didn’t appear to be fazed by the odds. “Perfect.” But her shoulders slumped as she took the lead, and they walked toward the hotel without incident, their footsteps heavy. “We should have our choice of rooms. People who didn’t escape before the quarantine are most likely dead. The original population has decreased, certainly. I wonder how many are still alive. How many more will die?”
Jack remained vigilant, scanning shadows, listening for sudden movement. A faint sound came from somewhere, growing louder and melodic as they got closer to the hotel. “Music.”
Austin had heard it too. He glanced toward the lights on the second floor. Human-shaped shadows danced behind closed curtains. “Someone’s having a party?”
“Should we investigate?” Eli crossed his arms over his chest. None of them knew what to do with their empty hands.
Cody jammed his hands in his pockets. “They might have supplies. Food, coffee–”
“Definitely alcohol.” Indie apparently finished his thought.
“Let’s go.” Jack pushed through the revolving door to the lobby with the others trailing behind him.
But Austin hung back. “They could be infected.”
“I’m the carrier, so if they’re not sick now, they will be soon.” Indie snorted, her voice bitter.
Austin laid his hand on her shoulder, clearly not afraid to touch her. “We should all stay away from them. Get some sleep.”
Indie nodded, her eyelids heavy.
The lobby occupied most of the first floor, so they took the stairs to the second. They could search for food and supplies later, in the light of day. Right now they needed sleep. Ballrooms and conference centers made up the second floor. The music they’d heard pulsed from behind the center doors.
Cody hesitated, obviously curious, but Austin directed Indie toward the stairwell while Eli and Jack waited a moment too long.
“Hey, look! More guests.” A handsome young man with bright blue eyes and wild blondish hair stepped out of the ballroom with his arms outstretched. “Welcome to Death’s Relentless Dance.”
Chapter 12
INDIE
Indie tore from Austin’s hold and marched toward the man. “A dance? Are you insane?” Celebrating death, even? The death she spread every time touched someone with a sweaty palm or kissed… Oh God, she’d kissed every one of the guys. She’d killed them all.
“Oh, honey, I left insane in the rearview mirror a long time ago.” He grinned with wicked glee and spun his fingers with a flourish.
In any other circumstances, Indie would’ve flirted with the young hottie, and still she fought with the temptation. She crossed her arms over her chest to keep from touching him. “Is this your doing?” She angled her chin toward the dancers they spotted through the open door.
“I’m glad you noticed.” He pushed the door wider, stepping back into a bow. “I’m Lorne, and I’m your host.”
Indie stood watching as the guys gathered around her. Someone gasped, probably her, as couples, triples, and groups danced under pulsing colored lights. A small bar stood in one corner, unmanned, while guests shared drinks from full bottles of liquor. In another corner, naked men and women fucked on a cluster of couches, kissing and sucking with abandon. One guy kissed a woman’s breasts while another guy licked his rigid cock. Mary Jane’s Last Dance blasted from the DJ’s station, and two men in biohazard suits stood guard at the closure of a collapsible wall that cut the ballroom in half.
Lorne stepped up beside her. “As you can see, the quarantine hasn’t stopped anyone here from living.” He bent backward and flung his arms toward the glittering disco ball. “Living!”
“Oh, so you know about the Scarlet Infection?” Indie rolled her eyes at the complete lack of hygiene and safety protocols. But another part of her, the small, sensitive part between her legs, longed to partake in the freedom and debauchery.
“Scarlet Infection?” Lorne sprang upright and clapped his hands together, too excited to be healthy. “I love that! Scarlet’s Masquerade! Even better. That’ll sell.”
“Are you profiting from this?” Austin scowled and grabbed Lorne by the collar.
Lorne shoved back. “What? No. Money is meaningless. Goods and services are meaningless. The only thing of value here is pleasure.” He stepped in Austin’s face and barely refrained from licking up the side of his neck. “What’s your pleasure?”
