Teller (Tarnished Souls MC Book 4)

by Dusty Lassetter

  The minute I mention her name his ears perk up like a deer that’s heard the footsteps of a hunter. Should I feel bad for using Zoey against him? Maybe, but a girl must do what a girl has to. I need information and this is the only way for me to get it.

  “You have something I need, and I have something you want. Answer a few of my questions and I promise to get you a lunch date with Zoey.”

  “Ask me anything.”

  “Tell me everything you know about Madoc.” I quickly state, trying to get the conversation started so we can hurry the process along before we get caught.

  “That’s not a question.”

  “Oookaay,” now it’s my turn to drag out my syllables. “What do you and Madoc talk about?”

  “He tells me where to throw away the package.”

  “What’s in the package?”

  “Not sure.”

  “Why doesn’t he just throw it away himself?”

  “Not sure.”

  “What are you sure of?”

  “That I’m finished answering questions.”

  I’m finding it hard to comprehend how Trevor just outsmarted me. I’m leaving this conversation with more questions than answers. He’s leaving it with a lunch date that I now have to convince my friend to give him.

  Allowing him to saunter off without begging him to throw me the smallest of bones is quite difficult. Like a puppy in need of a beggin’ strip, I want to follow him until he gives in to my demands. Instead, I turn around and decide that this is a mission I can’t give up on. Drastic times calls for drastic measures. It’s time to start planning a stake out. One way or another I am going to find out everything I want to know.

  **********

  It wasn’t easy to get Zoey to have lunch with Trevor, but she did. It’s sad to think that convincing her was the most uncomplicated part of my day. I had the difficulty of planning everything for my stake out.

  I told Zoey I wasn’t feeling well and had to go see the nurse. I told the nurse I had a small headache and only needed pain medicine. Thankfully, the overnight aides are lazy so I was able to claim a bad case of diarrhea to the one walking me back to my room. He was so grossed out by the aspect of me pooing myself that I was trusted to find the bathroom on my own. The hardest part of the plan was getting Madoc out of his room long enough for me to sneak in. I had pondered the idea of using one of the prettier girls in my hall to distract him, but pure unfounded jealousy quickly turned away that plan. The next best thing was to hire one of the shadier aides to remove him for me. Not permanently, just long enough for me to find a hiding spot. It’s a good thing most stoners will do anything for free snacks. This institution is a lot like prison in the sense that commissary is the only currency we have. Thank you, Hostess.

  Lying flat on my belly underneath this tiny twin-size bed I almost feel like the girl from the Taken movies. I don’t know anything about this Madoc person other than he drives me crazy with too many emotions, and he’s been locked away from civilization. Maybe this was a bad idea. Yeah, this was definitely a bad idea. Quickly sliding by body toward the edge of my hideaway I convince myself I still have time to leave. My left arm is reaching out just as the door to the room is pushed ajar. The way Madoc gently opens and closes his door speaks volumes about his patience. No doubt the aide was a nightmare to deal with, yet he’s not stomping around like most teenagers would- including myself.

  Snatching my hand back from the visible world, I give a silent prayer hoping my movement went unnoticed. He takes his time walking around the room. Never stopping long enough to focus on anything. It’s almost like he is pacing, but there is no set rhythm to his task. When his booted feet come to stop at the foot of the bed, which also happens to be where my head is, I begin to hear my own heart thumping in my ears. Does he know I’m here? Is he going to reach down and drag me out like they do in Hollywood?

  “The average heartrate for humans is anywhere between sixty to one-hundred beats a minute. Yours is one-hundred and twenty-three. Twenty-seven. Twenty-nine.”

  I wiggle around enough to place my hand over my chest trying to muffle the sound of my racing organ. This is the first time I have heard Madoc’s voice and, despite my obvious distress, my mind is telling me to stop fighting the influence it wants to have over me. My limbs are becoming less heavy with stress, and my breathing is starting to even out into a clam rhythm. Madoc’s voice is like a natural remedy to my worry.

  “Ninety-two. Eighty-three. Seventy-nine. Come out from underneath the bed Ember. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  “I can’t,” I find myself saying. I want to. I really do, but I still have enough of my wits to realize something is very wrong here. How did he know what my heartrate was? There is no human alive with that good of hearing. I was listening to it in my own ears, and I still couldn’t tell you how many beats there were. Then, his magical words just eased away all my anxiety like a cure all medication.

