The Gates of Byzantium (The Babylon Series, Book 2) Read online

  Karen nodded between spoonfuls of fish. “More than enough. That’s how we’re able to conserve so much energy generated from the solar panels for things like Kyle’s videogames and the AC.”

  “It’s a hell of a setup you guys got here,” Danny said.

  “It is,” Karen nodded. “We were very lucky to find it.”

  “How can you be sure the ghouls can’t cross the water?” Will asked.

  “Because we can see them on land, watching us every night, and it’s been eight months. Don’t you think they would have crossed by now if they could?”

  “She’s got a point, Will,” Lara said.

  “I don’t blame you for being cautious,” Karen said. “I don’t have a clue what you’ve gone through out there, or just to get here. But tomorrow, when you wake up, you’ll feel like it’s the first day of your new life.”

  Maybe the wine was finally doing its job, because Will and Danny stopped sneaking looks toward the windows. They were smiling more, talking more, and had all but stopped noticing the falling night outside.

  And when that happened, Josh stopped noticing, too.

  It wasn’t until around nine that dinner finally wrapped up and the conversation tapered off. Josh could feel the energy sapping from everyone around him, including the islanders. Everyone agreed to call it a night, and Josh was more than happy to finally get up from his chair. It felt like he had been sitting for the last three days instead of hours.

  Everyone helped out by taking plates and silverware into the kitchen, then cleaning up the marble table until it was spotless. After that, people began drifting off one by one. Tom had slipped out of the room unnoticed earlier. The man had a real gift for lurking.

  Jake and Sienna followed, Sienna leaning tiredly against Jake’s shoulder.

  Karen excused herself, declaring that she needed a big, hot bath that got a “Hallelujah!” from Carly, who quickly left with Danny.

  That left Debra and Marcus talking with Will and Lara about something that, from their expressions, looked important. Josh caught fragments of conversation, bits and pieces about defending the island if something were to happen. Despite the serious topic, Will didn’t sound nearly as alert as he had earlier in the day. It reminded Josh of his parents after one of their Date Nights, returning home filled with good food and too much wine.

  Will’s human after all. Go figure.

  Josh and Gaby took their share of the dinner plates into the kitchen. Gaby looked a little wobbly, and at one point he grabbed her arm to keep her from toppling over. “Hey, there, Humpty Dumpty,” he said.

  She smiled back at him, and he saw mischief glinting in her eyes. “I’ve never drunk wine before, but I think I really like it.”

  “Great, you’re becoming an alky at the end of the world.”

  “What better time?”

  “Just remember, we don’t have AA anymore.”

  “You’re no fun,” she said playfully.

  Sarah was in the kitchen, wiping down the counters with a wet rag. “Just dump them in the sink, guys. I’ll deal with them tomorrow.”

  There were already piles of plates and silverware in the large industrial sink behind her.

  “Are you sure?” Gaby asked. “I can help.”

  “That’s sweet, but the kitchen belongs to Al and me. He cooks, I clean up. Besides, you guys must be tired from the long trip here. I know how it is out there, always running, looking over your shoulder. Go get some rest, and we’ll do it all again tomorrow.”

  “Thanks,” Josh said, putting the plates in the sink. “For the food and for everything else, too.”

  “Don’t mention it,” Sarah said, smiling back at him. “Go get some sleep. And don’t worry about anything. You’re safe here.”

  Josh turned to go, but Gaby paused to embraced Sarah. The other woman looked momentarily embarrassed, but she quickly hugged Gaby back, and he thought both women looked close to tears.

  “Thank you,” Gaby said. “Thank you for everything.”

  “You’re welcome, you’re welcome…God, you’re going to make me cry,” Sarah said, sniffling.

  Gaby wiped at her eyes. “I have something in my eyes.”

  “Me, too,” Sarah said.

  They laughed and embraced again.

  Josh stood back and watched them awkwardly, not quite sure what to do next.

