Jekyll, an Urban Fantasy Read Free Page A

heel?”
    After a pause, Alex said, “You can let her go.” She cocked her head, staring straight at Eden. “But stay close until she proves that she can behave like a normal human being.”
    That was the problem. “Am I?” Eden asked softly. “Am I a normal human being?” Even quiet, her voice held more power, more confidence. But it wasn’t hers . Not exactly. It felt foreign. Somehow she knew that the minute she let her guard down, Chastity would take control. But it also felt comfortable, empowering, and safe. No, Eden was many things, but being a ‘normal human being’ wasn’t one of them.
    Alex’s lips tightened and sadness danced around her face before being outmaneuvered by a more business-like expression. “That’s one of the many things we need to discuss. Come on.” She turned and walked in the opposite direction the guards had come from, quickly telling the guard whose knee Eden had bashed in that he could see to his injury.
    “Don’t piss me off anymore,” the bigger guard said as he slowly released her. “You walk, you talk, and we’ll have no more problems. Got it?”
    “Yeah, I got it.” What other choice did she have?
    The men stayed a half-step behind her as Alex led her past a bunch of doors that all looked exactly the same. The only light was from the overhead fluorescents, and the stale air was suffocating.
    “Doesn’t The Clinic believe in windows? This place could use some airing-out.”
    “I’ll put a note in the suggestion box,” Alex said without turning.
    This was something out of a movie. Not real. None of this was real. Maybe she was in a coma, in the hospital room next to Carter’s, and all of this was part of a terrible psychotic break-down. Yeah, right. She wasn’t that lucky.
    Eden coveted the keycard Alex pulled out of her pocket. One keycard for a place with so many doors, and one of those doors must lead outside. Which meant that keycard was her way out. If she could—
    “We can talk in here.” Alex stood to the side after opening the door, waving her hand and expecting Eden to go in first. “Then I’ll show you around a bit.”
    Please. I’m not that stupid, not that trusting…anymore . Without taking another step, Eden peered into the room. It was just like the one she’d woken up in, except instead of a bed, there were a table and a few chairs. Same wall-color, same floor.
    “Some pillows would really warm this place up, you know,” Eden snapped. “Make it more home-y.”
    “Great idea. I’ll get right on it.” She waved her hand again.
    “You first,” Eden said, glancing at the guard out of the corner of her eye.
    Alex sighed. “Fine. But if you try to run, he’ll just stop you again. And after that dog comment back there, I can’t guarantee he’ll be gentle.” She went into the room, holding her arms out and swinging them around. “See? No booby-traps. Are you convinced?”
    “You’re going to have to do a lot more dancing to convince me of anything.” But Eden went in, her eyes everywhere at once, looking for the next trap. Like she was surrounded by predators and seemed to be everyone’s prey-of-choice. Which was nothing new—that’s all she’d ever been.
    After Alex sat down, Eden pulled out the chair across the table from her. She stopped when the guard came in and stood behind her. “I thought we were going to talk. Why does he need to be here?”
    “Because…I made a mistake that I don’t intend to repeat—trying to wake you without someone else being there. Lesson learned. I should’ve been more prepared, since I didn’t know which side of you would be present.”
    “Which side of me?” Like a coin—one side’s the winner, the other’s not. Ever since she’d learned about Chastity, she’d seen it that way. But now she wasn’t so sure. Things were different, as if the coin had become a sphere and both ‘sides’ of her were swirling within it, bumping into each other, fighting for supremacy in her mind and