by KT Strange
“So you girls want breakfast in bed?” Eli’s voice was like melted butter and I swallowed hard. Max wrapped an around around me and hugged me tight.
“Mmhmm. My girl here is hungry. You guys ravaged her last night and she’s gotta replace all those sex-calories.”
Eli’s eyes ran down my body.
“Well,” he paused and my breath caught in my chest. He looked almost regretful, hungry for an altogether reason than I was. “Not all of us did.”
He threw off the covers. Max made a noise like a dying creature.
He wasn’t wearing underwear.
I slapped a hand over Max’s eyes as Eli smirked at me, getting out of bed, and rifling through the dresser. Cash whistled low, and shook his head, heading out the room, dragging Charlie and Ace with him. Only Finn remained with his twin, a grinning.
“That was rude, Eli,” Max said, not bothering to fight the hand on my face. “I feel personally attacked.”
“Don’t play with fire if you don’t want to get burned,” Eli said, pulling a pair of boxer briefs up his legs. I tried not to look at the way they hugged his hips, the spot where his iliac crest looking so tempting that I just wanted to bite it.
“Super rude,” Max muttered. “Fire jokes. That’s low.”
Eli laughed and punched Finn in the shoulder before leaving the room. I dropped my hand from Max’s face with a sigh. Finn looked at us both.
“You want coffee?” he asked. Max nodded.
“Two creams, one sugar,” she said, flopping back on the bed. “And smack your brother for sexually harassing me.”
Finn snorted.
“Smack him yourself. You know better than to challenge a wolf in his den.”
Max made a face. Finn crossed the room to reach down for me, leaning across the bed to steal a kiss. I melted as his fingers stroked over the back of my neck.
“Back in a few minutes with your coffee,” he promised, and then sauntered out. Max tilted her head to the side to watch his muscles play across his back and sighed. I couldn’t blame her.
“Well at least he’s pretty,” she said, peeking at me from around the curve of the puffy duvet. “How are you dealing with them?”
My cheeks went hot.
“It’s… it’s good,” I said. “I’m just glad to be back.”
“They were inconsolable. Please never Sid and Nancy on me ever again like that.” She snuck closer and we curled up together. Just like old times, in our bunk beds at the dorm. I relaxed and let my eyes slide shut.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“You always have a choice. You just don’t like to own your choices, Darcy,” she said. “C’mon. Don’t pull that bull on me. You ran off with him because you figured that nobody would have your back. But we all would have. Now some doppelgänger is warming a jail bed, and shit got way weirder than it needed to be.”
“Yeah that’s kind of peak creepy.” I bit my lip. She was right. There were always choices. “I don’t regret it. I mean, it was probably the scariest and stupidest decision I’ve ever made, but it changed something between me and Eli. In a good way.”
Max watched me carefully and then smiled, her face sad and soft.
“You love them all so much.”
“I’m sorry,” I said immediately. “I don’t want to talk just about me.”
“No.” Her gaze lowered. “You’re just going someplace I can’t follow. I guess this is what it feels like when your best friend gets married.”
“I’m not married,” I protested. Max snorted.
“You’re like, worse than married. You’re what, life-bonded to five guys?“
“Four. Not… not, Eli.”
“Ooookay, well, four then, and one more on the way. Wolves mate for life, right, or at least werewolves do? I really wish I’d paid more attention in biology.” A frown creased her forehead.
“You’re not jealous, right?”
“I don’t think jealous is the right word for it. I’m…” She wriggled onto her back, tucking her hands under her neck. Her hair curled around her shoulders, a beautiful bronzy-red in the morning sun. “I just wish I knew what it was like to feel safe.”
Her words, the meaning behind them, stole the breath right out of me.
“Safe?” I echoed.
“They’ll never leave you. Never. They’ll protect you, keep you safe…” the pain in her voice ate at my stomach.
“Max, what happened to you?” I needed to know. The secret was like a infected wound hidden beneath her skin, abscessing slowly and poisoning her to death. I could see it in her face.