  *

  THEY FINALLY LEFT Sarah in the kitchen, wiping away tears, while Gaby dabbed at her eyes with a napkin. As they were making their way back across the lobby, Josh caught a glimpse of Tom, standing outside on the patio smoking under the bright halo of the floodlights.

  Tom disturbed Josh, in more ways than one. He was always showing up where you least expected him, like a bogeyman in a horror movie. And Josh still couldn’t shake that conversation in the Tower.

  “That was a good meal,” Gaby said.

  “That was a great meal,” he nodded.

  “I think I’m going to really like it here. What about you?”

  “Definitely.”

  “Even Will and Danny looked pretty happy by the end of the night.”

  “It must be the wine.”

  “Probably. I’m still a little light-headed from the wine, too. Did you have some?”

  “I tasted a little bit. Not my thing.”

  “What is your thing?”

  “You,” he blurted out before he had the chance to stop himself.

  “That’s sweet. I think.”

  He did his best to grin away his embarrassment. “I meant that in the best way.”

  She laughed. “What other way is there?”

  They were halfway to their rooms when Gaby stopped in the hallway and reached over and took his hand. She looked him in the eyes and smiled. He was suddenly very nervous, afraid and anticipating where this was going. Maybe she felt his nervousness, or actually saw it on his face, because she said, “Relax.”

  “I am relaxed,” he lied.

  They were the only two people in the hallway, and it seemed like they were the only two people in the entire hotel. The hallway had working lightbulbs, and he could see every inch of her lips and the tip of her nose and her light, incandescent green eyes. She was perfect in every way, and he was always reminded of that every time he looked at her.

  Compared to her, he was a mess. And that was before the swollen eyes, bruised lips, and cracked nose. What did she even see in him? He had saved her, yes, but she had saved him back. Twice. He was the one who owed her, not the other way around. Yet here she was, looking at him with a smile that could make men do just about anything.

  What did he ever do that was so right in a past life to deserve this?

  “I know we have our own rooms,” she said.

  “Yeah…”

  “But you should come and stay in mine.”

  “Why?” he was going to say, before he realized why, and said instead, “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” she said, then turned and walked up the hallway, leading him by the hand.

  He went willingly, floating on air.

  *

  THEY WERE SITTING in the middle of her bed when Josh asked the question he hadn’t thought he would ever get to ask in this life, much less to the girl of his dreams. “Shouldn’t we have some kind of protection?”

  “I’m on the patch,” Gaby said.

  “What’s that?”

  “The patch. It’s a contraceptive. Lara gave it to me, just in case of, well, this.”

  “How does it work?”

  “You stick it to your skin and it keeps you from getting pregnant.”

  “So it’s like a patch? Literally?”

  “Yeah. You wanna see it?”

  “Where is it?”

  “Over my right shoulder.”

  “Does it have to be there?”

  “Not really, but that’s where most women put it.”

  “Oh.”

  Gaby lifted her arms and pulled off her T-shirt. She tossed it to the floor next to the
m, then turned back to face him in a white lacy bra. For some reason, he had always expected her to wear lacy white undergarments. “Your turn.”

  He pulled his shirt off. Or at least tried to. He was trembling so badly she had to reach over and help him. “Sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “I’m nervous.”

  “I know.”

  “This is my first time.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  He almost laughed. “But I’ve always loved you,” he said, surprised at how earnest the words sounded tumbling out of his mouth.

  “I know,” she smiled. “We’ve lived across the street from each other most of our lives, Josh. You don’t think I’ve noticed you watching me from your bedroom window?”

  “I didn’t think this would ever happen. I mean, I knew it would happen eventually, but I never thought it would happen with you.”

  “Why?”

  “Look at you, Gaby. And look at me.”

  “It’s not as swollen as this morning…”

  “I don’t mean that. Even before that guy in Beaumont beat the crap out of me, I was still just me, and you were—are—still you.”

  “I don’t know what that means, but it sounded sweet.” She smiled at him again. “Besides, you probably would’ve ended up being a millionaire if none of this had happened. I read somewhere that most millionaires who didn’t have a lot of luck with girls end up marrying trophy wives who resemble the girls they lusted after back in school.”

