Kissing Danger ✔️

THIRTEEN

Word Count: 1966

The moment the door closes behind him, my gaze drifts to the keys lying on the floor which must have fallen from Eryk's pocket. Leaning down, I grab them, tucking them into my own pocket.

"What are you doing?" Lei hisses.

"Quiet," I respond, my voice barely above a whisper. Lei's gaze tracks me all the way to the window, which I slide open, a light spray of rain blowing in with the wind. "He's insane if he thinks I'm staying here. That man has something seriously wrong with him."

Lei and I need to get out of here. The best thing for the both of us is to put some distance between us and Eryk, at least until I can figure out who he is and what his intentions with me is. The fact he may have healed us, and bleeds purple like I do isn't enough for me to sit silently in this hotel room until he reveals whether his intentions are good or evil. He may have healed me to do far more sinister things...

"My head hurts. I don't think I can drive," Lei comments, coming to stand beside me at the window, looking down at Eryk's parked car.

My eyes drift to the narrow ladder that extends down to the ground level. "I'll drive. Let's take the fire escape."

Glancing over my shoulder, ensuring Eryk is listening and about to walk in to bust us, I swing one foot out the window, then the other, holding the frame as I delicately manoeuvre my body until my foot is braced firmly on the slick rung of the ladder. Lei watches anxiously as I pull myself away from the window and into the rain, holding tightly onto the metal ladder, motioning for Lei to follow.

"I feel like I'm in a movie," she hisses as I step down enough to give her room to replicate my actions.

"We need to go quickly," I encourage, my voice just above a whisper, the sound of the rain pattering against the exterior of the building nearly drowning me out. "He will notice our absence immediately."

Lei nods. The two of us make our way quickly down the ladder, careful not to slip until our feet are on the gravel. Thankfully no one is around, which I confirm with a quick scan of the area, still anxious Eryk may be following, or that someone working with the woman who attacked me is also present.

"What was he saying, Aven? How much of that is true?" Lei questions, stalking beside me as we approach the car.

"None of it, obviously," I assure her calmly. She knows the colour I bleed, and has always had questions about my origin. I've been too scared to seek out my birth parents to get answers, just grateful I can live the peaceful life I currently do...or did. "I don't know how he came up with that, but there aren't any other realms."

That much I can be sure of...Right?

"He healed me..." Lei exclaims, rounding the car as I struggle to unlock it. Pausing, I look up at her. There is almost no evidence that Lei had ever hit her head except for the slightest trace of dried blood at the corners of her mouth and below her nose. He had healed her. And me.

"I don't know what that was, but surely it's a trick," I reply, not currently having any answers on hand that would sate her.

"There he is," Lei yelps. "Quick!"

Looking over my shoulder, I see Eryk moving swiftly through the lobby of the inn, right toward us. The intensity of his gaze is immobilizing for a moment, until the fear truly spikes within me, and I get into the car, slamming the door shut behind me. Lei is frantic next to me as I glide the key into the ignition and turn it on. With an uncomfortable rattle, the car comes alive, and I put my foot down, holding Eryk's gaze as he runs toward us.