“What do you mean?”
“I met Levi and Landon.” There. It was out.
Her face froze, eyes going blank.
“I stayed with them. They’re Wolfe’s friends.”
“Yeah, I saw the apartment. Super gross flop house. I’ve been in frats that were better maintained than that place. It looked like an STD factory.”
“Stop,” Max whispered, her eyes closed. “I stayed there, ate crappy take out every night, and now I’m here.”
“Those guys weren’t right. You know that. They were—”
“Demons, oh yeah, I know,” the bitterness in her voice cut right down to the bone. “You get sweet werewolves, falling all over themselves to take care of you and make sure you’re okay, and…” Her lower lip trembled. “I really, really do not want to talk about this.”
I sat up, reaching for her hand, sandwiching it between mine. She was shaking.
“Max, please. I know something bad went down. Please, just tell me. Please.”
She took a breath and looked up at me.
“Not everything in life is pretty.”
“Did they rape you?” The condoms were fresh in my mind, her bra left behind. Max froze for a moment, barely breathing. She blinked, once.
“No,” her voice was husky. “No, it wasn’t like that.”
Was I going too far? I knew she was hiding something, but did I dare risk pushing her over the edge, getting her to confess something that was obviously so painful and frightening that she wouldn’t even tell me, her best friend?
“Those guys were bad news,” I said.
“Well who in our lives isn’t right now?” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “You really don’t want to know,” she said, her voice flat.
“I really do.” I scooted closer to her, and leaned in, pulling her in for a tight hug. “You know I’m not going to judge you, no matter what, I just want you to be safe.”
“It’s better here,” she whispered. “Your guys are the best friends a girl could ask for. I know I’m safe here, I was just being an asshole—”
“They’re not your guys, though, I get it, I know what you mean.”
“Maybe, but, I dunno. We talked a lot while you were gone. What me being a phoenix means to them and the pack. I can help protect them, and they’ll protect me. Plus they’re pretty fun to hang around with. It makes it even better that they love you, and I can see it in everything they do and say.”
“You’re deflecting,” I accused her gently. I let my fingers run through her hair and she sighed, leaning into my touch. “You really don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but I’ll listen if you do.”
“Yes, I fucked them,” she said, the words almost tumbling out of her. “Both of them. Same time. I guess you’re a bad influence on me. Except they’re pretty much the worst, so.” She shrugged. “I slept with demons.” Her eyes watered and I hugged her tight. “I didn’t want to, but I did. Like, I wanted it so bad, but at the same time, not at all.” Her breath shuddered and she inhaled, the sound sharp in my ear. She pressed her forehead to my shoulder, and started crying softly. “I thought I was going to die. I just felt so lost…”
“Hey you don’t have to explain yourself at all,” I promised her urgently, making the decision in the back of my mind to murder Wolfe when I saw him next. First ask him what the fuck happened to Max while he was ‘prot
ecting’ her, and then murder him.
Max let out a soft sob.
“I’m such an idiot, I don’t even know why I’m crying. Who cries about sex they have on purpose?” She pulled away to wipe at her tears. I offered her the corner of the sheet to dry her face.
“Was it bad? Like, are you crying because they were just really bad in bed?” I hoped so. Levi was an asshole I hoped he was the worst and that his dick was ugly.
She looked up at me, biting her lip.
“That’s the stupid thing. It… was really good.” She swallowed hard and her eyes went unfocused, like she was remembering. “Better… maybe, than with Craig—oh god I did not just say that.” She bit her lip hard. “See? I’m a total whore.”
“Do not talk about yourself that way,” I said. “I think if anyone is bagging the title of Queen Slut it’s me, okay? So, let’s not shit on ourselves for having good sex with hot guys.”
Her face went red and then she let out a wet laugh.
“Okay, okay, alright. Fair.”
Footsteps in the hallway made us look up, and Charlie leaned into the room with a soft but urgent expression.
