by Beth Alvarez
His lips twitched and Nick stared at the counter in front of him.
More silence.
“Why’d you do it?” It wasn’t the question Kade meant to ask, but it slipped free before he could catch it. It was the only thing he’d really wondered, the question that had plagued him since their short-lived feud began.
“Drake offered me a lot of opportunities.”
“Not that,” Kade said. “Me. Why did you...” His hand went to his throat, to where the now-healed burns had been. He didn’t doubt Thaddeus had ensured it was safe for them to speak in front of the officer present, but the words wouldn’t come.
Nick didn’t reply.
“After everything you knew about me, did findin’ out the truth make you afraid? Because of what I was? Because of what I did to Penny?”
“Because you had everything,” Nick blurted. “And I resented that.” The admission came with so much force, so much hate, that it had to be the truth. Even now, he seethed with resentment. It bubbled in the forefront of his mind, clear to Kade’s senses despite the missing connection between them. Then Nick paused, sobering. “But when I’m done, when the trial is over and everything’s finished, you’ll have nothing. Just like me.”
Kade leaned closer to the glass, resting his elbows on the counter. “You really think they’ll believe you?”
“I’ll make sure of it.”
“No,” Kade murmured, catching his one-time friend’s eyes. “I don’t think you will.”
Nick snorted and started to reply, then hesitated.
That was the opening. Kade hardened his expression, silently hoping it would harden his heart, too. He held Nick’s gaze, demanded it. Then, slowly, he exerted his will.
“You’re not gonna say anything bad about me,” Kade said. “Are you? You know me, Nick. I’m just a cowboy. Lucky that Marshall McCullough pitied me enough to make up some midnight job to give me somethin’ to do. I’ve done my best to do right by everyone in Holly Hill. I know I’m an outsider. But y’all have made me think I might belong there, now.”
Uncertainty flickered across the younger man’s face. “You’ll never belong there. You’re a-” He stopped short, his mouth working without producing a sound, as if the accusation hung up in his throat and couldn’t escape.
“Not a perfect person, I know. But nobody is. That’s why you won’t say a thing about it,” Kade pressed harder, an outward emotional thrust that he almost felt overlap Nick’s thoughts. “I’m nothin’ special, Nick.”
The weight of his efforts came crashing down, the last threads of resistance snapping.
The light in Nick’s eyes dulled. “No,” he replied, his brow furrowed. “I guess... I guess you never were.”
Pain blossomed behind Kade’s eyes and he cradled his head in his hand, rubbing his temples.
Nick’s voice was distant, tinny sounding in the receiver at his ear. “Make sure someone takes care of Penny.” He hung up on the other side of the glass, a vacant look on his face as he stood.
Kade stayed put for what seemed an eternity. Only when his ear began to ache did he realize he still held the telephone with a death grip, his knuckles pale and his fingers stiff. He returned the receiver to its hook, pushing himself from his seat. Pain still throbbed in the front of his skull, eerily reminiscent of a heartbeat.
Thaddeus watched him, his brows drawn and the corners of his mouth downturned with disappointment. “What you’ve done is forbidden.”
Kade rubbed his forehead, raising one shoulder in approximation of a shrug. “Nobody told me that.”
The Keeper’s frown deepened, twisting his expression into sorrow. “I cannot protect you.”
“Never asked you to, old man.”
“Even so, you must be aware.” Thaddeus turned away, drawing himself up as if nothing had happened. “Once the organization’s suspicions about you are confirmed, your every action may be monitored. A single misstep shall result in its full force coming down to cease what you have begun. You walk a fine line, Mr. Colton. If you are not cautious, you shall find yourself slipping across it.”
“Yeah,” Kade muttered as the old man opened the door. “Don’t I always.”
TWENTY-THREE
* * *
IT WASN’T LIKE the last time they came home from an adventure.
The lights of the Hilltop House were on, bright and cheery, warm and welcoming. The sight put a spark of comfort in Felicity’s chest.
“Home sweet home,” Kade said, and it didn’t bother her that it sounded more like an agreement to her unspoken thoughts than anything else.