Austin crossed his arms over his chest, drawing himself up to his full, intimidating height.
“Command!” Lorne crowed. “I feel it rolling off of you. And you!” He spun and pointed at Cody.
Cody eyed him with a who-is-this-crazy-motherfucker smile.
“You want to know where the Mary Jane is.” He leaned closer to the sergeant and whispered loud enough for their group to hear. “We blazed through that the first night, but!” Lorne pulled a crushed joint from his pocket. “I have a secret stash.”
Cody took the joint. “Thank you kindly.”
“And you, sir.” Lorne stepped up to Eli and saluted. “You need to find pleasure in something other than that big brain of yours.”
“How do you know so much about us?” Jack observed from a safe distance.
Lorne turned to him and smiled. “I’m an observer…like you.” He closed the gap between them and slid his hand down Jack’s crotch. “I see you and I share another pleasure.”
Jack snatched the man’s hand, prying it off his privates and crushing it in one firm move. “Pain?”
Lorne hissed, but he didn’t fight. “Why, yes.”
Jack released him, stepping back to glower next to Austin.
“And you, my ebony queen.” Lorne spun to Indie and took her hands, his eager gaze sliding down to her chest and lingering.
Watch it, buster.
He bent low and whispered in her ear. “You will be pleasured by each one of these men.”
Oh my god, he knows what I’m thinking!
Lorne stood up and swept his tongue along his full lower lip. “If you haven’t already.”
“Psychic?” Indie asked through gritted teeth. She didn’t believe in them, not at all, but she wanted his words to be true.
“Hedonist.” He pulled her flat against his chest and planted his mouth on hers, slipping his tongue into her gasp.
Unable to brace herself, Indie fell against him. Someone caught her shoulder and pulled her back, but not before Lorne kissed her deep enough to be deadly. She staggered and wiped her mouth on her sleeve. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
A wide grin lit his face as Eli and Cody grabbed his arms and dragged him away from her. “We’re all going to die in here.” Lorne’s eyes hardened, and he wrenched himself from their grasp. “Who gives a flying fuck what anyone should or shouldn’t do?”
The music came to a screeching halt, and the DJ collapsed in a coughing fit. Just like Mom! Indie froze, knowing she should help the man—she was the only one who could—but knowing she could be too late.
Lorne nodded to the two bioguards, and they moved forward, grabbing the DJ as he coughed up blood. A woman who’d been dancing stepped over the convulsing man to turn the music back on. The dancers continued their revelry while the naked people on the couches hadn’t even stopped fucking.
The bioguards dragged the DJ to the folding wall and opened it wide enough to push him through. He regained his composure enough to protest, but several bloody hands reached out to pull him in as the bioguards shoved him.
Indie stared into the opening. Bodies lay on the floor in pools of blood. The people still living stared back at her with glassy eyes and blood-stained faces. No one tried to escape. No one begged for help, except for the man newly condemned to that hell. The wall closed, and the
bioguards resumed their silent watch.
“All right, then.” Lorne turned his back to the scene and clapped his hand on Austin’s shoulder. “Who wants to dance?”
Austin shrugged him off. “We’re leaving.” He took Indie’s arm and pulled her toward the door.
Lorne seized her opposite hand. “Stay. We have a full bar, a lavish buffet.” He waved his arm toward a table covered with bread, cheese, and overripe fruit. “The hotel conference center had gotten a full delivery before the quarantine was ordered. I made it last.”
Indie’s stomach rumbled as Austin hesitated. “We need to eat.”
Eli agreed. “I’ll risk it.”
“All right, we’ll stay.” Austin nodded then glared sharply at Jack and Cody. “For the food. No one’s dancing. Don’t touch the open liquor bottles, and don’t go anywhere near that.” He grimaced toward the twisted pile of sweaty naked people.
Cody’s twitched his fingers toward the couches. “But I see–”
“No.” Austin’s command left no uncertain terms. “Keep an eye on him,” he told Jack.
