Hideaway (Devil's Night 2)

Michael and Will walked off, leaving the kitchen, and Kai turned to me. “See if you can find the generator,” he told me. “We can at least get a few lights working.”

Yeah, okay. I kept my vitriol to myself and headed for the stairwell access, turning on my flashlight as I descended to the basement. There were no windows down here in the stairwell, and my pulse started to race, remembering the stupid fucking horror flicks Damon watched when we were younger. I’d shine my flashlight, and all of a sudden a girl in a white dress and a mouthful of bloody fangs would jump out at me.

Opening the door at the bottom, I entered the basement and instantly let out a breath. It was a huge open boiler room with windows lining the wall at the top. I could just spot the feet of a few pedestrians walking by. A little natural light poured in, but I kept my flashlight on, since it was still pretty dim.

I strolled slowly down the aisle, shining my light on pipes and tanks, furnaces, and other machinery I didn’t recognize. Really, the hotel hadn’t been closed down that long. Most of this stuff probably worked fine still.

I spotted a generator near the wall and headed for it. I had no idea how these things worked, but I’d seen them, and I knew how to Google if I needed to.

Leaning down, I blew the dust off the switches, rubbing away the dirt. This thing wasn’t big enough to power much, and it definitely wouldn’t power the elevators, but maybe it would get the hallway lighting going. I flipped the Power button.

But nothing happened. Did it plug into something? Well, it wouldn’t plug into a wall, of course. If we had electricity, we wouldn’t need a generator.

Maybe it connected to a battery of some sort. I quickly took off my jacket, dropping it on the ground, and got on my hands and knees, shooting the flashlight underneath and around, searching for any wires or chords.

Something took hold of my ankles, though, and I yelped as they pulled them, my knees sliding out from under me and my body being dragged across the floor.

“What the hell?” I barked, flipping around to see who had grabbed me. My heart pounded. Michael and Will stood in front of me, and I kicked at them. “Get off me!”

Michael reached over, grabbing me by the shirt and hauling me up.

Asshole. I looked around, but Kai wasn’t here.

Michael gripped my collar and planted me against the wall, releasing me.

I glared at him. I expected to get in it with them soon enough—I knew what they did to Rika last year, so I knew how they liked to throw their weight around—but for some reason, I kept still. He was going to have a huge problem with me soon, but I’d make my move when I was ready.

“I have no idea what Kai is thinking right now,” he said with a bite to his tone, “but I will give you one warning and one warning only.”

I lifted my chin slowly, bracing myself for his threat.

“If you fuck with us, we will make you disappear,” he growled. “The moment I start to feel the slightest bit concerned that you might have something up your sleeve, I won’t hesitate. Do you understand?” He thinned his eyes. “You work for him, and you take care of him, and you do whatever it is he wants you to do, and you do it good, honey. Just don’t give me a reason to sink you to the bottom of the fucking river, because that is just how fast you can end. You got me?”

Oh, yeah. I got you.

I started breathing hard. I brought my fingers demurely to my lips and faked a look of fright. What did I do? Oh, no, please don’t hurt me. Please? I let out a little whimper and pinched my eyebrows together in confusion.

And then I stopped my fake sobbing and broke out in a smile, looking at him with a quiet laugh.

That shit may have worked on Erika Fane, but he had another thing coming.

“I will do my job,” I told him, “and you don’t scare me.”

His glower grew deeper.

“What can yo

u do?” I asked. “You’re an athlete, in the public eye, about to get married to the girl you’ve loved forever, with so much to lose. And this one”—I gestured to Will behind him—“is only sober from the time he drags his ass out of bed in the morning until the time he can make it to the beer cooler he keeps in his kitchen.”

Will scowled at me.

“The Horsemen are weak and dying,” I continued, feigning a concerned look. “Perfect time for enemies to strike.” I reached over and picked up my jacket, sliding my arms in. “Damon’s father would love to undo you, your father is trying to hinder a couple of your real estate deals, Damon is who-knows-where, Rika walks around every day, armed with only her little kung fu tricks.” I looked at Will. “And hasn’t that cop you went to prison for attacking been sniffing around you lately, itching for some payback?”

Michael’s eyes narrowed, and he shifted his gaze, looking taken aback. Yeah, you didn’t know about that, did you?

“You have so much going on, Michael, really,” I taunted him like he was five years old, putting my hands in my pockets. “And all the while you’re watching me, you’re not watching them.”

I pulled out both hands, and Michael caught the flash of silver in my right hand and grabbed my wrist, stopping me.