They still hadn’t spoken, but she knew it was coming. Maybe it wouldn’t be all bad—they could park out at the ranch and sit under the stars, maybe throw a few pillows and blankets into the bed of Kade’s truck to provide a cozy place to talk.
“Not a bad idea,” he murmured by her ear. Then he slid out of the car, offering his hand.
Thaddeus stayed in the front seat of the stylish black sedan as they climbed out, though he was kind enough to pop the trunk.
Kade retrieved the single bag from the back, lingering beside the car. “I’ll need to talk to him. Probably best if you go on inside.”
Felicity nodded. With the way silence had reigned during the drive, she wasn’t surprised. Thaddeus had not said a word to either of them since they’d left the prison. As unsociable as the Keeper was, pure silence wasn’t like him, either.
“I’ll be inside, then.” She paused and stole a kiss. “Just make sure not to aggravate him any more than necessary. I don’t have Cole and Justine here to back me up, this time.” That was another thing to puzzle over. She’d grown fond of the pair in their short time together, but she hadn’t been able to piece together why they’d helped.
Justine had rolled it under the guise of cleaning up after Drake du Coudray’s elimination, but they hadn’t been assigned to that. It hadn’t been what brought them to Holly Hill, either. It was possible the Keeper had picked up the job to distract from the fact her hunter failed to eliminate Brady—or, rather, proven Brady didn’t need to be eliminated. But that seemed backwards and convoluted, and didn’t mesh with what little Felicity knew about the Keepers and their organization. They were sticklers for rules and loved mountains of paperwork, but generally speaking, everything appeared to be straightforward. Organized and streamlined.
Or maybe it wasn’t, and this complicated mess was a better picture of what the curious vampire-led society was about. Felicity shook her head and tried to put it aside. There was time to deal with the peculiarities of Keepers later. Right now, she was home. She paused on the porch, breathing deep before she slipped inside.
The house was cool and quiet, though she heard someone in the kitchen and headed that way. It was late evening; her father would have closed the bakery and been home for an hour or so. Assuming he’d opened it at all. Penny was learning fast, but Felicity didn’t know if she’d be able to handle the full baking workload herself. As she expected, she found Emmett at the counter, cutting vegetables for dinner.
He didn’t even stop, transferring a handful of veggies to the pot beside the cutting board. “Do I want to know where the two of you have been?”
Felicity cringed. It hadn’t been that long since she’d run away from home with Kade, helping on what ended up being his last major hunt. She hadn’t yet repaired what damage that had done to her relationship with her father. Emmett had every right to be angry with her.
She wet her lips and slipped to the sink to wash her hands. “You’ll read all about it in the newspaper, I imagine.”
“Let me guess.” He reached for a peeled potato. “Nick?”
Drying her hands on a towel, she tried not to laugh. “Word spreads fast in a small town, doesn’t it?”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Emmett replied. “Though I’ll warn you now, Miss Gertie came storming into the bakery when she heard you and Kade had vanished. She thought you’d eloped.”
“I’m startin
g to wish we had. This wedding is enough without us getting caught up...” She trailed off, not sure what she could say without getting caught in a complicated explanation. She joined him instead, drawing a knife from the block on the counter. “Is Owen still here?”
He passed her a potato. “He helped Penny at the bakery today, since you were absent. They’ll probably be back soon. She’s been staying here late to help with wedding things. And you’re starting to let her help with the baking, huh?”
“I have to share my recipes with someone, or the bakery will close when I take time off for a honeymoon.” Felicity smirked. “I think I may. After the past few weeks, I think I could use a break.”
Her father nodded, and the breeding silence warned her of what was to come long before it escaped his mouth.
Emmett drew a breath, then sighed. “Listen, buttercup, you know I respect your privacy. But this is the second time you’ve vanished, then turned up after a tangle with this rustling ring.”
“And that’s my fault, sir,” Kade chimed in from the doorway. Felicity hadn’t even heard him come in. “I apologize. It was never my intention to get her tangled up in anything. My job demanded it of me. I guess in some ways, it still does.”
