She knew that every minute spent with him at night, getting into his mind, connecting them together, made it that much more difficult for her to let go of him, and she was determined to see him through this. His injury was completely healed, yet his migraines had worsened, as had his nightmares. Steele couldn’t explain it. They’d discussed the problem at length.
Every night, Player would have terrible relapses. The nightmares were so bad this last week that he’d gotten very little sleep. The illusions deepened until the reality they provoked grew stronger. She knew she would have to go back to the original Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland moment when he first brought out the characters for his Torpedo Ink brethren to amuse them. She needed to study that scene again.
Zyah had known she’d been close to discovering something sinister, something only Player had been aware of in that room. She found it odd that even Czar, who seemed so sensitive to all of the other children and everything going on around him, wouldn’t notice that Player detested Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland or that something wasn’t right in that horrible basement. But then, every one of those naked, brutalized children was freezing and starved.
She hadn’t really looked at Czar’s face. Had he known? She’d mostly looked at Player and listened to the other children. She hadn’t wanted to see those little bodies with their ribs showing and sores everywhere. She hadn’t wanted to see the skin torn from their backs. The conditions had been so horrific, Zyah hadn’t wanted to look too closely. Did that make her a coward? She pressed her fingers tighter against her throbbing temples, hating to think she might be. She was still being a coward, trying to save herself by not looking deeper into Player’s mind. It wasn’t just the terrible things done to him and the others she would find there. She didn’t want to see what he and the others had done to anyone else.
She lifted her chin. If she really was going to help Player, she had to stop being a baby and just do everything necessary. If that meant discovering criminal activity— which she already knew had occurred, though she thought it was honestly warranted—then too bad, she’d have to live with it.
“Zyah.” Maestro stuck his head in the bedroom. “Need you downstairs. The cops are here. They want to see you, your grandmother and Player.” His eyes met hers, and her heart fluttered at the warning there. “Be cautious, and think before you speak.”
“I don’t know what that means.” But she did. She knew he didn’t want her talking about the kidnapping attempt. Player had been shot aiding her. He’d shot two men to keep her from being taken. He wore a bandana wrapped around his head, hiding the raw evidence of the wound.
Maestro’s eyes went liquid silver. Intense. “Zyah.”
The Torpedo Ink members had a way of just saying her name that was a reprimand. Or an invitation to join them in laughter. The latter was extremely rare and only happened with a couple of them. Maestro was one of them.
She rolled her eyes and got up, following him down to the formal living room. She passed Player on the stairs. He touched her hand but kept going, disappearing into the bedroom. She caught a glimpse of his face, even though it was averted. He looked tired. She could feel pain beating at his head again.
“He’s overdoing it again,” she hissed to Maestro. “When I’m not here, you have to sit on him. He’s recovering, but seriously, he isn’t sleeping, and his migraines are getting worse. Hasn’t Steele explained that to you? He needs to rest, Maestro.”
“Yeah, he explained that to us. Someone forgot to explain it to Player,” Maestro said.
Zyah knew Player was pushing himself so he could leave. He barely spoke to her during the day. It was only when they were together at night that he responded to her, and then she was afraid it was because he thought she might give in to suggestions of her remaining in bed with him. She knew he wanted to have sex. Sometimes she lay next to him to ensure his nightmare stayed away. They just held hands while he drifted off, both afraid of his nightmares.
Savage and Destroyer were in the hall, back in the shadows. Both made her aware of their presence but remained where they were. They were the other two members of Torpedo Ink, aside from Maestro, who occasionally and unexpectedly made her laugh. She waited with the three club members until Player returned. He had put on his Torpedo Ink vest. When he walked past her, he gripped her hand and tugged, taking her with him. Once in the living room, he nodded his head at the two men standing near the window and took the love seat.