Touch (Denazen #1)(42)

I waited too long. His brow furrowed and the right corner of his lip did that twitching thing. The dead giveaway he knew something wasn’t right. “I would have thought you’d view this as good news, Deznee.”

“No. I—” I shook my head. “It is good news. I can’t believe he got that close. A block away? Do you think he was coming here?”

Dad folded the paper and set it down. “That would be my guess.”

“I want to see him,” I said, standing. “I want to look the bastard in the face.”

“That won’t be possible, Deznee. For everyone’s safety, he will be contained on level nine until we can decide what to do with him.”

“What’s level nine?” I was proud. I managed to keep my voice even. For the most part.

“Transition and termination.”





16


The stairwell of Alex’s apartment, if possible, smelled worse than it had the other day. Pinching my nose in a vain attempt to block out the stench, I dashed up the stairs two at a time. I came to the second story landing and tripped over a man slumped across the floor. “Crap, I’m sorry.” I bent down to check on him as he maneuvered onto his side and threw up, narrowly missing my shoes. “Okay then, enjoy the hangover.”

Two minutes later I was at Alex’s door, pounding like a crazy person. I had no idea what his days consisted of now, but it was only just after ten in the morning. That was like six a.m. to the Alex I’d known a year ago. Hopefully, I’d caught him before he headed off to Roudey’s—or wherever the heck he spent his days now.

The door jerked open and there stood Alex, shirtless in black sweat pants that sat low on his hips. Hair tousled and hazel eyes bleary, there was no doubt he’d just woken up. His face wrinkled into a mask of annoyance until he actually took a good look at who was standing in the doorway. “Dez?”

I pushed him aside and stepped into the room. “Please tell me Kale’s here.”

“Déjà vu, Dez. Didn’t we do this yesterday?” He wasn’t happy.

“When was the last time you saw him?”

He shrugged and went over to the couch, sinking down. “I was out most of the night at a party downtown. I asked him if he wanted to come, but he said no. Got home a little after four, was a little buzzed, and crashed. Didn’t look to see if he was on the couch. I agreed to let the dude crash here. I’m not playing babysitter.”

“Dad said they got him. Late last night.”

He gave a half shrug. “Those are the breaks, I guess.”

I glared at him, fists tightening.

“Look, I’m sorry they got him, I really am, but for the most part, it’s every man for himself when it comes to Denazen.” He shrugged again.

I couldn’t believe that. “You have to help me.”

“Help you do what?”

I stared. “Get him out! They’ll kill him. Dad pretty much said so! Come with me. Go undercover. With the two of us there, we’ll find the information faster. Maybe we can get Kale and my mom out without the Reaper’s help.”

He took a step forward, taking my hands in his. “I know you were kinda attached to the guy, but you need to let it go.”

I ripped my hands from his and backed up a few steps. Could he really be that cold? “Were you always such an *? I mean in all that time we were together, how did I not notice what a selfish prick you were?”

That hit a nerve. Alex covered the room in three steps and pushed me back against the door. “Denazen wiped out my entire family. They slaughtered my parents. My grandmother took me in, and when Denazen came for her, she gave her life so I could stay free.” A hand on each side of my shoulders, he gave a rough shake. “Why the hell would I willingly walk into that place?”

“To help me,” I said quietly.

For a minute, I thought he might scream. Face twisted and red, his lips curled into a silent snarl. After a moment though, he visibly relaxed. The pressure on my arms vanished, and he spun me toward the door. “Get the hell out.”

§

The car ride to Denazen the next morning went by in a flash. Somewhere close to midnight the night before, I’d started getting seriously cold feet. Kale was locked up somewhere, Alex wouldn’t help me, and Brandt, for whatever reason, wasn’t picking up his cell. When I’d come up with the idea to infiltrate Denazen and find Ginger the information she needed in return for her help, I’d been filled with excitement. This was the ultimate rush, with the added bonus of screwing over Dad in the process. But after trying—and failing—to sleep last night, my stomach remained a mess of knots. I couldn’t shake the look of raw anger in Alex’s eyes when he told me to leave. The icy tone of his voice told me I was truly alone in this. If something went wrong, there’d be no one to go to for help. Was I really up for this? Sure, I could be resourceful, but these were the big dogs. I couldn’t help feeling like I’d crawled way out of my league.

Dad whipped the car into his private parking spot and opened the door without a word. I followed him into the building and to the white elevator doors. Once they closed behind us and the real set opened, he began to speak.

“Before we proceed, I must make sure you understand. This is not a joke, and it’s not a game.”