We split the money between our bags and head outside.
"There's only two motorcycles," Raven points out.
"Do you even know how to ride?" I ask her.
She looks at her feet. "No. I was never taught to drive at all. I'm going to slow the two of you down and get you killed. I should tell you to go without me."
"Fuck that," I snap. "We're getting out of here, and if you want to spout more stupid shit, wait until we stop for the night. You are not staying here to be sold to a pervert who enjoys hurting innocent girls. Feel me?"
Outside I pull off the netting I'd improvised with branches and other vegetation to hide the bikes from being discovered. They are the most recent acquisition. I bought them in pieces and have spent all my free time putting them back together.
Lucien climbs on one and puts the helmet on. Like with the IDs I only have two helmets. The fact he put his on first tells me which one of us Raven will be riding with. He hasn't figured it out though.
He turns and waits for her to climb on the back of his bike. She seems to know which one of us is in charge though, and looks to me to tell her what to do.
I tip my head to her to let her know she chose correctly then take her hand to lead her over to the other bike. Lucien flips up the visor on his helmet. "What the fuck are you playing at, Sin? My sister rides with me."
I hand her my helmet, and she puts it on. I spin her around and braid her long hair and put a leather jacket over her shoulders. If we crash I'm going to be in a world of pain, but at least she'll have the best protection I can give her on a motorcycle.
"You put on the helmet and jacket without thinking of anyone but yourself. Your sister is better off with me."
He doesn't respond, and I climb on the bike. Looking at Raven, swimming in my leather jacket, I smirk at her. She looks as much like a little girl in this get up as she did in that horrendous and wonderful nightgown the first night I saw her staring at the stars.
"Climb on and hold on tight. We've got to put some distance between us and this place. They are going to notice we're gone any time now."
I use the visual signal to follow, and he nods in agreement.
Lucien snaps his visor back down and starts his bike. This is the part that gives me the most anxiety, because these vehicles are beasts with a growl to match.
Raven climbs on behind me, and tries to sit back away from me. Yanking her forward, I encourage her to hold me tight. For a moment it feels like her arms cut off my ability to breathe, and I realize this might be the first time in my life anyone's held onto me.
It isn't a thought I allow myself to dwell on, and I kick the bike to life. Lucien and I race through the last bit of the forest, and launch out onto the highway.
No Tell Motel
Sin
Dealing with criminals every day as one of Damien's enforcers made it easy to get the fake identification, even though I went outside his network to get the documents. The last thing we need is someone letting something slip accidentally. Getting transportation not registered to Damien was a little harder.
There isn't a great place to hide a car or truck where it won't be found during the guard patrols of the property. Not to mention it's pretty hard to purchase one without it being recorded somewhere, and impossible if you don't legally exist. I soon learned it was simple to purchase parts for a motorcycle, and after I figured out how to build one, the only problem was getting money to purchase parts.
Building the motorcycles, as difficult as that was, is still easier than trying to figure out what to do now that we're leaving. All the planning I did over the last few months helped me prepare as much as possible, but I know the moment we drive away from the compound we are going to have to improvise. I don't like leaving details this important to chance, but I barely have more freedom than Raven. She's confined to a room while I have to stay on the compound. My world might be a little larger than hers, but only by a fraction
I keep a close eye on the gas gauge and plan to drive as far as possible before pulling off for food, fuel, and bathrooms. Once morning comes Damien is going to send one of his lackeys up to Raven's room to wake her up. Once they find her bed empty they will begin to search for her. It might take them an hour to search the property. That only leaves us about seven hours to put as much distance between ourselves and Devil's Crossing as possible.
Around three in the morning Raven slumps forward against my back. We are driving the backroads, so I have to slow down and use one hand to hold her arms around my middle to keep her from falling off. It takes another twenty minutes before the backroads wind around back to the highway where there's a gas station.
Lucien pulls up next to me, and engages the kickstand. "I've still got gas, did we need to stop already?"
"Your sister is sleeping. I'm afraid she's going to fall off the bike. We need to figure out a different mode of travel."
Off to the side of the building a green truck sits vacant. It's paint is weathered. It looks like a lot of the work trucks farmers drive around here. Which makes it perfect, because it doesn't stand out. For about a second I consider stealing it, but there's no telling how long it will take the owner to report it stolen, or for the police to start tracking the abandoned motorcycles.
"Give me a minute," I tell Lucien, and gently shake Raven awake. I can't just let her fall off the bike, I'm not a total asshole.
Inside the convenience store there's a large man and a clerk. The truck is the only vehicle in the lot. There's an unmistakable resemblance between them.
"Who owns the truck outside?" I ask.
The older man crosses his trunk sized arms across his chest. "Who's asking?"
"I have a proposition for the owner, are you him?"
He nods. "Let's hear it, boy. It's late and my other clerk hasn't shown up for work."
"I need different transportation. My friends and I are relocating and the motorcycles I have aren't going to work for my girlfriend. I think together they are worth as much as the truck. I'd like to make a straight trade."
