Puma

by Jorrie Spencer

  Dev rocked back while Scott added, “I’m so sorry, Dev, but it’s too late for phone calls. If Max gets here, he is going to kill me, kill us all. You need to get us all away from here. Callie understands nothing. I thought she was one of us, but she’s not.”

  Shaking his head, Dev tried to concentrate. He had to think for a moment about what he was doing. Why hadn’t he thought to release Scott? It was pathetic, the boy shackled to the bed. Inhumane. How could he have been left here for an entire day? Dev hated seeing someone restrained like this.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” said Scott, wiping his face. The boy was crying and Dev tried to remember why. Why was Scott apologizing when he was handcuffed? “I have to get out of here. We all have to leave as soon as possible.”

  Out of nowhere, Callie slammed into the room, startling Dev afresh. He realized, with a terrible sinking sensation, that he was shaking. Goddammit.

  Placing herself between Scott and Dev, she spoke to Scott, almost snarling. “You say another fucking word and I will punch your teeth out so you can’t speak.” Scott cowered back, raising an arm to protect his head. “I mean it, Scott.”

  She spun around to face Dev who blinked, uneasy with her threat, uneasy with his own spaciness. Something felt wrong, something always felt wrong.

  “Why would you come to this room, Dev?” She found it painful, it seemed, to see him here and Dev tried to remember why. He was getting a headache.

  Still he searched for an answer to Callie’s question, because it was important to her, while she waited, patient, concerned. He found what he was looking for. This boy was his responsibility. “I’m worried about Scott. I owe him.”

  Callie stepped right up to Dev and before he could recall that he wasn’t a passionate person, she kissed him full on the mouth. Last night came rushing back so vivid and with such a strong wave of relief that he curled a hand around the back of her head and kissed her, took control, mated his tongue with hers. Some of the noise in his head retreated and he didn’t stop kissing while he skimmed a hand down to massage her breast.

  She responded, arms wrapping around his shoulders, body leaning into his and he wanted to undress her, fuck her, make love to her.

  The banging stopped him, shook him back to the present situation—Scott was tied up and needed to be freed. And yet… Dev pulled away from Callie to see Scott was jerking against his handcuffs, glaring at them both, but not speaking.

  Then Dev remembered what was important and faced Callie again.

  She had to get out of here. They all did.

  “Max is likely on his way. He’s going to kill Scott. We can’t leave him like this.”

  She gazed at him, her amber eyes wide and full and shiny, like she was most worried about him, not Scott, and she said, “Will you let me talk to Scott by myself, Dev? If it’s only me, I’ll have no reason to hit him to shut him up.”

  Dev ran a hand through his hair, thinking, or trying to think. If nothing else, he needed to rouse Madison and Ruth, wake them up and prepare them for their departure. There was a lot to be done. So he nodded and left the room. After Callie shut the door behind him and Dev was out in the hall, he sank down to a crouch and bowed his head, feeling nauseated.

  It had been a year now. A year of this sickening sensation. It happened when Scott pushed him. Scott was not supposed to push him. The original pact had been no pushing. What had happened to change that?

  God. He couldn’t even begin to sort it out. But he could act. Dev pulled himself up to standing and walked into Madison’s room. He had to ensure the child reached safety.

  Callie stalked up to Scott, loomed over him. “You have quite the influence over Dev, and you don’t hesitate to use it. Congratulations.”

  “Dev cares about me.” Scott lifted his chin, defiant.

  “Right. You’ve told him to.”

  “He cared before I told him. He cares. The only one in the world probably.”

  You got that right. Callie chose not to speak the words.

  Scott jerked his head towards the bathroom. “I have to piss. Bad.”

  “Tough. Piss yourself for all I care.”

  Scott’s eyes blazed at her.

  “You told me yesterday you wouldn’t push Dev again.”

  He lunged towards her, not getting far. “You don’t fucking understand. Max is coming here. He’s going to take over—”

  “And we’re all going to die. Yes, I remember.” She reached for the key in her pocket. Held it up. “I thought I was going to kill Max, wasn’t that the plan?”

