Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 88673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
“No. The last thing we need is you coming off aggressive to Ike. Just be yourself. That’s good enough.”
Which is a surprisingly nice thing to say, so it catches me off guard and I stop paying attention to him, or where we’re going, and just think about it for a little bit.
Being me is good enough.
It actually makes me feel relieved. Like I won’t mess this up and in three months it really will be over, and I’ll be fine, and I’ll put the whole terrible experience of being held hostage by a man who comes from an underground military facility behind me.
Riggs is walking in front of me now, so when he stops, and I’m still not fully paying attention, I end up bumping into him.
“We’re here,” he says.
I follow his pointing finger until my gaze lands on a cave opening in the rocky hillside.
“Come on. Let’s go in.”
CHAPTER 12 - RIGGS
When I point my flashlight at Clover, her face is pale and her eyes are wide as she stares at the steel door I’ve stopped in front of. There’s an awkward pause here, then she turns her gaze up at me and starts shaking her head.
“What? Why are you shaking your head at me?”
“This can’t be real.” She looks around the dark tunnel, peering back the way we came. “How the hell?” She looks at me again. “Am I dreaming? Did I hit my head? Did someone drug me?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I mean… it makes no sense. Don’t you see? The world doesn’t work this way. There are no secret underground tunnels. It doesn’t exist. This is just… I dunno. A dream. It’s gotta be a dream.”
“Ya know”—I blow out an exasperated breath—“I’m surprised that it took you this long to catch up.”
“What?”
“It’s shock, Clover. Well, this isn’t.” I knock on the steel door. “This is real. The fact that you have been pretty much ignoring everything I’ve been telling you—or, at the very least, sweeping it under some metaphorical rug up inside your brain—is just instinct.”
Her eyes narrow down. “I can’t tell if that was an insult or not, but I’m not crazy.”
“I never said you were. I’m just trying to explain your inappropriate reaction right now.”
“Inappropriate?” She huffs at me with blinking eyes, then pans her hands wide at the dark tunnel all around us. “I’m in a tunnel, under the woods behind my house, and I’m about to enter the fucking Emerald City or something. Nothing about my reaction is inappropriate.”
“Exactly. We’re here, about to go inside a secret city, and you’re freaking out on me. That’s the part that’s inappropriate. You’ve had days to think about what I’ve been telling you and come to terms with it, but no. You had to pretend none of this was happening and wait until we’re literally on the doorstep of top-secret shit before throwing your little princess tantrum.”
She scoffs and blinks at me again, but I keep going.
“It’s fine, OK?” I hold up a hand, palm out, trying to keep her calm. “It’s fine if you’re confused, or whatever it is you’re feeling. I understand that part because once upon a time I was on the other side of a door like this one feeling just like you are about a world up top that I never knew about. But we’re here, Clover. I’m putting a lot on the line for you. I’m saving your life. And if you go in there and freak the fuck out, and get me caught, I will throw you under the bus so fast, your fucking head will spin. Do you understand me?”
She recoils back in the middle of my threat, but now she scoffs and crosses her arms. “Well, it’s good to see that my first impression of you still stands. Because I was starting to think you were a decent guy or something. But obviously, that’s not true. You’re just a bully, Mr. Riggs.”
I laugh. Loud enough for it to echo down the tunnel. “A bully?”
“Yeah. You enjoy threatening me, don’t you?” She steps forward and pokes me in the chest with a manicured fingernail. “That’s how you get through life, isn’t it? Threatening people with gruesome acts of retaliation if they don’t act the way you tell them to.”
“I’m trying to save your life, Clover. I’m sorry my delivery is a bit terse for your standards of care, but I’m all you’ve got. So if you’re done throwing your little tantrum, princess”—I wave my hand at the door—“can we please proceed? Because the sooner I get rid of you, the sooner I can get on with my life.”
She clenches her jaw, narrows her eyes, and presses her lips together. Like she wants to explode right now, but doing so would just prove my point that she’s a spoiled brat.