  “Where did you read that?”

  “I don’t know. Cosmo or US Weekly or one of those. You think it’s true?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe?”

  “Doesn’t matter. We’re here now.”

  She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. Softly, like she was afraid he would crumble against her. Josh leaned into her and kissed her back. When their noses made accidental contact, he felt a stinging sensation, but didn’t pull away. He was kissing Gaby in bed.

  He was kissing Gaby in bed!

  He was still repeating that to himself when he felt her fingers against his bare chest and electricity raced through him.

  *

  I’M A LOUSY LAY, Josh thought, when he heard her sighing with disappointment after it was over, even though he knew she didn’t mean for it to come out so loudly, or for him to hear.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered against her, out of breath.

  “Don’t be,” she whispered back.

  He lay on top of her, feeling useless and lacking, and as manly as a wet paper bag left out in the rain for a month. He wasn’t sure if he should move or roll over or stay perfectly still. It wasn’t like he had a lot of experience during, so his experiences after were just as lacking.

  “God, I suck at this,” he groaned.

  “It’s okay,” she said, and he felt her fingers in his hair. “The night’s still young.”

  “Yeah?” He lifted his head and looked at her beautiful face in the darkness.

  “You have someplace else to be?” she said, smiling back at him.

  He grinned. “No.”

  “Good. Lay down on your back.”

  He did, and she climbed on top of him. The room was dark, except for a night-light in a corner, and they had closed the patio curtains. Still, he could see enough of Gaby in the semidarkness to know that naked, she was even more glorious than clothed.

  “Now just relax,” she said.

  Josh didn’t think he could do it again so soon, but when she reached down between them and touched him, he realized he was wrong. Man, was he wrong. She guided him back inside her and he almost died.

  This time, he lasted longer, and when she shuddered and lay down on top of him, their bodies slick with sweat despite the cold air pouring from the vents, Josh thought, Maybe I’m not such a bad lay after all.

  Suck on that, mofos!

  *

  JOSH DREAMT OF walks in the park, marrying Gaby, having kids (two or three—that part of the dream was a bit murky) and opening a computer repair shop, of all things. He didn’t even like computers that much.

  All of that faded when he felt cold, alien fingers around his left calf and something smooth but cold brushing against the back of his head. Josh opened his eyes to find a dark, silhouetted figure moving in front of him. It was a big man, wearing all black, with broad shoulders and dark black hair. And he was dragging Josh by the feet along the hotel hallway.

  This is such a shitty dream.

  He had always assumed post-coital dreams would be better. He had just had sex with the most beautiful girl in the world, and what did he dream about? Some guy dragging him through the hotel hallway.

  So Josh lay back and waited to wake up.

  And he waited, and waited…

  It wasn’t until he felt a stinging pain against the back of his head that Josh finally accepted that he was very much awake. He opened his mouth to scream, but no sounds came out. He tried to lift his hands from the polished marble floor, but they wouldn’t move. His fingers stared back at him, pliant and useless. The only thing he had control over were his eyes and his mind. The rest was asleep.

  He was tilted onto his left cheek, and he couldn’t lift his head off the floor. The coldness of marble seeped through his hair and scalp. There was a big bump at the back of his head, and it looked like someone had put his boxers back on him, because he remembered going to sleep with Gaby in his arms, both of them naked.

  Oh God, why couldn’t this be a bad dream?

  The hallway lights stung his eyes, but he couldn’t turn his head to look away. At least he had control over his eyelids, so he blinked and allowed himself to slowly become accustomed to the brightness. He didn’t know how long they had been moving down the hallway, but it seemed like minutes had flown by. Or maybe it was seconds?

  The man turned left, and as he did, Josh’s head tilted over onto his right cheek and he saw he wasn’t alone. The man was dragging not just him, but Gaby, too. Her long blonde hair streamed behind her like a dirty mop, scooping up dirt and dust from the floor. He was relieved to see Gaby wearing a T-shirt. It looked like his. It was a size too big for her, and it flapped around and sometimes got stuck behind her body as she was dragged, and he caught glimpses of her breasts and lacy panties. Josh flushed with embarrassment for her.