  “If you won’t let us leave.” It was the raw panic in Scott’s voice that got to her. She had no doubt he was frightened of Max. She undid the handcuff from the bed and waited for Scott to attack her. Instead, he rushed to the bathroom, which convinced her that his bladder had indeed been full. He re-emerged at the threshold of the bathroom and held up his arm with the handcuff dangling. “Would you take this off me?”

  She shook her head.

  “Please,” he whispered and something about his stance alerted her.

  “Come here, Scott.”

  He bolted for the window and if she hadn’t been Puma he might have made it, but she was fast, grabbing him before he hit the screen. How he planned to jump from the second story unhurt, she didn’t ask. Instead, she dragged him backwards, threw him down on the bed and landed on him, squashing him as he flailed.

  He wasn’t particularly weak, but he had no strategy to fight her and she was strong. She pulled him up, clamping the handcuff to the bedframe’s post. Then she jumped back, out of his reach and he stopped struggling, all the energy suddenly drained out of him. He just lay there, staring at the ceiling.

  “Callie.” His eyes were bright with unshed tears, and her protective instincts came roaring to the forefront. Of all the crappy timing. She didn’t want to protect this one, who abused others. But he was terrified. “I’ll do anything for you. Anything. Just let me go.”

  She didn’t want to even guess what he was offering to her, but the pleading made her uneasy. What she really wanted, needed, was answers.

  “Tell me why Dev cares about you,” she said flatly.

  Chest heaving, Scott repositioned himself to sitting, pulling up his legs as if making himself smaller would protect him. He blinked gray eyes at her. “Dev was my big brother.”

  Callie frowned. “Was? Do siblings stop being siblings? I don’t think so. Besides, you two don’t look at all alike.” Though neither did she and Ruth.

  “Big. Brother. The organization. Looks out for boys without fathers and matches them up with a volunteer.” Scott swallowed. “Dev became my Big Brother when I turned twelve.” Callie thought there was some kind of pride in this statement. “He was for three years.”

  “Till you were fifteen. Then what happened?”

  “Callie, we don’t have time for me to recount our history.”

  “We do. I’m going to take care of Max.” If she could take down feral cougars twice her size, admittedly with a bit of help—okay it was past time to call Trey for a consult—she could take care of this fucking Max. “What happened when you were fifteen?”

  His gaze slid away from her. “They took me away.”

  “They?”

  “The government. They decided something was wrong with me because I was messing with my teachers too much and it was getting obvious.” He sneered and she realized he was sneering at himself. “I was stupid. Should have been a lot more careful. I was fifteen and I thought I was too clever by half and no one could touch me. I was a fucking idiot.”

  “Did you mess with Dev back then?”

  “Not much. He was too nice and I had plenty of other people to work on. Once, I got Dev to buy me cigarettes and he was so upset afterwards I didn’t want to do it again. Stuck to pushing for double helpings of dessert, which disconcerted him slightly, but he could shrug it off since I was skinny.”

  She didn’t know if she totally believed Scott, but she was fascinat
ed. “How did you meet up with Dev again? If they took you away.”

  Scott hung his head. “I phoned him, asked if I could crash at his place. Three years since he’d last seen me, and he didn’t even hesitate. He said, ‘of course’.” Scott let out a long, painful sigh. “I just wanted to feel a little safe for a while. Then Max arrived on Dev’s doorstep. And he’s going to arrive here again.”

  “I have a lot more questions, Scott, but first I’m going to get you some breakfast.” And get the others away. And phone Trey. She didn’t mind confronting Max, not at all. But she didn’t want the others exposed to him.

  Scott kept talking. “The reason Dev doesn’t leave me is because he feels responsible for me, because he was my Big Brother. I think he genuinely liked me at one time.”

  She could not respond to the hopeful wistfulness in his voice. Could not. Later maybe, if she was able to sort him out when he wasn’t a threat to others.

  “If that’s true, why have you messed with Dev so much? You’re ruining him, Scott. You must know that.”

  “I had no choice. Max left me with no choice.”

  “Well. I’ll take it up with Max then.”