“Hey girls,” he said, “I didn’t want to interrupt—”
God he’d probably heard us halfway down the hall. Good hearing and all that.
“Gem called,” he paused. “Jake Tupper woke up.”
Twenty-One
Darcy
I don’t think I’ve ever gotten dressed so fast in my life, nearly bolting out of the bathroom with toothpaste running down my chin.
When I got to the living room, the pack were watching Charlie pace the length of the apartment as he talked on the phone with Gem. Only hearing one side of the conversation was difficult; I had so many questions. The tense feeling in my stomach seemed to mirror the feelings of everyone else, given their expressions.
Except Eli of course. Being the one in actual trouble, he seemed as calm as could be. I wanted to punch him for it, but that wasn’t fair. I also wanted to punch him for waving his dick at Max earlier. We’d need to talk about that.
Later, when I was sure that his impersonator, or he himself, weren’t going to end up in prison.
Charlie ran a hand through his hair.
“So, back up, I don’t understand. You’re saying he doesn’t want to press charges.” He shot us all a meaningful look. Max let out a breath and slung an arm around Cash, hugging him tight. He held onto her hard.
Charlie’s face went blank and then he glanced at me.
“Fifteen statements supporting Eli? Well, that’s kind of amazing— thank you. I’ll be sure to let him know who orchestrated that.” Charlie’s eyes went wide, and Finn gave him a sharp look. “I mean, I’ll let him know when he’s home with us.”
Because as far as Gem knew, Eli wasn’t here. Which meant whoever was wearing Eli’s face was going to be getting out of jail, very shortly.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
I edged up to Eli, who was leaning up against the side of the couch, arms crossed, face neutral.
“I’m not sure if it would be better for us to meet him there, or for you to bring him here, Gem, I can ask the rest of the— Oh, oh.. Okay, no, if you insist.” Charlie looked wilted, and I knew that Gem was wearing him down.
“Get off the phone,” Eli rumbled.
“That was Finn, yeah, no he’s happy obviously, just anxious to see his brother,” Charlie said before glaring at Eli and giving him the middle finger. He turned, walking away to stare out the windows so he wouldn’t have to meet Eli’s eyes.
Two strong, lanky arms wrapped around me. I looked up. Ace nuzzled the top of my head. I turned and gave him a weak smile.
“It’ll be okay,” he whispered into my ear.
“What if this person is like, a face stealer?” I whispered back.
“What’s a face stealer?” Max piped up and then Cash hushed her. She poked him in retaliation, and he grunted.
Charlie twisted his head and gave us all the most evil of glares.
“Thanks Gem. Thank you. Really, you’ve handled all of this and taken a huge load of stress off our shoulders. Yup. Yup, we’ll do our best. Thanks. Bye.”
He held his breath, staring at his phone, waiting for the call to terminate before snorting.
“You guys are fucking unbelievable,” he said.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Deets, now,” Max added.
“Charlie?” Finn asked, sounding cautiously hopeful.
“Gem’s a crazy bitch, and I’m glad she’s in our corner,” Charlie said. “She went around and, I dunno, bribed people or something, to say that it was self defense, and somehow got Jake to go along with it. I don’t know what she did to him, but she said he wouldn’t be an issue anymore.”
“Yeah Crystal said that too, even with her woo woo magic horn powers, and look how great that worked,” Cash snarked.
“I dunno, in a fight between Gem and Crystal, I kinda think Gem might win,” Ace said, his voice rumbling through my body.
“Can we focus on what’s important?” Finn asked, cutting through our conversation and yanking us back down to earth. My heart felt both light and heavy at the same time. It was no wonder our minds were spinning. The only one who was quiet was Elias, and that wasn’t exactly out of character for him.
“The impersonator is coming here,” Finn continued. “We need to get the girls out of here.”
“What?” I jerked out of Ace’s grip just as Max frowned.
“Why?” Max asked.
“It’s not safe,” Cash said seriously.
“Um, I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” I said, straightening my shoulders, staring Finn down. He sighed.
