Toxic (Denazen #2)(86)

When we got to the end, a small log cabin came into view. “Where are we?”

“About ten miles outside town. We’re safe here. The house is in another name, so it’s not traceable to me.” Dax killed the engine and climbed out of the truck.

We followed. For a few moments, the only sound was wind whispering through rustling leaves and the slight slosh our shoes made as we stomped through the mud.

About ten feet from the house, Kale grabbed my arm and froze. He pulled me back and stepped between me and the bushes. “Someone is here.”

Dax waved him off. “It’s okay. Shanna?”

“We’re here,” Mom answered, stepping from the shadows around the side of the house. Behind her, Ginger hobbled forward, flanked by Jade, Paul and several others.

“Find the place okay?”

She nodded as he pulled a set of keys from his pocket. Holding open the door, Dax smiled. “Welcome home, guys.”

We stepped inside to a moderately furnished living room. To the right was a small eat-in kitchen. To the left was what looked like a small hallway. Judging from the outside, though, this couldn’t be more than two rooms.

“This is nice, but it looks kinda small for all of us. Not a whole lot bigger than your apartment.”

“It is. That’s why we’ll be staying downstairs. A little more room. Come on. Let’s get everyone settled so we can all catch a few hours of sleep.”

Dax started forward and disappeared around the corner, the rest of us trailing behind. In the first bedroom on the right, he opened the closet. He picked up several plastic bags that were sitting next to the door and tugged the sleeve of the only thing hanging in the closet—a bright yellow sweater.

Mischievous grin aimed at Mom, he said, “You’re gonna love this.”

Eyeing the small closet, she didn’t look too convinced.

A few seconds later, there was a clicking sound, and the closet disappeared. In its place was a large white elevator. “All aboard.”

Like Mom, Kale wasn’t thrilled about getting into the elevator, but Dax assured them it would be a short ride. We didn’t go down far. Two floors—possibly three. When the doors opened again, we stepped out into a much larger version of the upstairs living room.

“Someone slipped me something back at the party, didn’t they?” I whispered.

“I started this three years ago with a slight nudge from Ginger. Did most of the work myself.” Dax pointed down the hall to our right. “The common areas aren’t quite done yet, but the kitchen is complete and stocked, and the bedrooms are all finished. There’s some gym equipment in the room at the end of the hall if anyone needs to let off some steam, and the pool should be usable by the end of the week.”

“Pool?” Jade breathed.

“This is all very Bruce Wayne of you, Dax.” I scanned the room. There was a huge TV screen mounted on the wall across the room. Two large, fluffy beige couches and a matching chaise lounge were arranged in a semicircle around it. Shelves lined the entire wall closest to us, stacked with DVDs on one side and CDs on the other. Scanning the titles, I saw everything from The Smurfs to Reservoir Dogs. The CDs were the same. Everything from Disney tunes to Metallica.

Dax smiled. “We’ll talk in the morning. Right now I think everyone could use some sleep. The rooms are down there. Sticky notes on each of the doors to tell you whose is whose.” He turned to me as everyone filed into the hall. “You don’t look good. Is there anything I can get you?”

“Maybe some Advil or something. I just hurt everywhere, and it’s making it hard to concentrate.”

He nodded. “Go get yourself settled. I’ll see what I can find.”

Kale and I followed the dwindling crowd, finding both our rooms toward the end. I was sort of relieved to see just my name on the door. Sharing a room with Mom for the last few months had been hard.

Pushing open the door, I didn’t bother with the light. The thin strip coming in from the hall was enough to illuminate the way to the single bed across the room. Ten steps. That’s what it took to get from the door to the bed. Ten agonizing, forced steps. The pain was constant now. Not very intense, but exhausting. Sleeping in leather pants wasn’t one of the smartest things I’d ever done, but I didn’t have the energy to worry about it. Changing or mimicking was just too much work. The door closed, and a few moments later, soft footsteps crossed the room.

Kale pulled the blanket up around my shoulder. “I should go. You need to rest.”

I curled around the pillow, eyes closing despite my best efforts to keep them open. “You won’t stay?”

“I’ll be here until you fall asleep.”

I frowned into the darkness. An invisible hand was already tugging me under. “That won’t be long.”

If he replied, I never heard it because suddenly I was back at the construction site. I was really getting to hate this place. At least this time I ended up closer to the building in progress than the crane. The crane hurt to look at.

“I’m worried about you.”

Brandt-as-Sheltie was sitting on a large cinder block to my right. The building next door to the construction site was in ruins. I couldn’t remember what it’d been, but I knew it was set for demolition in a few weeks. With all the debris and broken glass, I found it odd that Brandt—and I—were barefoot.