*Not edited* Not proofread*

Chapter 26– Should I give you two a minute?:

I wake up feeling disorientated, my mind in a haze and my eyes heavy. My throat feels scratchy and dry, my head pounding horribly. My ears ring with a piercing noise, penetrating and high-pitched. It's all so overwhelming. But that's not what I focus on.

The fact that I'm surrounded by a warm cocoon of blankets is what alarms me more than my own deteriorating health does. It takes me a few seconds to regain memory of what happened, but eventually I do.

        I shouldn't be here.

        I open my eyes slowly, my eyelids feeling stuck. My temples throb and I'm sure my pupils are adjusting themselves to the change in brightness as I'm momentarily blinded by the light in my room.

        How the fuck did I get back here?

        "Little Warrior!"

        I wince at his loud voice, so harsh in my ears as he makes his way over to me in a hurry. He sits sideways on my bed, next to my legs, and scans my face with worry. "Are you feeling okay?"

        "Do you have to shout?" I reply instead of answering his question, my voice raspier than usual and more croaky. "I have a headache."

        "Jesus, R.A," Jace breathes softly, a hint of relief in his strained voice. "You had me worried sick."

        "How did I get here?" I ignore him again. I really don't care what he has to say, his worry once again being more annoying than it is flattering. When will he understand that I don't need his concern or his care?

        Jace's mouth opens to form a reply, his words almost making it passed his lips before I notice a sudden movement in the corner of my eye.

        My head abruptly whips around in alarm, following the slight shuffle I see, and I'm surprised to find Ricky leaning casually against my windowsill with a boyish grin on his annoying face, his hair and clothes dishevelled.

        "You?!" I exclaim, surprise and bafflement laced in my accusatory tone. I throw the covers off my body and stand up. Though, I may have reacted too quickly too soon and I lose my balance, my head spinning and stomach churning. Jace makes a move to grab me, but I push him away.

        "Me?" Ricky asks in mock perplexity as he jabs a finger to his own chest, the smirk still present on his split lips. He looks like shit, I notice absentmindedly as I take in his bruised face. Probably deserved it.

"Get out!"

"That's no way to talk to a guest, Kody baby," he pouts sadly, causing me to grit my teeth. "Especially the one who helped you when you were all alone and defenceless. Anyone could've done anything."

        "Should I give you two a minute?" Jace interrupts the glaring match I have going on with Ricky, though it's mainly one sided because I'm the only one scowling as he smiles away like the prick that he is.

"Yes."

"No," Ricky and I both say at the same time. I glare at him as a muscle in the side of my face twitches due to how hard I'm clenching my jaw. "He's leaving, so there's no need," I clarify, making sure Ricky gets the hint that he's not welcome.

I don't want him in my space.

"Fine," Ricky shrugs in an unbothered manner as he pushes himself up from his slouched position. He eyes me as he walks, his look playful and sarcastic, a glint of amusement on his smug face. "But the information that I have is coming with me."

"Pause."

Ricky stops on command, turning to face me with a shit-eating grin. "But you just said..."

"Shut the fuck up, Ricky," I snap with irritation. "Jace, out."

"Gosh, you're so rude," Jace rolls his eyes, but leaves the room nonetheless.

Once the door is closed, I divert my full attention to Ricky, every sense on high alert, my mind and body fully aware that someone I do not trust in the slightest is in my room and invading my personal space.

"You mad, psycho?" He questions with a raised eyebrow, causing me to snarl at him spitefully. Oh, how much I fucking hate this particular human. "Look, I'm not really the bribing type of person, but you work in different ways, so I've had to switch up my approach a little, you feel me? Be more tactical to get what I want."

"And what is it you want?" I fold my arms, my eyes scanning his face; and it's only because I'm so intent on looking for a flaw in his expression, something to tell me there's more to him insisting he stay, that I don't miss the minuscule shift of his eyebrows and the small twitch of his lips.

"To help."

If I had the ability to laugh, or ever felt the need to display any form of amusement in any situation, I probably would have chosen this moment to do so.

        "I'm not a fan of jokes, if you hadn't already noticed," I tell him. "So get to your fucking point before I shoot out your kneecaps and make you eat them."

        Ricky let's out a nervous laugh. "Disturbing," he murmurs under his breath. "But I know you're not a fan of jokes, mi corazón, so I wouldn't play around with you like that," he says with a smirk on his smarmy face.

        My skin prickles as I watch him. I hate that he can switch right back to being a cocky fuck within a millisecond of being a scared little bitch. I hate his stupid little nicknames and smug smirk. I hate him. And even though this hate feels considerably different to the hate I feel for Dakota, I know for a fact that it is definitely hate.

        "Kody. My name's Kody, and that's the only thing you'll call me, okay?" I snap agitatedly.

        Ricky raises an amused eyebrow, "Is it though?"

        "What?" My eyebrows furrow and my eyes widen slightly in alarm.