  Seconds tick by. One after the other, and I’m starting to imagen all the ways Madoc can forcibly remove me out from underneath his bed. I lay immobile as I watch one of his blue-jean clad knees hit the floor just before his fingers wrap around the white bed skirt to lift the edge. I can only make out his silhouette as he bends his body down to veer into my safe haven. The darkness of the room won’t allow me to see his emerald eyes, or strong facial features, but I’ve committed them all to memory over the last couple of weeks.

  “Tell me what it will take to get you to come out.”

  Closing my eyes so I can just take in all the glory that is his voice, I try to commit it to my memory as well. The combination of soft and tense is a contradiction, but it’s the best way I can describe it. The slight edge at the end of his words makes me believe his calm tone could easily become one of authority. I also find that with each new word the warming sensation that is usually confined to my birthmark is spreading throughout my entire system.

  “Leave.”

  My reply is simple, and a lie. I don’t want him to leave. If anything, my body is calling for him to come closer, but I say it because that is what a normal person would say. No one in their right mind would want to be around someone that turns them inside out with just a few words. So why me? Why him?

  “You’re the one that broke into my room,” Madoc says trying to conceal his laughter but failing miserably.

  His words help me remember the reason I am in here in the first place; under this dirty bed acting like a scared child. Mentally slapping myself in the face, more than once, to strengthen my resolve I prepare myself to do what I came here to do.

  “I’m onto you,” I mumble while scooting my body sideways so my exit doesn’t lead me straight into his grasps. Seeing that I am now pulling up my big girl panties, he allows the white material to fall from his fingers before rising back to his feet.

  “I see you for what you are,” I continue to murmur in between dusting myself off and rising to my full height.

  “You do?” He questions, trying to sound serious but once again coming up short.

  “That’s right. I’ve been watching you…”

  “You mean stalking,” Madoc quickly interrupts my rant. He is keeping his distance. Standing by the foot of the bed with his arms crossed over his chest in a casual manner. Like this is just another day in the office.

  “Yes…No…No, I wasn’t stalking you. Stop trying to distract me with your paranoia. I know about the packages.”

  “That sounds ominous. Some might even say paranoid.” The mocking way he says paranoid is not lost on me, but I choose to ignore his obvious bait. I’m not that stupid of a fish, buddy.

  “What’s in the packages?” I question, taking a step toward him to give the impression that I am a force to be reckoned with. I’m in charge of this conversation. Not him.

  “You’d make a cute detective.”

  Why do his words bring a smile to my face? Most girls my age would want to be called sexy or beautiful. Not cute, but there is something in th
e way he states it. It’s like his words are laced with an emotion you would hear from a boy that is in love. Am I the only one that feels this pull? Is it possible that his soul reacts to mine in the same way mine reacts to his?

  “Who are you?”

  It seems to be the question of the century. At least to me anyway. I take another step toward him and allow the pleading in my eyes to try and persuade him to answer truthfully. This night started out with me trying to get the details on his life, but now I need more. I need to know what this is between us, and why it’s happening.

  “I can’t tell you that.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s not safe.” He declares, bringing his hands down to rest at his sides. I can feel the need he has to erase the distance between us as if it were coming from my body instead of his. Watching his large hands ball into fists, I sense the emotions in him changing. Madoc was happy go lucky just a few seconds ago, but now his mood has done a complete three-sixty.

  “Something tells me you can take care of your own,” I reply.

  “It’s not me I’m worried about.”

  Madoc’s unspoken words echo off the walls louder than the ones he actually spoke. I can sense the concern he has for me, just as I can sense his other emotions.

  “Why would I be in danger? I’m a nobody.”

  “If only you knew how wrong you were,” he whispers before closing the space between us. I stand immobile as he grabs my left wrist with his right hand. Placing his thumb over my radiating birthmark he beings to rub gentle circles over it. In an instant, my body begins to sag forcing the rest of him to rush in and hold me up while my eyes start to grow heavy. Yet,I’m completely at peace instead of freaked out like any normal person would be. It’s like he has made contact with a direct link to my essence, and it’s obviously enjoying the sensations his touch brings.

  “You’ll have the answers to all your questions soon enough.”

  “Why do I suddenly feel so sleepy?”

  Hearing another question mumbled from my tired lips makes Madoc smile. His eyes squint in amusement before his lips start to form a reply. “I guess I have a soothing touch. Now go to sleep, Ember. I’ll make sure you get to your room.”

  Is it crazy that my eyes shut as soon as the command leaves his mouth? Before my mind shuts down like the rest of my body I feel him lift me into his arms, and place a gentle kiss on my forehead. My bodies instinct is to curl into him, so I do just that. Two of his long steps is all it takes for me to fall into a restless sleep. Two steps is all it takes for me to realize my world will never be the same after this.