Page 12 of Off the Rails

Most women — especially lesbians — were respectful, my favorite clients. But these three were different, hidden away from the world at the abandoned amusement park that haunted the outskirts of Valemont.

The stories about the people who lived here had filled my teenage years. I was pushed from foster home to foster home, but the stories stayed the same. There were killers in this park. Psychos who’d left society behind.

There was no bouncer here, no security guard who would pull a rowdy customer off the floor and out the door.

I didn’t know these freaks. And if I wanted to survive this, I needed to be smart.

Blade shakes her head. “We should let her out. I want to play with my Trinket.”

Trinket?

“This is why we told you not to watch her. It makes you fucking feral.” Cyrus pushed Blade’s shoulders as she walked past, making her stumble.

They had been watching.

I had a feeling they had been. But knowing that this excitable clown had watched me sleep for what had to be nearly twelve hours, made my throat tighten.

Grabbing the bars, I met Blade’s eyes. She was the most desperate, at least visibility. Maybe I could reach her.

“I’ll behave. Seriously. I’ll walk out of here and I won’t tell anyone what I saw. I can be very discreet.”

I could hear the smirk in Blade’s voice as she stepped closer to the bars, a whiff of bergamot and musk filled my nose. “I do like the sound of you behaving.”

My heart raced in my chest. They had all the power, all I could do was beg for my freedom. Beg for my life.

7

NASH

She’s fucking gorgeous.

I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her. Even leaving to bring food felt torturous, knowing that she was in here.

When we saw her on the security cameras, we all knew we wanted her. Maybe for different reasons.

But when we caught her — first in the alley, then in Carnival Chaos — I knew she would be too fun to let go. That light in her eyes, the fire that burned in her chest. She was full of fight, and there was no one more fun to hunt.

Even in her sleep, she thrashed around. Never still.

I’d resisted the urge to throw open the cell door and pin her in place, to make her freeze.

There was no world in which I believed that this pistol could behave and walk out of here quietly.

“Why don’t you tell us your name first, sweetheart?” I leaned forward in my chair.

I wanted to feel her name on my tongue. Tasting her was all I could think about.

But she shook her head as she looked at us, towering over her. Were were blocking every exit, even if she could manage to break Cyrus’s lock.

“You don’t need my name. Just let me go. We’ll never see each other again.” Our captive crossed her arms.

Blade’s voice was hungry as she kept pacing the room. “See, but wouldn’t that be a shame?”

It would.

Looking at this woman now, I knew I could spend hours staring at her. There was so much of her to study. So many pieces to make in her image.

“Bullshit.” Cyrus grumbled from behind us, not believing that this spitfire would go quietly.