Colden scoffed. "Really? Your food? If it wasn't for me or the others doing the dirty work, this food wouldn't even be here."
"It's fine," I said, cutting Bram off before he could speak. "Enjoy your cereal. We're just passing through."
"By the way," Colden said. "Mr. Dunstan and Lawson will be dropping by in the morning. They want to have a meeting with us all."
I didn't know whether that was a good thing or not, but I decided not to worry about it. I wanted to go upstairs , but I didn't want to leave Bram alone with Colden.
Bram snatched the bowl of cereal from the table and slammed it onto the counter, sending milk and soggy cereal chunks flying. "You can leave now."
Colden laughed at Bram. He liked pushing his buttons. "I think you guys are going to be the ones leaving after tomorrow's meeting. Don't say I didn't tell you so, because I did."
I pulled Bram out of the kitchen and toward the staircase. After coaxing him to cool off by taking a shower, I passed by Naomi's room. I wanted to tell her how I had gotten Bram back for knocking her to the ground. The door was ajar , and I heard voices.
I peeked through the crack of the door. She and Chase sat on the edge of her bed.
"What do you want me to do, Nay?" Chase asked. "I did what I had to for you. I feel terrible about that man, but there's nothing I can do about it now. I just want things to be the way they were between us."
"How were things between us, Chase? You were mad at me about the whole Hunter thing. I didn't get that because you and I are just friends—or is there something more than that?"
Hunter was a boy Naomi had gone out with a couple of times when we were on assignment at Kennedy High. In my opinion , he was the main reason she botched the job.
Chase sighed. "I think you know that there is—or that I wanted there to be, but we couldn't because of the rules. What was I supposed to do? You wanted us to get in trouble like Keira and Bram?"
Naomi shrugged. "At least they know where they stand with one another."
Did we?
Chase stood up and moved out of my view. "Nay, I gave up everything to follow you here. My home. My family. The ability to earn more years. I gave that all up to follow you into this great uncertainty, because I wanted to make sure you were okay. And now you act like you don't know how I feel about you. You act like you don't even know me."
Chase was right , and I could tell by the hunch of Nomi's shoulders that she felt guilty.
"Chase, I'm sorry—"
Before she could finish, the door flew open , and I was caught in the act of eavesdropping.
"Keir," Chase said as he walked past me. He headed down the stairs , and a few moments later, the front door slammed.
I entered the bedroom and sat on the bed beside Naomi. "Are you okay?"
She wiped a tear from her cheek and shook her head. "No. Chase is right. You were both right. He did what he did for me , and I shouldn't be treating him like this. This whole situation is so messed up."
I rubbed her back. "It doesn't have to be. Just give him some time to cool off and talk to him in the morning. He feels like you hate him. Let him know that you don't. Tell him how you feel." I paused for a moment. "How do you feel?"
She smiled a little. "You know."
I did know. I always knew. She was my best friend , and I could read the signs, just like as she could read the signs between me and Bram. She and Chase made the perfect couple.
"Will you sleep in here tonight? It's hard for me to sleep."
"Sure," I answered. "Let me take a shower and I'll come back."
I moved toward the door.
"Keir?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm really, really glad you came over with Bram."
"Me too."
"He does love you."
I nodded. "I know. I'll be back."
15
Dunstan and Mr. Lawson showed up bright and early the following morning. Someone had made them both a cup of coffee, but Lawson had declined his. He seemed agitated, and that was compounded by the fact that he couldn't see us.
Kuro gave them both chairs from the dining room table. Mr. Lawson's eyes moved crazily around the room.
"Kids, we have a problem," Dunstan began. "We made a deal, and Mr. Lawson here feels as though you're not keeping up your end."
"I don't feel that way, they aren't keeping up their end." He paused and looked at Dunstan. "Tell them that."
"They can hear you, remember?"
"Right. Well, hear this. I'm a very wealthy man, but I didn't get that way by being stupid. I'm paying a lot of money to give you all a good life here, but more than half of you aren't doing your jobs."