        A confused look crosses over his face before he laughs it off. "I'm just kidding, Kody, I'll stick to calling you by your name, chill."

It takes a few seconds for the brief flitter of panic to subside and my heart beat to slow down, but when it finally does, I scowl at Ricky deeply with a clenched jaw and balled up fists. "You really piss me off."

        Another laugh escapes his throat. "I know, mami. But what can I say? I just have one of those faces." Seeing my deathly stare he raises his hand to his open mouth and gasps. "Sorry, I meant Kody."

"Okay," I start out calmly, closing my eyes to regain some form of control. "You have ten seconds to tell me what information you have before I'm choking you to death."

"Kinky."

"Three," I begin, ignoring his comment. I don't know what it means and I'm sure it would be better for both our sakes if I stayed clueless.

"What? Why are you starting at three? Do you not know how to count, corazón?"

"Six."

"Fuck me, okay, you're really not playing."

"Eight."

"I know who hurt Lilah!" His voice is loud and panicky, it rings through my ears harshly and causes a sharp pain to dart through my head.

        I pause for a moment, my eyes scanning his face to try and gage whether he's lying or not. Once I fail to notice any signs or odd ticks in his demeanour, I tilt my head to the side in question. "Is that why your face looks uglier than usual?"

        He looks appalled for a moment. "I have feelings, you know," he scoffs with a roll of the eyes. I ignore him. "But no, actually. This," he points to his bruised face. "Is what happens when you hit on a girl with a boyfriend the size of Dwayne Johnson."

        "Dwight who?" I parrot in confusion.

        Ricky gapes at me with a stupid look coated across his ugly features. "Dwayne Johnson.... The Rock...." I shake my head. "Fucking Hell, where have you been? Did you used to live in a third world country or something?" He holds up a finger which he points at me. "You know what? That would actually make sense. You are a little... clueless."

        "Stop talking."

        "But—."

        "Stop fucking talking or I swear to fucking God I'm really going to shoot you this time." Ricky's hands go up in defence and he presses his lips together firmly. "Well done. After eighteen years on this Earth and you were finally able to follow orders and do something useful with your worthless self." He makes a sound of protest in the back of his throat which I decide to not acknowledge. "Now, you're going to give me the name, or names, of the people who were responsible for Lilah, you're going to give me their address, and then you're going to fuck off. Okay?"

        "O—."

        "I said no talking," I bite angrily. Ricky's eyebrows furrow and he lifts his arms from his side before letting them slap back against his jeans in exasperation. I walk over to my desk and find a pen and piece of paper before turning back to him. "Here. Start writing."

        Reluctantly, Ricky takes the stationery from my hands and begins to scribble sloppily onto the crisp, white lined sheet with the ballpoint pen I gave him.

There mustn't be too many names because he's done within or so seconds and looks up at me. "Here," he offers me the piece of paper with his messy handwriting sprawled across it and throws the pen on my bed. "There's the people you're looking for."

Andres Santos.
Lucile Daniels.
Joe Perry.

        Looking up, my eyes meet Ricky's back as he goes to leave, one of his hand shoved inside his pocket, the other one the handle. Before he's even out of the threshold, my mouth opens and I call out to him.

        "Why?" He freezes then, slowly turning his head around so his green eyes meet mine. "What's in it for you?"

        I don't hear the breath of air that leaves him, but I know by his facial expression that he scoffs at me. "Not every bad person you meet is a bad person, corazón."

        Then he turns and leaves me with a crumpled piece of paper in my hands, furrowed eyebrows, and a sinking feeling in my stomach. And when I look down at the three names, I know in the pit of stomach that nothing good will come from this.

But I'm doing it anyway.

___

Author's Note

I'm so sorry! Like so sorry! I have no excuses at all as to why I haven't updated, I'm just lazy and got a little caught up with a social life (I know, how weird right?!)

But I know this is short— very short. But now that the weather is getting a little shittier (at least where I am) and I can use the excuse that it's raining so I can't leave the house, I'll have much more time to write. I don't really like writing in the summer because I feel like I'm wasting my life away, but in the winter I love it!

I won't say for definite when the next chapter will be out, and I can't promise it will be a long one, but I will start writing it now. Like right now. As you're reading this, I'm working on the next chapter.

Also, who's kinda shipping Kody and Ricky? Because I can't lie and say I'm not feeling them two together, you know? Remember this is only the first draft of the series and there's still room for change.

Unless we do like her with Dakota more?

Or we can work our way around and let her and Ricky have their moment?

.... okay, why do I kind of like that idea? It screams DRAMA.

Hmmm, imma think about it!

Oh! And when do we want them to start finding out about Kody? Only one person will find out first, it's not going to be like, the whole group at once. But when do you feel like it should happen? Are we ready for that now? Wait until Book 3? What do you guys think?

Anyway, sorry again and enjoy this chapter no matter how shitty and short.