The truth is one motorcycle is worth more than the truck, and it makes me ill thinking about losing that much money, but the needs of the moment outweigh the future benefit we could get from selling them both.
"Let's see them then," he says, and follows me outside.
"While you check out the bikes, do you mind if my buddy takes a look at the truck?"
He tosses Lucien the keys. He's as skilled a mechanic as I am, and I trust his assessment of the truck. I can tell the moment the giant realizes each bike is worth as much or more than the truck is worth. Looks can be deceiving, but he has the appearance of someone who at a minimum used to run with a motorcycle club.
He takes his time starting both bikes and checking them out. It's a formality. I can tell he's dying to open them up on the road and feel the rumble of the engine underneath him.
A few minutes later he stretches out his hand and I shake it. "You've got a deal, kid."
He didn't suggest swapping titles, and neither did I. Without another word I grab our things out of the bikes and head to the truck. Lucien is already behind the wheel, and I don't fight him.
"Get in, I'm not snuggling your brother."
She glares at me, her blue eyes flickering like a flame. "You realize you know him better than I do, right?”
She shrugs. "Still doesn't mean I want to be pressed up against him."
"Then press up against me, just get your skinny ass in the truck."
"Sin, be nice," Lucien demands.
Glaring at him he holds up his hands in defeat. We both know that was me being nice. It's then I realize how short Raven is. She can't even reach the handle to pull herself up since she's probably about five-foot-four. Wrapping my hands around her waist, I hoist her into the truck and jump in after her.
Lucien turns the key, and looks to me for directions. "Where to?"
"As far away as we can get before the sun comes up," I reply.
Over th
e next few hours Lucien and I take turns driving. Raven offers to take a turn, but we both turn her down. Close to dawn I pull into the parking lot of the Sunset Inn.
It's run down and likely filled with the types of people nice girls like Raven cross the street to avoid. We'll have to keep an eye on her around the other guests, but it looks like they'll accept payment in cash.
"Luce," I say, waking him up. "I'm going to get us a room."
"I can go," he says and reaches for his seat belt.
"With those freaky ass eyes the two of you have, there's no way the clerk will forget you."
"You really think you stand out less?" Raven scoffs.
"Believe me, I can be unnoticed when I need to."
She rolls her eyes. "That's likely."
Reaching into my bag I grab a ball cap and put it on my head. "There's a reason all your father's men call me ghost, princess."
Raven's eyes narrow, and I can see she wants to tear into me. As much perverse pleasure as I get out of arguing with her, it's more important for us to get inside away from the view of anyone who passes by.
Pulling the bill of the hat lower, I get out of the truck and enter the lobby. The desk clerk doesn't even look up at the sound of the bell over the door.
"How many rooms?" he asks in a bored tone.
"One," I reply and peel off the forty dollars the sign lists as the cost for the room.
"How many nights?"
"Just one." I push the two bills across the scratched counter.
He drops a key with a large plastic key fob attached to it. "Room one-thirty-seven. First floor, back left corner."
Not one time did the clerk glance up at me, and he never asked for a name. Keeping my head low, I scan the corners of the room to make sure I don't need to sneak back in later to erase footage.
When I return to the truck Lucien is behind the wheel. He rolls down the window when I don't try and get in on the passenger side.
"Did you drive around the building?" I ask.
He nods. "The guests are sketchy as fuck, but about what you'd expect at a no tell motel like this."
"The room is around the back, room one-thirty-seven."
"Sin, get in."
Instead, I take a step back and move toward the building. "Just go park. I'll meet you in the room."
Before he pulls away, Raven jumps out and follows me.
I look over my shoulder at her. "Stay with your brother."
As I predict, she ignores me. Lucien is no help. He shrugs and drives off.
"Calm your tits, it's just around the building."
"That's colorful language, princess."
"Would you quit calling me princess? I'm not some delicate damsel in distress."
Voices sound from around the corner, and I shove us both into the small alcove where the ice maker is stored. It's still too much in the open, so I cover her body with mine in the hopes that she isn't seen. There's no way any man alive will forget her, and being remembered isn't good for our chances for survival.
"It seems like I have to keep rescuing you," I whisper.
She futilely pushes against me. "Yes, protecting me from perfect strangers who don't give a damn about me."
I laugh, but there's no humor behind the sound. "As soon as your father realizes you are gone, there are going to be men looking for you. You don't exactly have a face that doesn't get attention. So for the sake of my neck and yours do as you're told."
Raven turns her head. "All I've ever done was what I was told."
"It's only for now." I'm lying, and I think we both know it.
She shoves me harder, and since the threat of her being seen has moved along, I allow her to move me. "Stop calling me princess."
"Did we or did we not rescue you from a tower last night?" I taunt her.
"I hate you," she says under her breath.
Grabbing her chin I turn her face back towards mine. "Good. Hold on to that feeling. I'm not someone to love, princess. I'm the one who will haunt your dreams and torment your days, but right now I'm the only thing standing between you and something much worse. Sometimes you need a monster to fight one."