  “He’s strong.”

  Callie smiled. “Ruth says I’m strong.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  “I can’t leave the house,” Ruth repeated. Her incredulous tone suggested that Callie was asking her to do the impossible, like go to the moon. Her echo of Dev’s own “can’t leave” suggested that Scott had been at work here.

  Hands on hips, Callie turned to Dev. “Someone explain to me why Ruth can’t leave.”

  Dev just looked away. Since he wanted Callie to leave too, he didn’t seem inclined to help with explanations right now. Madison stood there, beside Dev’s car, and she piped up. “Scott told Ruth not to leave.” Madison delivered this information as if this explained everything, and Callie supposed it did.

  “Okay.” Callie jiggled the car keys that Ruth refused to take. Madison and Ruth’s bags were packed and in the car. Only at the moment of departure had Ruth suddenly realized she could not get in the car. “Ruth, why doesn’t Scott want you to go?”

  “He’s taking care of me.” Ruth bit her lip. “I was actually quite sick, Callie.”

  “I understand that.” Callie decided it wasn’t the time to point out that Scott could no longer take care of Ruth, given that Scott was imprisoned in her old bedroom. “You’re healthy now.” Callie walked over and gave Ruth a big hug. “Could you leave for me?”

  Ruth shook her head, tears starting in her eyes, and Callie was a little afraid her sister would turn hysterical which wasn’t optimal when she needed to make a two-hour drive.

  “You’re no longer sick, Ruth,” Dev said quietly. “That’s what Scott wanted, to make you better. Ian, the man you’re going to visit, was also sick, and when he became healthy, he too left. Do you believe Scott wanted to give you a safe place to recuperate from your sickness?”

  “Yes,” declared Ruth, and her sister’s fervor disturbed Callie.

  “And he has.” Dev gestured to his car. “Now you have to go because…” he gave a long sigh, “…Max is coming and Scott doesn’t want you to see Max again.”

  “Who’s Max?” Ruth reacted to the name, going pale.

  “You don’t want to know,” Dev said. “Do you believe me, that Scott doesn’t want you to see Max?”

  “Yes. If I could just talk to Scott, to make sure.” Ruth had put in this request three times already, but again she reached for Callie. Despite her sister’s pleading, Callie couldn’t risk Scott pushing Ruth. The Minder was too unpredictable.

  “Trust me, Ruth. Please.” Callie tucked a stray lock of hair behind Ruth’s ear. “Scott wants us all out of the house before Max comes.” Here she improvised, playing with the truth, because Callie really wanted to take down Max. Without these normals around. “We need to scatter a bit, it’s safer that way. We’ll be harder to find.” She opened Ruth’s clenched fist, placing the car keys in her palm, and she accepted them.

  Ruth tossed the keys in the air once, caught them. “Right. Let’s do it.” She held out a hand for Madison. “Come on, kid. If I can’t trust my sister, I can’t trust anyone.”

  There was another flurry of hugs, as Madison clung to Dev and Ruth threw herself at Callie. Then Ruth slid into the driver’s seat while Dev set Madison in the booster seat and buckled her in. He slammed the door, Ruth started the engine and they backed down the drive before taking off down the street. Once they were out of sight, Callie turned to Dev. “What the hell am I going to do with you?”

  His gaze turned dark. “Nothing,” he warned.

  “You need to get away from here. You should have gone with them.” They were both furious with the other for not leaving. Callie could not understand why Dev didn’t see he was much more susceptible than she was. What was going through his brain? If Max was as lethal as Scott claimed, Dev must have some kind of death wish. He also didn’t seem to believe that Callie could hold her own against Max.

  Not that Dev said any of that. Instead, he observed, “Ruth actually wants to go. She has no real bond with Scott outside of what he’s pushed on her.”

  Bond? Real? Did that mean Dev believed he had one with Scott? Jesus. “That’s fucking great, but I don’t want you going anywhere near Scott so he can push you, Dev.”

  He pulled her to him, wrapped his arms around her, breathed in her hair. “I don’t know why, but when I touch you, when you touch me, I can remember things about myself, I can remember who I am.” He molded her body against his.

