Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 43689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 218(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 218(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
When I stopped to take a breath, Knuckles interrupted me. “You’re our guest, Ellie. If you need to stay longer than a few weeks, we’ll talk about another arrangement.”
“I hope it will only be a few days, not weeks.” I was starting to fret, and the cats took notice. As if they could feel my distress, all three started yowling at the top of their lungs.
“Jesus Christ!” I thought that was the guy across the hall. He was always complaining about something. “Cut the fuckin’ racket! Unless you’re fuckin’ something. Then make all the racket you want. But it Goddamned well better not be a fuckin’ cat!” There was a pause. “Pussy, sure. But not a fuckin’ cat!” The cats got louder.
Carrie froze, her expression hardening. “Excuse me a moment.” Her sweet smile did not reach her eyes, and she immediately turned on her heel and headed out my apartment door.
“Ah, hell.” Hawk dropped the trash bag he’d been holding and stumbled after Carrie. The sounds of a scuffle echoed from the hallway. A high-pitched scream followed. Then another. And one more before the sound was abruptly cut off.
I glanced at the other man. Knuckles. He shrugged and tried to smother a smile but failed. Miserably.
A few seconds later, Carrie breezed in. This time, she had a genuine smile on her face. “Well. Where were we?”
“I think the better question would be, what did you do to my poor neighbor?”
“Your ‘poor neighbor’ is an asshole.” Carrie said, dusting her hands. “I taught him the value of good manners and minding his own business.”
“Uh, Knuckles?” Hawk stood in the doorway, rubbing the back of his neck. “I might have accidentally knocked that guy out.”
“You did not!” Carrie jabbed her finger in her man’s chest. “I did. Don’t take credit for my badassness.”
“He dead?” Knuckles didn’t look up from where he was bagging up the last of the ruined towels and pots and that poor plastic spoon. Or what was left of it.
“Nah. But I can’t promise he don’t have brain damage.”
“Oh, he has brain damage all right,” Carrie said brightly. “But that’s not my fault. He was like that before I got there.”
We loaded my meager possessions into the back of the Bronco. My cats still protested loudly as I secured their carriers in the backseat with Knuckles’ help. Their yowls reached a crescendo that made several passing pedestrians cross the street to avoid us.
“I promise it’s just temporary, sweethearts,” I cooed, though I had no idea if that was true. I slid into the passenger seat beside Carrie. The guys were on motorcycles in front of and behind us.
Carrie started the vehicle. “I hope not. I think you’re gonna like the compound. Besides, it’s a sight better than staying in this dump.” She waved her hand at the place before she followed the bike in front of us onto the road.
As we pulled away from the curb, I watched my apartment building shrink in the side mirror. My chest tightened. For all its flaws, that apartment had been my sanctuary for the past two years -- the first place that had felt like mine after leaving my father’s suffocating influence.
“Is that where we’re going? The compound?”
“Yep. Safest place in the whole city. They have the most wonderful place for all us old ladies to hang out. They call it the Oasis, and that’s really what it is.” She smiled, and it struck me how genuinely happy my new friend was. There was a difference in how she was in public and how she was now. I got the impression she held herself back and was on her guard most of the time. Now she acted carefree.
“Really?”
“Oh, yeah. Whole place is fenced in. And there’s plenty of room for you to do all the spells you want to, no matter how much like ass they smell.”
I laughed. “I think you’re giving ass too much credit. Ass can’t hold a candle to that potion.”
“You’re right.”
Ten minutes later we rolled through the chain-link gate. I stared in awe at the place. “This is so freakin’ cool!”
A series of warehouses formed neat rows. I have no idea how many there were, but the paths between them were covered in camouflage netting. The whole thing was surrounded by chain-link fencing with barbed wire at the top. It had a post-apocalyptic feeling going on but without the scary vibe. Which… sounded quite odd given the look of the place. I knew most of the guys here had done time in prison and maybe I should be afraid. But Carrie was a really sweet person and she and the guys from this club had literally moved me from my apartment and offered to let me stay here for an unspecified amount of time. They were going through a lot of trouble if their motives were nefarious.