Emmett paused, regarding him through narrowed eyes. “Your job?”
They’d never told him much about the ordeal in the winter; they’d skirted around as much of it as they could. Evidently, Kade had decided that was enough. Felicity couldn’t help wondering if it was because of something said outside.
“I know what you’re thinkin’,” Kade said, and Felicity wondered how literally he meant it. “It ain’t like that. I’m not a criminal. I wish I could tell you more, but the job was government-sanctioned, and you know how they are. Rules. Contracts. But I left that position in January. Seems it was a little premature, since the ring tried to get back together after Filly helped me crash it.”
Felicity caught the fine twitch of a muscle in her father’s cheek. Emmett was a quiet man. He wasn’t given to outbursts, but he certainly had a temper, and she could tell Kade’s ill-timed honesty wasn’t helping.
She touched her father’s arm. “He’s done with the undercover work. As far as we know, Nick was the only one who knew he’d been a part of the job.”
“And I like what I’m doin’ better,” Kade added. “Didn’t think I’d end up likin’ it better than what I was contracted for, but I do. I was sent on jobs like those because I liked the cover. Suited me. But I think takin’ a couple bullets changed my priorities a bit.” His hand drifted to his stomach. Half a year later, there wasn’t so much as a scar to show it ever happened. Strangely, no one had ever asked why.
The front door creaked open and Kade glanced toward it.
“Go ahead,” Felicity said. “I’m sure that’s your brother. I’ll call you both when dinner’s ready.” Considering he still hadn’t explained the ice cream, she couldn’t help the small jab.
He gave her a strained smile before retreating to the living room.
For a split second, she pitied him.
The conversation he’d have in there wouldn’t be any easier.
* * *
Owen froze the moment Kade stepped into view. Had the door not been closed behind him, Kade thought he might have tried to escape. Instead, they faced off like they had at the ranch, and Kade couldn’t help spreading his stance a little wider and hooking his thumbs in his pockets.
Unlike crossing paths at the ranch, Owen now looked at him as if he were a ghost. In some ways, Kade supposed he was.
Felicity had told him all about what had transpired after Thaddeus arrived to collect him. He wasn’t opposed to his brother being in on the secret, but he’d hoped to be the one to tell him. Now things were cold and awkward—more than they had been, anyway—and he wasn’t sure how to close the breach.
He lifted his chin. “Boo.”
Owen twitched.
As amusing as that was, Kade didn’t want to foster any more animosity between them. He’d done enough of that already. “Heard you’ve been helping out around the bakery. How’d you like bein’ at the bottom of the ladder again?”
His brother gave a cautious shrug. “It’s easy. I don’t think I’ve had a job that easy since high school.”
Kade snorted. “I could tell you about hard jobs.”
“Yeah,” Owen said, tucking his hands into his pockets. “I heard a bit about that.”
They fell back into a staring match, awkward as ever. Kade couldn’t be surprised. They were both responsible for the falling out between them, both too proud to say anything about it. Even now, Kade couldn’t make himself address the problems. He buried them instead. That was where they belonged; in the past, abandoned alongside the life he could never return to, even if he’d wanted.
“Come upstairs.” Kade jerked his head toward the staircase, adjusting his black cowboy hat before leading the way. “I got somethin’ for you.”
He flicked on the light in the master suite, scanning the room. It didn’t look any different after he’d loaned the space to Cole. The bed was made, all his belongings still in place, the blackout curtains drawn closed over the windows. Satisfied, he made his way to the dresser, pulling open the top drawer and fishing out a slim black booklet.
Owen appeared in the doorway as Kade folded back the check, tore it free, and held it out.
His brother inched forward, taking the check and studying the numbers on the front. “Kade-”
“It’s nothin’,” Kade said, smirking. “I mean, don’t tell him, ’cause I don’t wanna hurt his feelin’s, but between me, you, and Dad, I’m the rich one.” He offered his hand.
Owen stared at it.
Kade didn’t move. “I washed.”
Slowly, his brother reached out. He shuddered when their fingers touched, but he clasped his hand anyway, giving it a firm shake and then holding on. “You’re cold.”
