Page 56 of Off the Rails

Nash cocked her eyebrow. “A ride? Where do you need to go?”

“Pick up some clothes from a work friend.” I tried to keep my expression placid through her scrutinizing gaze. It was only a little bit of a lie — I really had left my clothes with Lola before the Freaks found me. And if she was at the club tonight, I’m sure she’d be more than ready to return them to me.

She’d better be. I can’t dance in sweats and a baggy tee.

“Where?” Nash leaned against the doorframe. “Where’s work?”

“It’s a weird address, I’ll just tell you where to go.” I murmured, striding past her in the doorway. “Come on. I don’t want to keep her waiting.”

“I wanna come!” Blade called out, setting the tools she was tinkering with down on the counter. “Road trip!”

“Guys, this was just supposed to be a quick errand.” Nash pinched her nose, but Blade was already bounding over to join us.

“It will be quick!” I smiled up at her, turning on the charm. “You’ll hardly notice the interruption.”

The frown tugging at her lips told me that she doubted that. But Blade and I were already rocketing for the car — there was no stopping us now.

My heart was still pounding as I settled into the front passenger seat of the Escalade. I hadn’t planned to get this far. But I would take the win where I could get it.

I’ll be there in 10. Don’t hate me :)

I shot off a text to Nico before turning my gaze back to the road ahead of us. “Make a right up at the light…”

“You know, Sweet Lamb, this would be a lot easier if you would just tell me where we’re going.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” I winked, hoping for just a few more minutes where I wouldn’t have to explain myself.

But Blade was insistent on dragging out every second of the suspense. “Are we going to the vet? To the park? To the fire station.”

She rattled down a list of every profession, every business in town that she could think of. But while it seemed like Nash pieced things together a block or two away, Blade was still struck with shock as we pulled into the parking lot of Velvet Paradise.

“Trinket! You dance?”

“Yep,” I murmured, reaching for the door handle before Nash could fully stop. “See you in a few hours.”

But before I could swing open the door, Nash locked it with the press of a button. “Not so fast.”

My mouth fell open as I whipped to face Nash. “What the fuck? I’m gonna be late.”

“We can’t just leave you here, Tess.”

“Oh don’t be absurd. I’m here all the time. It’s fine.”

“And if you try to run?” She raised an eyebrow.

A genuine laugh burst from my lips. “Seriously? Listen, I make good money here, but $20k is $20k. I’m not stupid enough to blow that off. Especially now that you know where I work.”

In the backseat, Blade eyed the dudes loitering around the parking lot, her lip curling into a possessive snarl. My phone was buzzing like crazy in my pocket — no doubt Lola was anxious to offload my duffle.

I pouted, resting my hand on Nash’s forearm across the center console. “Listen, my shift starts soon. If I miss it, I’m fired. I just need you to trust me on this one. Stay in the car if you want — my shift ends at 1am. You’ll see the second I step out of the club. Please?”

Nash frowned, eyes glancing between my pleading face at the growing stream of patrons heading for the door. With a huff, she unlocked my door.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I gave her arm a squeeze, flashing a smile at Blade before hopping out of the Cadillac. “I promise it’ll be over before you know it. You guys are the best.”

But my feet had hardly hit the ground before Nash killed the engine. Their doors swung open in quick succession, and before I knew it, I had two hulking shadows following me into the club.

“What are you⁠—?”