Don't Read This or You Might Die by Wendy Dalrymple

Author:Wendy Dalrymple
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Wendy Dalrymple
Published: 2023-03-08T00:00:00+00:00

8

Chapter Eight

“Fox. Call a cab.” Selena threw Valerie a dirty look as she bummed a cigarette from Fox. It was just after two a.m. and Ultra was closing for the night. The tired, beautiful people of Ybor City were all heading home, but for the Corporate Coven, the night had just begun. Selena’s new athletic boyfriend was at her side, swallowing her body inside his massive, beefy arms. Fox’s shy new friend was also in tow with her head down and her face buried in her phone. Hannah glanced at her own bespectacled date for the night and realized she didn’t even know his name.

“Are we going back to your place this time?” Fox scowled, pulling out a cell phone and tapping away at the screen.

“Of course. Hannah, what’s your friend’s name?” Valerie clung on to the arm of a man with long, dark hair and soulful eyes.

“Oh, I don’t… what is your name?” Hannah glanced at the man at her side under the harsh street lights.

“Jeremy.” He glanced down at the sidewalk, blushing.

“Well, Jeremy. Would you like to come back to my place for a drink?” Valerie asked. “I only live about five minutes away.”

“Sure.” He shrugged and glanced over at Hannah from behind his frames.

A twinge of guilt settled in as Hannah wore an awkward smile. Jeremy seemed to be shy and sweet, but she didn’t want anything to do with him. As she stood on the sidewalk, the buzz of the nightclub began to wear off, and all Hannah wanted to do was go back to the hotel, book a bus ticket to wherever on the Visage corporate card, and disappear. Something about the look in Valerie’s eye told her that leaving the group wasn’t an option.

“Valerie, I’m worn out. If we’re finished “model scouting” I’m going back to my hotel.”

“You can’t leave.” Valerie’s eyes flashed. “You’re one of us now.”

“No, actually, I’m not. I’m done.”

“Too late.” Valerie grinned as a minivan pulled up to the curb.

Hannah sighed and obeyed as the group piled into the cab. She was caught in their magnetic pull, and even though her gut and that small voice inside her said not to go with them, she went anyway. In the past, she had always let everyone tell her what to do, where to go. The new Hannah was supposed to be independent. Stronger. So far, the new Hannah was failing.

Jeremy pressed up against her in the minivan and tried to hold her hand as they drove through Ybor City and back toward downtown Tampa. The Corporate Coven threw their heads back and cackled at one another as their acquired dates for the night sat silently by their sides like obedient dogs. After only a few minutes of driving, Hannah was surprised when the cab stopped only a block away from Tampa Towers.

One-by-one, the crew spilled out of the van into the night and followed Valerie into the lobby of her building. They all filed into the elevator, and Valerie pressed the button for the top floor.

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