"What do you care as long as your jobs are getting done?" Bram asked.
Dunstan relayed the message.
"Because I'm paying for twenty-one of you to live here when only nine of you are actually working for me. I could trim my costs and just pay for the nine to stay here. Why should I support your life here if I'm not getting anything out of it?"
"That wasn't the deal," Bram said. "You give us assignments, they get completed , and you take care of us. You never said anything about who the jobs had to be done by."
Dunstan repeated what Bram had said. Lawson pursed his lips. "That should have gone without saying. This really isn't up for discussion. Anyone who's not pulling his or her weight can go. I don't care where—back where you came from or wherever—but I'm not paying for you to live here."
Bram stood, but Lawson couldn't see that. If he had he might have been intimidated. Dunstan looked apprehensive.
"We're not going anywhere. What do you expect us to do? Live on the streets?"
Lawson stood after Dunstan told him what Bram had said.
"Boy, you are trying my patience. You can think I'm playing if you want to. You have until the end of the week to complete a hit , and anyone who doesn't is out of my camp. This isn’t a free ride."
"Please, just do what he says," Dunstan pleaded. "This is all part of a bigger picture , and we need him." Dunstan rose to leave. Lawson followed him with a smirk.
Bram glared at Colden. "You think I'm supposed to be afraid of that?"
Colden shrugged. "I think we both know that you're too stupid to be afraid, but you should be."
Bram folded his arms across his chest. "News flash, Forager. Lawson is a human. He has no authority over us, neither does Dunstan. He lost all his authority a long time ago. As for that pompous ass—we're done working for him. All of us," Bram said, leaving Colden and the other two boys to complete the jobs themselves.
That night we had a quiet dinner at the house, which was a rare occasion. I wasn't sure where Chase had slept the night before, but he had come back. He and Naomi seemed to be getting along better than usual.
Dorian and Josh had cooked that night and done a pretty good job. We'd had pork chops, boiled potatoes, and salad. Although the meal was delicious, it left a sour taste in my mouth.
"What are we going to do?" I asked Bram. "I mean, we have a pantry full of food now, but what's going to happen when Lawson cuts us off? And he will." The reality of our situation had hit me hard that day. I felt like we were trapped. We couldn't go back to Nowhere, and soon we wouldn't have a means of surviving here in the human world. I hated the feeling of hopelessness. Bram had a bad habit of not fully thinking things out before he acted, but this choice was going to cost all of us.
16
Doyle visited us that night , and he wasn't too thrilled about our decision.
"You just can't make a deal with someone and go back on it."
Bram, Doyle, Naomi, Chase, and I sat crowded around the kitchen table.
"Really?" I asked. "Like you swore your undying loyalty to Dunningham? Things change, don't they, Mr. Doyle?"
"Listen, I have my reasons for doing what I'm doing , and I saved both of your lives," he said, pointing to me and Bram and me . "So don't give me any crap."
"I think the real question," Chase said, "is
what are we going to do when Lawson stops supplying the things we need? Are we going to live on the streets? Rummage through garbage cans?"
Bram scowled at Chase. "No family of mine is going to rummage through garbage. We'll figure it out."
Naomi shifted in her seat. "Bram, you keep saying that, but—"
"I'll figure it out," he said, cutting her off.
I turned to Doyle. "What is Dunningham saying about us?" Surely he had to be the epitome of pissed.
Doyle took a deep breath. "There's been lots of meetings. Lots of interrogations—"
"Interrogations?" Chase asked.
Doyle nodded. "Yes. Dunningham wanted to be sure that your families had no information about your whereabouts. He hasn't harmed them , though. I don't think he will—at least not yet."
"Will you tell them that we're okay?" I asked. The thought of them worrying about me and Josh and me made me feel incredibly guilty.
"That's tricky. If I tell them that, they'll want to know where you are and how I know your location. I can't implicate myself in your disappearances, but I'll figure out a way to tell them something."