Jerking her chin out of my hold she raises it indignantly. "Are you my monster?"
"Only if you are my princess," I toss back at her.
She huffs and pushes past me. "Good thing I have my brother."
Before she makes it past me, I grab her hand. "Your brother is my best friend, probably because he is my only friend. But he has no idea what it's like to be nothing."
"You don't think he'll fight for me?" Her voice has become soft and timid. I thought she and I were the same, that neither of us had anything in this world, but I just managed to take the last thing she had, the idea of family.
"I think he'll survive. If push comes to shove, Lucien has been conditioned to survive, even if he does so alone."
"Okay, so why should I trust you then? You've been trained alongside him, correct?"
"Because, I'm going to teach you to fight for yourself."
Raven drops my hand and her icy blue eyes bore into mine. "So your answer is not to trust you either?"
I nod, one quick movement of my head. "There is only one person you can trust in this world completely, and that's yourself."
"What a lovely world you live in."
I shake my head. "It's the world we live in, princess."
"I refuse to accept that."
"What are you going to do about it?" I rush after her since she's decided to head toward the room.
"I'm going to burn this one down and build another one in its place."
Lucien has all three bags at his feet while he waits for us by the door. He eyes me suspiciously, but Raven seems unaware.
"There was someone coming." She jerks her thumb over her shoulder in my direction. "Mr. Paranoia here thought we should hide from them."
She has no idea her brother is more concerned with me being alone with her than he is with someone seeing us, but the answer seems to pacify him.
I toss the key to Lucien who catches it without even looking. He and I are a team, more like brothers than friends, and I need to remember that.
He sticks the key in the lock and has to jiggle the handle a bit for it to open the door. It swings open and bounces off the wall. There's no door stopper to stop it from smashing into the drywall. Judging by the gouge in the wall, this has been happening for a while.
The air smells of furniture polish, a chemical cleaner of some sort, and cigarette smoke. The carpet is an old style brown shag. It appears worn in the most high traffic areas. The television is a large old tube version and is bolted to the dresser in the front of the room. Basically, it is exactly what I expected.
Raven goes to both beds and pulls the comforters off.
"What are you doing?" I ask her, thinking she is planning on making herself a bed on the floor.
"They never wash these," she says, and piles the blankets in the corner of the room. Then she proceeds to unmake both beds and look in the sheets and under them.
"What now, princess?"
She drops the corner of the sheet she's holding. "I'm checking for bed bugs, and just to make sure they actually washed the linens."
I smirk at her. "And if you find something, are you going to demand to talk to the manager?"
"Which one of you is the little spoon?" she asks instead of taking my bait.
"Excuse me?" Lucien asks, joining our conversation.
Raven points at both beds. "There's only two. How exactly are we planning to sleep?"
I don't see the issue here. There are three of us, two of whom are related. "The two of you take whatever bed you want," I reply.
Luce puts his hands up in front of him. "No. I do not need the therapy that would require."
Raven's innocence becomes clear as she looks at him confused. "Why would you need therapy?"
Laughing, I slap him on the back. He started down that road, I plan on letting him work his way back.
/>
Nervously, he runs one hand through his hair. "Well, uhh, I don't want to take the chance that my body recognizes a girl is in bed with me before my brain remembers you are my sister. Maybe if we'd grown up together, but...shit. It's just awkward as fuck, okay?"
She shrugs one shoulder. A smirk starts to form, but she seems to stop herself. What a deceptive little minx. "So, then you and Sin will share a bed?"
I shake my head. Lucien knows there is no way. He kicks the wall and stares down at his sister.
"Sin, won't share a bed with a guy."
She turns on me and narrows her eyes. "I didn't take you for a homophobe. I guess it was a little presumptive of me, but I figured someone used by people without a choice wouldn't be the type to look down on others."
I flinch and try and stop the trembling threatening to take over my body. There are a few triggers that no matter how powerful I become can still cut me down at my knees. "It isn't that," I croak.
Closing my eyes I find myself silently begging her not to ask me what's the matter with me. When I open them again, her teasing expression is gone.
"So I guess you and I are sharing a bed?"
I nod, grateful beyond measure she isn't going to make me talk. I don't fucking talk. That's reserved for people with healthy coping mechanisms.
"Pick whichever bed and side you need. Did you happen to pack me a toothbrush?"
"Yes," I mumble and hand her the backpack I packed for her. It isn't lost on me she said the side I need and not the side I want.
The bathroom door clicks closed. Lucien sits down on the bed closest to the door. He knows I'm going to put his sister on the side closest to the wall.
"I'm not going to lie. I don't like putting you in bed with my sister."
Every fiber of my body is screaming at me to shut down. I've gone a long time without sleep before, but that was years ago when I was first being trained to kill. Sleep deprivation is a fast way to break someone and make them think the way you want them to.
As it was, I've been awake now for nearly two days. Insomnia is something I deal with constantly, and since Raven showed up, I've been sleeping like shit. A part of me has been unable to shut down knowing she was present in the house.
Pretty Monsters Page 4