“Darcy—”
“Oh no. No. We’re together. We stay together. We face whatever, whoever this is, together. What’s happening?” I looked to Charlie for answers.
“Well if everyone would stop fucking interrupting me, I’d be able to give you the whole picture. They’re letting him loose, and Gem and Willa will be bringing him here.”
“Great, mundanes witnessing a firefight. Why couldn’t we be staying at some cabin in the woods or something? Less witnesses if we have to kill this guy,” Cash muttered.
“No thanks,” I said. I was done with cabins in the woods. For now anyway. I swallowed hard.
“We can contain them. If they’re magical, they’ll listen to a command. They’ll have to. There’s six of us to do it.”
“Seven,” Max said softly. “I… I can do it too. I think. I mean, I’m supposed to be able to, right? Like, I can try it, the Care Bear Stare or whatever it is.”
I snorted as the guys just looked confused.
“Kid’s TV show,” I said with a shake of my head.
“The girls shouldn’t be here,” Finn repeated himself, and I growled so hard that Ace cleared his throat and put a gentle hand on my arm.
“Stop talking about me like I don’t have ears. I’m not leaving you guys.”
“Finn,” Eli spoke, breaking the tension, “it’ll be fine. She tangled with a dragon.”
“What!?” Finn stared at his brother and then at me. I sighed. For fucks sake.
“Long story, let’s talk about it later when this shapeshifter or impersonator, or monster demon is dealt with,” I said. Finn frowned, but dropped it. I gave Eli a look that promised him trouble later. He smirked. He’d regret that little truth bomb.
“Dragons, huh?” Ace murmured to me.
“Just one,” I said. “One… tiny dragon. No big deal. Max is worse when she hasn’t eaten.”
“Hey, I resemble that remark,” Max said. Cash laughed although the sound was nervous.
“So how are we going to play this?” I asked, looking toward the door.
Finn wasn’t happy with me, but that was his problem, not mine. We had more crazy, urgent things to deal with than me reliving the horror of our run-in with Dragonpack. I knew I’d have nightmares with the
dragon’s scream front and center for weeks.
Gem called Charlie a few hours later to say paperwork was being processed, and that ‘Eli’ would be coming home by taxi soon. I hoped it was safe for her to be in close quarters with him, whoever he was. I couldn’t figure it out. What kind of evil monster would put on someone else’s face just to throw themselves in jail? It didn’t make any sense at all.
Max hid out in the practice space with Charlie and Ace. They’d protect her or die trying, and I was certain she’d be able to scorch anything that came her way out of sheer panic.
I stood between Finn and Cash, Eli waiting just out of sight around the corner. No need to let the doppelganger know we were on to him and his stupid little game of “wearing Eli’s face.”
The front desk called up to let us know we had a visitor, and minutes later the elevator doors pinged softly, opening up on… someone who looked like Eli, and walked like Eli, but definitely was not Eli.
I held my breath as he stepped into the room. He glanced at Finn, then Charlie, as if he didn’t even notice them, then his eyes locked on me.
“Darce,” he said, his words almost breathy. “Hey.”
He took another step toward me, and that’s when it hit me. It was the scent of magic, the echo of power so strong it nearly knocked me over. Finn realized at the same time, Cash growling instantly. Eli rushed out from where he was hiding, the doppelganger nearly stumbling back with a yelp.
“Oh my god!” The fake-Eli cried, slamming up against the wall when he saw the twins, his eyes wide. “Uh—”
“Who the fuck are you?” The real Eli demanded.
“I—”
“That’s… that’s a witch,” I said.
“No shit,” Eli commented. “Drop the magic act. Who are you? Tell us now or I’m not gonna think twice about ripping your throat out.”
“Holy mother of cheeses, you’re big,” fake-Eli commented, sounding a little panicked and a little amazed at the same time. He looked at me over real-Eli’s shoulder. “How do you deal?”
Listening to someone with Eli and Finn’s face sounding like a fourteen-year-old girl was bizarre, and more than a little alarming.
