“Maya, where are your keys?” I ask her, shaking her arm. I will put up with the names, but if she thinks I am going to leave Rose in some random person’s house, she is mistaken.
“Hey, leave her be,” says a man, who shoves me, and I nearly trip. A growl tears out of me, and Kora pushes our aura out in warning, and he steps back with his hands up. Everyone stops around me and stares. I am not in the mood to deal with this shit show.
“Woah, woah, it’s her brother Henry,” Rose slurs, hanging off me completely shitfaced.
“How many drinks you had, Rose?” I snap at her, wishing I had never come, and she shrugs carelessly. “I am ringing Jonah or Casen to come to get us. You were supposed to stay with me, not take off,” I scold her.
“She is fine; you don’t have to leave. Let her sleep it off upstairs,” Maya slurs, visibly annoyed with me. Well, guess what, menace, I’m more annoyed with your drinking problem and careless attitude towards the underage girl you claim to be your best friend!
“No! Maya, your keys now, we are leaving,” I persist, pressing my lips together, trying to calm my irritation.
“Settle down, just stay. We will drive you both back in the morning. I won’t let anything happen to you, you’re freaking out for nothing,” this Henry person says, and I glare at him.
“Won’t let anything happen? You let two underage girls get shitfaced; what kind of brother are you? She should not be passed out around all these people and all these unmated wolves. Maya, get up!” I tell her, shaking her arm.
I knew this was a bad idea, and I deserve the scolding I will get when I get home. I just hope Jonah forgives me for my stupidity. Her parents are going to kill me.
“You want to go, go. But my sister stays. Samson!” Henry yells, and another man comes over.
“Put Maya upstairs for me and make sure the door is locked,” he tells the man before wandering off.
I watch as he scoops Maya off the table, shaking his head. He can do whatever with his sister, but I need to get Rose out of here as soon as possible.
Fuck, now what? I look around and try to come up with something. Anything. I glance at my phone and know no one will get here for hours.
“What about that hotel we passed? You have the emergency credit card your father gave you,” Kora reminds me, and I nod to her before gripping Rose’s arm. She tries to struggle against me.
“No, I want to stay,” Rose argues, barely able to hold herself upright.
I ignore her and pull her along with me. “No, we are leaving.”
“Rose!” I growl when she tries to shove me away. She falls silent as Kora pushes the command over her, and Rose whimpers. “There is a hotel down the end of the street. We will stay there, and I will find a way for us to get home in the morning,” I tell her, leaving no room for negotiation.
“So you aren’t ringing Casen or Jonah?” she asks me in a slurred mumble.
“It will be too late by the time they get here, and I don’t want to spend hours here waiting. Come on,” I tell her, tugging her, and she stumbles, falling flat on her face.
I groan, bending down and ripping her heels off before tossing them to the side of the room and hauling her to her feet.
“Lead the way,” she slurs, and I roll my eyes, tugging her out of the house.
The fresh air smashes against me, making me realize how muggy it is inside. I welcome it wholeheartedly and feel almost peaceful. With the music gone, the smell of sweat and alcohol is no longer strong in my nose. Well, not as bad, since Rose still stinks of it.
I hang on to Rose while walking the path down the street. We passed Jonah and Kyan’s hotel on the way here, and it is around the block on the main road. I pull Rose along with me, forcing her feet to move.
Kora is on edge and alert as we walk along the path. I have never been on this street before, and it is similar to the main one, filled with pubs and clubs. Coming to the pedestrian crossing, I look both ways down the darkened street when a group of men comes up behind us. They are chatting amongst themselves and clearly intoxicated. I feel a little uneasy but ignore them and just carry on. If we don’t draw attention, it will be fine.
The road is clear, and I cross with Rose staggering and muttering beside me. Coming past a small park, I go to cut across it when I hear that voice again, the same voice I always used to hear, the same one from the video recording, the same one from my dream last night.
I swear it sounds like Dominic’s, Kyan’s father’s voice. Could it be his? But how is that even possible?
After learning he died for me, my brain keeps conjuring him up; it must be my guilty conscience. But when I hear it again, I stop. Goosebumps rise on my arms and the back of my neck prickles.
“Not through there, back to the light, stay in lit areas,” the whisper says.
Rose whines, and I turn to tug her toward the street lights instead of taking the shortcut. The men behind me are still following, but I turn down the next corner when I reach the end of the road. My heart is racing now and that feeling of unease within me now heightens.
“Not that way,” the voice says, and I freeze.
Turning around, I look up at the street sign. I could have sworn I went the right way, but I don’t recognize this road, and we are only one street away from the main, aren’t we? Confusion and fear threaten to wrap around me and I try to focus.
“But we zipped up all those alleyways – maybe we are further than we thought. We only saw the rooftop sign. It might have been further away,” Kora tells me.
“Which way?” I whisper under my breath.
“Maybe we head back, and ask someone at the party for directions?” Sighing, I turn around, the whispering voice tells me to run when I am hit on the side of the head.