will,” I tell her, throwing her a pair of leggings I find lying on the floor.
“Put them on.”
“But I’m not here of my own free will,” she spits, sliding her legs into the leggings.
She has more life in her today.
I make my way over to her and grab her chin firmly, forcing her to look at me.
There is definitely more spark in her eyes.
“Your dad is doing everything he can for you. Are you that far gone he means nothing to you? They’ll take him away if you go down there confirming you’re being held here against your will, is that what you want?”
I may be going overboard but it’s a likelihood if they find her locked up in this room and with her selfish attitude.
“No,” she finally admits.
“Go down there then and tell them you’re here to live with your dad now and you’re not feeling well. Make it convincing and I’ll see if I can talk your dad round to letting you out of this room.”
“Why would you do that for me?” she asks.
“I’m doing it for your dad, he doesn’t deserve to go to jail for trying to save his daughter. He’s a good man and doesn’t want to outlive his daughter.”
It is in this moment I see her, not the junkie who would prefer to die than to go through withdrawal. Her father is a weakness of hers no matter how much she might hate him at the moment.
Her eyes soften and she silently agrees.
“Remember what I said, you’re living with your dad now and shortly after you got here, you fell down with the flu or some shit, okay?”
“Okay.”
I take her hand and lead her out of the room and down the stairs to the bar.
“Who’s in trouble now?” I call out jokingly when we are in the line of sight of Jake and his partner.
Pope darts off his stool and gives me his deadly eyes. Great, can’t fucking wait to talk to him after this is cleared up.
“They think we’re holding Ky prisoner here,” Cas calls back.
“Is that right darlin’, are you a prisoner?” I smile down at Kyla, still holding her hand.
She remains tight lipped and I struggle to keep the false smile on my face. I squeeze her hand and she is off.
“Prisoner?” she snorts, “Why would my father keep me locked up?” she asks, throwing Pope the weirdest look and then turns her attention back to the officers.
“Are you Kyla Flynn?” Jake asks her.
I keep a hold of her hand and walk with her closer to the cops.
“I am, what’s this all about?” she asks.
“We had a complaint that you were here against your will. I have to say you don’t look too healthy, are you sure you’re okay?” Jake asks, focusing on her.
“I’ve had the flu, and as you pointed out, I’m still not feeling too good.”
“Yeah, I brought her down for some air. Try and see if that helps her,” I add.
Jake is about to open his mouth again when Cas steps between us.
“As you can see and have heard, she is fine. I don’t know who made this complaint but it isn’t true. You can leave now.”
Jake and his sidekick deflate and back up to the door.
Not a second after they’ve left, Pope is ushering her back to the room. I find myself following them and lean against the door frame.
“Give us a minute,” Pope grunts in my direction.
“No, I want him to stay,” Kyla argues.
Pope stares her down but the girl refuses to back down. She is getting stronger by the day. He relents and sits on the bed. Kyla stays where she is by the window and briefly smiles at me.
“I know you don’t want to be here and you think I’m doing this to punish you, but thank you for doing that down there.”
With having said that, he ups and leaves the room, whispering he wants to talk to me when I’m done.
To be honest I don’t know why I’m still here. I turn to leave myself but her hand darts out and stops me.
“Tonight is the first time I haven’t hated my father since I came here, thank you for making me see I don’t want him to get into trouble because of me,” she says faintly.
I step back into the