"What's Dunningham's plan?" Bram asked. "I know he has one."
Doyle lifted and dropped his shoulders. "He's assembling a team of Watchers to come here."
"But they can't," Naomi said. "Unless they're on assignment, they can't come to the human world. They can't live here without human blood. Only Dunstan and his machine can do that."
Doyle folded his hands and looked down at the table. The somberness of his expression concerned me. "Listen, there's a lot we don't know about Dunningham. Nobody knows how far his powers stretch and what he can and can't do—maybe not even his brother."
Doyle was right about that. I had never gotten to finish reading that book , and I wished I had it with me.
"He can do lots of things," Doyle continued. "We've never seen the full scope of his powers because he's never had to use them. Think about it. Nowhere's always been in peace. For the most part , all Grims fear him and bow to his commands, with the occasional violation that ends in punishment or execution, but those things are to be expected. Apart from a Forager's raid here and there, Nowhere has never been challenged. Now it has , and we're going to see a different side to Dunningham. Maybe one we've never seen before."
"Who cares?" Bram asked. "As long as he can't come here—what does it matter?"
Doyle rubbed his chin. "Can someone put on a pot of coffee, please?"
For a moment no one moved. Finally Chase sighed and got up to make the coffee.
Doyle checked his cell phone. He couldn't stay away from Nowhere for too long. "This is the worst thing he's ever had to deal with. We've never had Grims just disappear before. Eighteen Grims unaccounted for makes the others ask questions. It makes Dunningham look weak and incompetent. You've given them the notion that there's something else out there aside from being bound to Grim life , and that's a dangerous thing. He won't take it lying down."
I'd always known that, but hearing Doyle verbalize it made me shudder. It seemed like a draft had suddenly blown through the kitchen , and I wondered if it could be Dunningham. Doyle was right. We really had no idea how far his powers stretched.
Chase put the coffee on and took his seat. "Enough about him. What are we going to do about Lawson?"
Bram scoffed. "He's a human. What are you worried about him for? He has no authority over us. Stop worrying about it."
For once Chase seemed to doubt Bram, but he said nothing else.
"So what are your reasons?" I asked Doyle.
He looked at me from the corner of my eye. "Excuse me?"
"What are your reasons for betraying Dunningham? You have the most coveted job in Nowhere. Why risk it?"
Doyle sat back and twisted the gold ring on his finger, the one that had been given to him by Dunningham. It was engraved with the skull symbol that all Dunningham's people wore proudly. Even Hesper wore a charm with the skull around her neck.
"You think you're the first Grims to dream about freedom? You might be the first to act on it, but you're certainly not the first to think about it. We all have at some time or another. I would sit around with your fathers when we were younger and we'd talk about how intriguing the human world was compared to Nowhere. Sure, it's fast and complex and noisy and dangerous, but it offers so many possibilities as opposed to the one Nowhere gives us."
I found that hard to believe—my father being a young boy and talking about living in this world. I'd never once heard him say anything against Nowhere or being a Grim. Like Nox, Naomi's dad, he wore the emblem proudly.
Doyle's expression softened. "So if you're worried about your parents not understanding, don't be. Of course they'll miss you and worry about your safety, but they get it. It was almost time to marry you off and part with you anyway.
"As glamorous as my job may seem, I don't want to spend my eternity—thousands of years—being at someone else's beck and call. Being a slave to Dunningham's every whim. I'm tired of watching him live the good life. I want my own good life and Dunstan and Lawson have offered that to me. What about you?" Doyle asked me. "You were sitting in the lap of luxury. He would have given you anything you wanted , and you ran away from it."
I felt Bram's eyes boring into me , and I made a conscious effort not to look at him. "I didn't want to spend the rest of my life with a person I couldn’t stand. I didn't want every minute of the rest of my life planned out with breakfasts with fake friends and fancy balls I didn't want to attend. I just wanted—something different." I didn't mention the fact that I also feared for my life since Dunningham's other wives weren't accounted for. Why should I be any different?