“Can’t do much about that.” Kade shrugged.
Owen’s fingers drifted toward his wrist. It wasn’t sneaky and it wasn’t unexpected. Unbothered, Kade turned his arm, giving the go-ahead with a single nod. Owen touched the pulse point in his wrist, his brow furrowing as seconds ticked by, his eyes darting upward in search of some rational explanation.
Instead, Kade bared his fangs and hissed.
Spitting a curse, Owen recoiled. Kade reeled him back in before he could escape, pulling him into a bear hug.
“Don’t bite me,” Owen muttered, slapping his back.
Kade snorted. “I ain’t gonna bite you. You’d taste awful. Nothin’ but aftershave and fancy rich people cologne.”
Stepping back, his brother sized him up. Then he rested a hand on Kade’s shoulder and shook his head. “You really haven’t changed at all, have you?”
“No,” Kade chuckled. “I have. And not just the...” He trailed off, licking one fang. He didn’t need to finish that thought. “Well, I’ve changed a lot, anyway. I’m not... angry, like I was. I’m happy now. I don’t think I ever was before.”
“No, I don’t think you were.” Owen sobered. “Listen, if you want this money back-”
“Keep it,” Kade said. “It’s done and over. I think it might be best if we just leave the stuff behind us where it is.”
“Amen to that.”
Kade returned his thumbs to his pockets, rocking back on his heels. “But you are comin’ back for the wedding, right?”
“Ah,” Owen laughed, finally sharing a smile that looked genuine. “I wouldn’t miss that for the world.”
* * *
“Finally,” Felicity sighed, sinking into the pillows and staring up at the stars. “A minute to ourselves.” She’d been tickled when Kade took her idea to heart, tossing extra bedding from the Hilltop House into the bed of his beat-up truck. She’d been more than tickled when he strapped it into the bed of the truck with bungee cords before the drive.
He tossed those cords into the cab of the truck now, then joined her in the bed. “F
eels weird, don’t it?”
“I don’t know. I think I could get used to it.” She nestled into the crook of his arm, curling close against his side. “I got ahold of Penny. She’s upset, but I think she’ll be okay. It’s not like she didn’t know it was coming. I offered to let her stay at the Hilltop House until everything is over, but she said she already got an invitation to live with the McCulloughs after the end of the month.”
“The McCulloughs?” Kade repeated, surprised. “Is she gonna be a cowgirl, now? I don’t know how I feel about that.”
“Maybe the two of you can trade places.” Her eyes glittered. “You can be my apprentice baker, now that you’ve got a sweet tooth.”
His mirth faded and for a moment, she thought she’d said the wrong thing. Then he hugged her close. “The ice cream... it was in one of his books. I asked him why he had that kind of information. He said it was a Keeper’s responsibility to know things.”
Felicity grew quiet, stroking his arm with her fingertips, silently encouraging him to go on.
“I found things in my file while I was there. Bad things. Things that spell trouble for me. When I... changed, I was told consumption of vampire’s blood is forbidden. At first, all they told me was that it would make me crazy. It wasn’t until I was more experienced, started going up against other vampires, that they told me our blood was a source of power. When I killed Drake, drank his blood, I drank his strength. I took it. Made it mine. But that’s the thing about us. As we get stronger, we become more human.”
She made a small sound of amusement. “But you said the freezer was full of ice cream. Does that mean Thaddeus is stronger than he lets on?”
“I don’t think so,” Kade said. “Unless somethin’ happened after he brought me over. I drank his blood once, remember? I would have had access to any extra strength he had from the get-go.”
“Then what’s the deal? I find it hard to believe you were less human than Thaddeus.”
He shook his head. “When I changed, they told me to experiment with food, ’cause some vampires are just straight-up more human than others. I didn’t see anything in his books, but I think it has to do with how hard they hold on when they change.” His arm tightened around her. “That’s just the thing, though. When I changed, I didn’t want to be human anymore. I gave myself over. I think in some ways, I was stronger for it. My abilities kicked in faster. I wanted to change, so I did.”