  “I’m scared about what other ideas Scott has planted in your head. Because you sure as hell aren’t asexual.”

  “I’ve figured that much out.” His wry words were incredibly endearing. He brushed lips across her forehead, feathering kisses over her eyes and face, before reaching her neck. She shivered in his arms, then pushed herself away.

  He let her put some space between them, but still held her in the safe cage of his arms as he looked at her. “I want you to leave. Max is dangerous.”

  “Fuck,” she swore, sick of this circling conversation where they both apparently wanted to fall on the sword for the other. Except that she had the tools to turn that metaphorical sword on Max, if it came down to it. “What about you? Isn’t he more dangerous to you?”

  “Give me the key to the handcuffs. Scott and I will also flee. But you will be safer without us.” Dev’s gaze sharpened. “The Minders don’t know about you yet, Callie, and I want to keep it that way.”

  She tilted her head. “Why can’t you leave? What kind of hold does Scott have on you? Ruth left but you can’t. Is it because you’ve known Scott longer?”

  Dev looked sad. “I won’t leave. Everyone else has abandoned him and a long time ago I promised him I wouldn’t.”

  “He made you promise him, Dev. He forced that promise out of you. It’s not really yours. Don’t you realize that?” She was pleading now. She wished she knew how to get through to him.

  A brief shake of the head. Dev refused to be turned away from his belief. “I think you’re wrong.”

  She closed her eyes. How could she argue with this, this compulsion. It seemed impossible.

  “I was once his Big Brother, Callie.”

  “I know that,” she snapped. “He told me. You don’t think he pushed you then?”

  “I don’t think he pushed me then, no. Because I had a normal life then.”

  She decided not to mention the cigarette-buying incident. Dev would dismiss it as an anomaly or unimportant. “Okay, okay. Say that’s true, that he didn’t push you when he was younger. Obviously that phase is over. Scott is no longer a boy, and he’s messed with you too much. Can’t you see it? Feel it?” She gripped him harder and decided to take another tack. “I will look after Scott. I’ll do my best. That is my promise and my promises mean something, Dev. They aren’t empty.” Besides, she wanted to save Scott, if she could. Scott was a fellow freak, and if C
allie hadn’t been able to help that young male cougar last year, perhaps she could save Scott who at least didn’t seem to kill people. Yet.

  “I once told a young teenager that he could always count on me, could always come to me for help.” Dev winced at the memory. “He was abused, Callie.”

  “He’s abused you, Dev.”

  Dev didn’t react, just set his jaw, but she waited him out, until he finally admitted, “Perhaps.”

  “Perhaps? Come on.”

  He shrugged, stepping away, and she wished they didn’t have to argue this. “I can’t leave him like that, Callie. Maybe it’s because he’s compelled me, maybe it’s because I was once responsible for him. Maybe both. But I. Cannot. Leave. I won’t.”

  She pulled in a breath and wished she could physically force him away from here. “Let’s go back inside. Figure this out.”

  They marched up the front steps, both weary of the same argument. Callie had the impression that Dev was trying to communicate with her as much as she with him. If only Scott’s “pushes” weren’t in the mix and she could try to see Dev’s point of view as his own. However, Dev’s point of view was also Scott’s.

  They entered the front hallway, and Callie decided to share some of her conversation with Scott. See what Dev made of it. She turned, placing a hand on Dev’s arm. “Scott wants me to kill Max. I don’t know if I will, but I’m going to give it serious consideration.”

  Dev had gone a little pale, rather like Ruth earlier. Their reaction made Callie feel quite grim. She’d have to be careful about who she was facing, because Max seemed dangerous. He certainly knew how to evoke fear in people.

  “Who is Max, Dev?”

  “He’s bad.” Dev closed his eyes. “I don’t remember him clearly. I’m probably not supposed to. I can’t remember his features at all. Might be a little taller than me. Maybe.”

  “I’m strong.”

  “That’s what Ruth said, but I don’t know what she means. Besides, being able to beat up Max is not how you win against someone like him.”

  “I’m a puma.”