Doyle continued to stare me down. Between him and Bram I didn't know where to look. "You know," he said, "he was a lot more fond of you that he was of the others."
That didn't make me feel better at all , and I wished Doyle hadn't even said it.
"It was all superficial. He didn't even know me."
Doyle nodded. "Perhaps. But there was something different about the way he looked at you."
"You? What are your reasons?" Doyle asked Chase.
Chase looked uneasy for a moment. "Coffee's ready. Anyone else want some?" he asked as he excused himself from the table. Only Bram did.
Doyle shook his head and looked at Naomi.
She shrugged. "It's simple. I didn't want to die."
"Good reason," Doyle said. "Bram?"
Bram had always been a proud Grim. Sure, he broke rules, but other than that, he seemed to love everything about being a Grim.
"I was on the verge of dedicating my life to becoming a Watcher. How big of a joke would that have been?" Bram was the one who'd always kept Watchers busy.
Chase placed coffee mugs in front of Doyle and Bram.
"Thanks," Bram told Chase. "Anyway, I was about to marry that girl, you know, Senka. It wasn't fair to either of us. We didn't know each other. I could tell she couldn't stand me, which is quite unusual, you know." I rolled my eyes even though it was the truth. Bram was what most would call good-looking and the resident bad boy. That intrigued a lot of girls , and he knew it. "I'm not ready to be anyone's husband. I'm definitely not ready to be anyone's father. I would have ruined her life."
Doyle blew on his coffee. "Is that all?" I thought that was enough of a reason.
Bram stared down into his full coffee cup before meeting Doyle's gaze. "Certain Grims whom I care about couldn't stay there for various reasons, so I couldn't either."
Doyle nodded. "You want to answer my question now?" he asked Chase.
Chase looked annoyed. He'd thought he was off the hook. "Naomi and Keira are my best friends. If they couldn't stay there, I couldn't either. I wanted to make sure that they were okay."
"That's respectable," Doyle said.
"He's in love with my sister," Bram said before taking a sip of his coffee.
"Shut up, Bram!" Naomi cried. Chase tried to hide a nervous smirk.
<
br /> "Hey, I don't mind, you can do a lot worse than Chase." Then he looked at Chase. "As long as you don't touch her, we're cool."
Naomi narrowed her eyes at Bram. "What about you, Romeo? You would be a wreck without Keira."
"Yeah, you would be," Chase agreed.
Bram glanced at me and then looked away quickly.
"Please, stop," I said to Chase and Naomi. I knew they were trying to get back at Bram, but they were doing it at my expense.
"Listen," Doyle said. "As much as I'd love to sit here and talk about the aspects of your young love affairs, we need to stay focused. I just want you to keep in mind all the things you've told me. All the reasons you left Nowhere and all the reasons you can't return. You need to rethink going back on your deal with Mr. Lawson."
"We've made our decision," Bram said firmly. "We're fully prepared to deal with the consequences. I'll try to let your parents know that you're okay."
There was nothing else to say after that , and Doyle continued to sip his coffee in silence.
The following morning the doorbell rang at 7:34 A.M. As usual, I was the first one up, so I answered it. Nokomis pushed past me into the house with her scythe , wearing a black tank top, no bra, and shorts that were way much too small for her. No one ever dressed like that in Nowhere. We always covered ourselves, but I guessed she was taking advantage of living in the human world , where there were no dress codes.
I closed the door behind her after she'd let herself in. She looked around our now clean living room with her beady little eyes. I'd never particularly liked Nokomis. She was a gossip and always had something negative to say about everyone, even her so-called friends. Neither Naomi or I were into that sort of thing.
"Where's Bram?" she asked.
"Sleeping."
She raised her eyebrows. "Where?"
"Where do you think? In his bed."
She grinned. "Oh. He told me to come by at 7:30 for a one-on-one training session. I'll wake him," she said, heading for the stairs.
Keira Grim: The Final Breath Chronicles Book Two Page 11
