Kursed: The Demon's Slave [M/M/F/F]

13. Running in Circles

The young woman with died black hair looked up from the book she’d been reading. She looked Harley up and down once before making an unimpressed face. She stood up from her chair and came to the front counter.

“How many beds?”

“One,” Harley said as she looked around. She’d never been in a motel before. If the rooms looked anything like the office, she freaking hoped the price was cheap. She wasn’t going to pay a lot for a shitty place for one night.

The woman kept looking at her as she typed something in the old computer set up on the counter. Harley tried to pretend she was unbothered though the looks the woman kept sending her made her feel like there was someone behind her.

“How many nights?”

“Uh…” She was going to say just one, but she didn’t know if her car was going to start in the morning. “Is there a pay as I go option?”

The woman stared at her.

She gave an awkward smile. “Three nights then.”

The woman finally looked away from her and went to get a key. Harley pulled out her wallet just as the woman slapped a key down onto a clipboard.

“Three nights gets a discount. That’ll be $125. Sign your name into room 6 and you’re good to go.”

Harley handed over the money and the woman counted it. She signed her name as the woman said. When she was done, she grabbed the key and bailed out of there like the devil was on her heels. A demon on her heels might have been a more accurate saying as that was basically the truth.

She couldn’t get to the room fast enough. She grabbed her stuff out of the backseat. She didn’t trust that no one was going to break into her car while she was asleep.

The room was pitch-dark when she entered. It smelled like cleaner and cheap fragrance the moment she stepped through the door. That was a good sign. She was still going to check the bed for bugs because there was no f*****g way that she was going to stay in a place with bedbugs.

After a few minutes of poking her head in every single cranny she could fine and being satisfied with the results, she flopped down onto the bed. The ceiling had a few water stains, but they didn’t look like they were new. She let out a sigh, praying that in the morning she could call up a repair shop. Her wallet was going to be screaming after the bill, but buying a new car would be the worse case scenario.

Putting away all her worrisome thoughts, she turned off the bedside lamp. She crawled under the covers and went to sleep.

***

Morning came and she called the auto shop. An hour later, they had a guy come out to take a look.

The older man took one look under the under the hood and laughed. It was a loud rumbling laugh that didn’t spell good for Harley. He wiped a spare tear that fell from the corner of his eye. Grease smeared across his cheek.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said through his chuckles. “Your whole damn engine has melted from the inside out. I’d say you’re lucky it didn’t explode on the road and you’re alive.”

Harley sputtered. “You’re joking right?”

She leaned over the open hood. She looked to where the mechanic pointed. Sure enough there was a giant hole in her engine. The metal and plastic had melted together in what looked like it could have been a prestigious art project.

Her face fell. “There’s nothing you can do? I—I—What am I going to do? I can’t stay here!”

The man wiped his greasy hands with a red rag while he shrugged. “Beats me. I’d say catch a lift to the casino and swindle an i***t. A lot of rich folk flock there looking for sugarbabies. Maybe you’ll strike gold.”

Harley huffed and rolled her eyes at the obvious poking fun at her. Just because she was a woman he thought she’d be willing to sell herself just for some help. What an asshole.

“Thanks for the advice, but I’ll take my chances elsewhere,” she said. She closed the hood.

The man grinned. Once the hood was closed, he put a hand on it and leaned in front of her. She jerked back when he got up in her face.

“I could help you out.”

She tried not to cringe. “No thanks. How much do I owe you?”

He slowly looked her up and down. “$75 for the trip. I’d put it down as a favor if you…”

He didn’t need to finish his statement for Harley to understand what he wanted. She’d seen the look plenty of times when she was younger. While it disgusted her for different reasons years ago—she’d been a child—it disgusted her differently now.

Harley pulled out the money and shoved it into the man’s chest. She couldn’t remember his name—Stan or Fred something. Not anything memorable and that was a good thing. She wanted to forget about him immediately. “I appreciate it. Even though you can’t do anything.”

Thankfully the man shrugged the turndown off. He pocketed the money as he returned to his truck. Harley stayed by her car until the man was already on the road and out of sight. She went back to her room.

The second the door closed she was grabbed from behind. She was pulled back against a hard chest and her mouth was covered by a hand. She struggled in the grip, screaming against the hand, but even as she kicked and punched she wasn’t let go.

“Times up.”

The voice was unmistakeable as Silas’s. He’d found her. Harley caught a glimpse of the clock on the nightstand and it was almost on the dot to when he’d promised to return.

She might have f****d up. Big time.