  Gaby’s eyes were closed, but she didn’t look hurt. She actually looked asleep. Peaceful. He didn’t understand how that was possible, unless she was drugged. But then wouldn’t he have been drugged, too? Why had he woken up—well, mostly, anyway—when she hadn’t?

  There was a soft clicking sound, and Josh heard a female voice, muffled and slightly distorted: “Where are you?”

  The man stopped, causing Josh’s head to involuntarily flop back onto his left cheek, and he lost sight of Gaby. He felt his leg falling, dropped from the man’s grip, then thudding against the floor.

  Another clicking sound, and the man’s voice: “I’d be there already if you didn’t keep calling me.”

  Tom.

  Josh shivered. Or at least, he shivered in his mind. He wasn’t sure what his body did, if anything at all.

  “Hurry up,” the muffled female voice said.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Tom said, and there was a brief two-second pause before Josh felt Tom’s big fingers grip his calf again and lift his leg off the floor, and he was being dragged through the hallway once more.

  They turned another corner, and Josh’s head returned to his right cheek, and he could see Gaby again. Her hair was now a dirty shade of brown, with dirt and dust and God knew what else from the floor entangled in it.

  Finally, Tom stopped again, and Josh heard a door creak open; then they were dragged through. His head was knocked ruthlessly against the side of the door and pain lanced through his body. He couldn’t have let out a scream even if he had wanted to.

  The ground under him became gritty and hard, and Josh felt like someone was raking his skull over coarse sandpaper. He glimpsed a concret
e floor and knew he was in another unfinished part of the hotel. Josh was suddenly very grateful he had limited control over his body; otherwise he might have kicked out at Tom’s grip in an instinctive attempt to escape. That would have gotten Tom’s attention, and then what?

  When Tom came to a stop again, Josh saw what looked like some kind of ballroom. A big chandelier dangled from the ceiling above him, though it had no lightbulbs. Patches of shadows moved along the ceiling, and it was hard to make out details in the semidarkness. The wall in front of him was unfinished, and whenever he heard a sound, it echoed back and forth inside the large room.

  “About damn time,” a male voice said from somewhere across the room. This voice sounded familiar, too, but Josh couldn’t quite place it yet.

  “Hey, I’m carrying two. You idiots had one apiece,” Tom said.

  “Excuses, excuses,” the other man said.

  Tom dropped Josh’s leg to the floor again, and Josh quickly closed his eyes. Somehow he was still awake—if not entirely in control of his body—while Gaby wasn’t, despite the discomfort of being dragged through the hotel. They were drugged. He was sure of that now. And right now, he needed the islanders to think he was out, too.

  “Is that everyone?” a woman asked. It was the same voice he had heard back in the hallway, talking to Tom, only now without the distortion.

  “One, two, three…” the second man (who wasn’t Tom) counted. “Yeah, except for the two girls. Berg’s bringing them now.”

  “Zip them up,” the woman said. “All of them. And make sure they’re on tight, I don’t want a repeat of what happened with the wrestler. Especially with the two soldiers. They’re too dangerous.”

  “That’s why we should just kill them,” Tom said. “Put a bullet in their heads and be done with it.”

  “No,” the woman said. There was finality in her voice. “It wants them.”

  “We can just say we had to, that they fought back,” Tom insisted.

  “You don’t understand. It wants them. That means it gets them. It’s not up for discussion.”

  “Whatever,” Tom said.

  Tom turned, his sneakers squeaking loudly against the concrete floor, and he began walking away. The same door they had come through earlier slammed shut in the background.

  Cold fingers (probably the other man’s) turned him over onto his side, and what felt like thin, plastic rope tightened around his ankles. Then the rope (no, more like a strip) was pulled tight until his ankles were squeezed against each other. The man grabbed Josh’s arms with the same cold fingers and pulled them behind his back, and the same plastic sensation wrapped around his wrists and pulled them tight against one another.