The five of them helped themselves to the buffet while Lorne wandered off to play host. Austin kept a wary eye on the man’s movements. “Why does he want us to stay?”
“Better question,” Jack tore off a chunk of bread, “why do we want to?”
“Because watching this is fascinating.” Indie stared at the various carnal activities. Scientific curiosity, of course. She noticed Eli’s gaze held the same intellectual interest.
He caught her staring at him and smiled. “It’s a morbid train wreck.”
“Cluster fuck,” Cody corrected him. “A fucked up, last chance at feeling something other than fear.”
“Despair,” Austin muttered, burying the word in a bite of cheese.
“If we knew we were going to die tomorrow…” Indie paused as the guys all looked at her like she’d become Lorne’s perverted twin. “How would we deal with that?” She’d been pondering the question heavily since she found out she carried the Scarlet Infection. Any one of these men could get sick and die in the next few days. The odds that one of the four would survive were slim, but the chance existed. The possibility of one of them being immune was even smaller, virtually no chance at all. She could save them, but only if she could make more of the cure, and since getting out of the quarantine didn’t appear to be an option, she’d have to find other resources. Should they go back to her lab? She’d be able to care for them there, should the worst happen and she infected them all. But she might have already. They had to hurry. The odds were stacking up against them, and fast.
“I’d go climb on top of that pile.” Cody winked.
His naughty leer snapped Indie out of her fretting.
Jack tossed a mushy strawberry at Cody’s head. “You’d go out fucking strangers?”
“No.” Cody plucked strawberry mash from his hair. “But I’d want to get some sweet lovin’ before I called it a life.”
“I’d spend the day with my family.” Austin reached for Indie’s hand and laced his fingers with hers. “If I had any left.”
She remembered he’d lost his brother to the Scarlet Infection. Had he lost more? “I would too. But that’s not an option.” Her lower lip trembled and her eyes stung. Damn it, why hadn’t she stayed at the hospital when her mother died?
Cody scooted closer to her and ran his hand down her arm.
She leaned into him, allowing his warmth to seep through her. If she had stayed with her family, she wouldn’t have these guys. What a fucked-up trade. And she didn’t have these guys. She couldn’t, right? Maybe just one or two. But which ones? She couldn’t choose. Did she have to?
“I’d read a book.” Jack bit into the last strawberry.
Eli nodded. “Yeah, or two, depending on how much time until…you know.”
“We know.” Austin got up to peruse the buffet table again, ending the conversation.
Jack leaned closer to Cody. “What did you see over there?”
“A bowl full of condoms.”
“Oh, that could be useful.” Indie hid her smile in a bite of bread. Her backpack full of them had been confiscated by General Kerr’s men. Her cheeks flamed as she imagined the soldiers searching the bag. What had they thought of her? Not that it mattered now, but she would’ve liked to listen in on that conversation. ‘What’s she planning to do, screw all of these guys?’
‘Why the hell not?’ Indie’s face heated. Stop that!
“No.” Jack snarled at both of them. “Major’s orders.” He sat up and peered at the couch area over Cody’s shoulder.
“Fuck the major,” Cody muttered.
Indie eyed Austin’s ass as he bent over the fruit tray. “I’d like to.” The words tumbled from her lips without thought, but no one judged her for them. Damn it, she wanted them all! Indie refused to choose.
Cody sat back to watch the action on the couch. “I was never interested in porn.”
“Shut the fuck up.” Austin shook his head as he sat back down, clearly not convinced.
“No, really. It always seemed fake to me.” Cody munched on an apple while he watched a blonde woman munch a redhead’s muff. “But seeing it live, just a few feet away.” He grunted and adjusted his crotch. “Hot damn.”
“It’s definitely a different perspective.” Eli adjusted himself as well.
“It started the first night we gathered here.” Lorne appeared out of nowhere, inserting himself into the group. “And it hasn’t stopped.” He’d taken his shirt off, and his zipper stretched open.
“How is that possible?” Indie asked the question before anyone else could.
“Individuals take breaks. But someone is always screwing someone else.” Lorne smiled at her and slid his hand into his open pants. “Would you like to join us?”
Us. A group interaction. Damn it, this guy reads me so well. She had no intention of joining him, but the thought of exploring her men—sexually—made her toes curl. “No, thanks.” She slid closer to the men surrounding her. “I’ll stick with my company.” And if they were going to die tomorrow, a real possibility since they’d been shot at more than once, she’d better enjoy tonight while she had the chance. Yes, she liked those odds much better.
Lorne shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He stood and coughed, clapping his hand over his mouth as his body curled. “Just a tickle. Nothing to worry about.” He wiped his hand on his bare stomach, leaving a smear of blood.
“He’s infected.” The horrified whisper spread through the ballroom, mushrooming into a terrified shout. “Infected!” People screamed and pointed.
The bioguards approached, their boot steps relentless as Lorne scrambled behind the buffet table. They circled the table from each end, forcing him to crawl under it.
The crowd surrounded him, herding the host without touching him.
Lorne backed into a corner. “You can’t do this to me! I’m your host! I saved all of you!”
“Infected must be quarantined.” A bioguard grabbed him with a gloved hand. “No exceptions.” The second guard joined him, and they dragged the host to the divider wall.
The infected on the other side had pushed the connection apart, clawing for the man who’d condemned them. “Bring him in!”
“No!” Lorne fought hard, clutching the wall as the bioguards pushed and the infected pulled.
The wall slammed shut and screams carried from the other side, cursing, crying, pleading for help. Indie surged toward the panic, fighting back her own, determined to kick the guards in the balls if she had to. Someone caught her wrist. She turned and found her grief in Austin’s eyes.
“You can’t save them.”
She’d had the cure in her hands and saved some. She’d gotten free of the quarantine, but no one believed she could save many. And now she had nothing to save a few. Nothing and no way to do anything anymore. “We need to leave.” Her body sagged, and she allowed Austin to lead her out of the room.
The part
y guests scattered as death’s relentless dance went on.
Chapter 13
AUSTIN
Austin led Indie and her company up endless flights of stairs, losing count of the floors as they marched as far away from the diseased cesspool below as they could get. Somewhere in the teens, he shoved a door open, and they spilled out into the hallway, panting, collapsing against the walls while they rested.
“What kind of fucked up shit was that?” Cody said what they were all thinking.
“We’ve all been exposed.” Eli clutched his ribs.
Indie reached out for him then pulled back. “You were all exposed the moment you met me.”
Austin took her hand and pulled her to her feet, leading them past door after locked door. “We knew the risks when we signed on.”
“But you all kissed me.” Indie pulled free of him. “I’m the carrier.”
“I stuck my tongue down her throat.” Cody smiled and shrugged.
Eli fiddled with a lock. “I did too.”
Jack stepped up beside her and ran the backs of his fingers down her cheek. “I kissed her twice.”
“We regret nothing.” Austin spoke for his men as he recaptured Indie’s hand.
Cody’s smile blossomed into a cocky grin. “Then we’re all gonna die happy.”
“Might as well enjoy ourselves while we can.” Jack took Indie’s free hand.
She resisted their touch, pulling back when they refused to let go. “That’s exactly what Lorne and his people were doing.”
“Who says they’re wrong?” Austin tightened his grip then bent down to kiss her right on the lips.
The fight went out of her and she melted against him. “You are all reckless fools.” But she smiled.
“We’ve been called worse.” He pressed a quick kiss to her sweet lips then released her. “We need a bed.” Shit. That’s not right. “A room.” Not much better.
Eli scowled and smacked a door with his fist. “How are we going to get in?” The keycard locks proved resistant to his attempts to pick them.