Zachary made an affirmative noise, equally transfixed.
As Bane watched the rhythmic drip and listened to the plops echoing inside the pails, he spoke low so the drain supervisors wouldn’t hear him. “I checked him out.”
“Who?”
“Linwood. Drove out to his location last week,” Bane said. “Checked him out.”
It’d been a couple weeks since he’d first approached Patrick with his concerns and tried convincing his sire that something was off. Bane’s finger had since regenerated, but it had been an agonizingly painful process. He shuddered from the memory and absently caressed the trigger of his rifle with the newly grown fingertip. He had a feeling the dull ache would never fully go away.
Zachary turned to him, temporarily distracted from the blood. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”
He shrugged. “I was careful. Nobody knows but you.”
The latter sentence was delivered with weight. On Zachary’s last assignment, he’d been unable to resist sampling the blood of the female werecat he’d been drafted to bring in. Which was strictly forbidden, of course. Only Patrick held that honor. The bitch had been in heat, and Zachary had taken full advantage of the fact that his tasting would leave no puncture wounds. When he’d come in that night with the bound-and-gagged woman draped over his shoulder, Bane had taken him aside and discreetly alerted him to the smear of dried blood on his chin that he’d missed. The gesture had undoubtedly saved Zachary’s life. And now he owed Bane his silence.
“Crazy son of a bitch.” Zachary shook his head. “You have any idea what Sire would do to you if he found out? Jesse and Felix are his golden boys.”
Bane ran his tongue over his three lip rings as he contemplated. “He won’t.”
“You’ll lose more than a motherfucking finger.” Zachary sighed. “You’re treading on thin ice, Bane. What the hell are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking I’m sick of that dickless bastard Jesse and his brother being treated like princes,” he said. “I’ve done more for Sire than either of them ever has, and still he favors them.” He clenched his jaw. “It’s sickening.”
Zachary shook his head again. “Your jealousy is going to get you killed.”
“Sire won’t kill me,” he said. No, Patrick would do far worse than that. But it would be worth it. Patrick would finally recognize Bane’s worth. He would reward him for exposing the brothers’ disloyalty. Then he would destroy them. And Bane would watch it all with a smile on his face.
“I wasn’t talking about Sire,” Zachary said, glancing at him with a frown. “You realize the brothers are a couple hundred years older than you?”
Bane glared at him. “I’m not some weak newling. I can handle them.”
He returned the glare. “You really have lost your damn mind.”
Ignoring him, Bane stared at the draining procedure. The dripping had ceased, and he watched as the pails were removed and the table was cranked upright, squeaking shrilly in the otherwise quiet room.
“So what did you find?” Zachary asked after a while.
Bane’s upper lip twitched. “Nothing yet. He was just doing surveillance on the target. Sitting in his car, watching her work inside a piece-of-shit diner.” Bane had sat across the street for six hours waiting for something to happen, something that might indicate wrongdoing. But there’d been nothing. Just Jesse’s unblinking stare as he’d watched the red-haired bitch serve coffee and take orders on her little pad of paper behind the big glass windows. All. Fucking. Day.
“Yet you’re not satisfied,” Zachary said.
“Don’t you think a month and a half is a little extreme for such a simple assignment? This girl doesn’t even have any family for fuck’s sake. There’s some reason he’s stalling.”
“She could have a lot of friends. Coworkers. Some underlying issue he’s still working on,” he said, sounding unimpressed. “A boyfriend.”
Bane shook his head. “No.”
“How do you know?”
As one of the white coats approached with the man’s body on a gurney, Bane stepped aside and typed in a number sequence on the key pad. A second later, the door lock released with a hiss, and the huge slab of steel slid open, disappearing back into the cavern wall. The white coat wheeled the gurney out without acknowledging either them or the two guards posted outside, and turned left, in the direction of the incinerator. Bane reentered the code and resumed his position as the door closed once more.
“I have a feeling,” he said finally.
Zachary grunted. “Acting on it could be dangerous.”
“Or liberating.”
Sighing, Zachary asked, “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going back tomorrow,” Bane said, narrowing his eyes. “And I will find something. One way or another.”
***
“Have you ever heard of any rabid coyotes being spotted around here?” I asked, stuffing a stiff paper filter into the coffee pot. The diner was just starting to populate for the morning, and hot, black coffee was always in demand.
“Rabid?” Lou asked with a chuckle while arranging coffee cake and fresh donuts in the countertop display case. “No, Par honey, not that I’ve heard. Why?”
I tore open a packet of caffeinated grounds and emptied it into the basket. “No reason. Just wondering.”
She cringed. “The only rabid thing around here is sleazy Earl.”
I laughed. It happened a lot these days. Since that night two weeks ago, Jesse had picked me up nearly every evening after work. I’d peek out the window at him before my shift ended, heart quickening because I knew he’d be there. And he always was. He would be leaning against his car looking somehow both dangerous and beautiful. I would stare at him, breath held, biting my bottom lip, until the sound of Kristen’s exaggerated sigh or overly loud floor sweeping would drag me back to reality.
We never went to the valley again. Sometimes we ordered hotdogs and milkshakes from Toby’s Dairy Shed and drove to the ballpark, where we ate in his car—windows down, sharing crispy, battered pickle chips and salty fries. Sometimes we would go to the caves and walk the trails. He would help me over mossy boulders, and I would hold his hand, pointing out my favorite things to look at. Other times we just drove. We would drink the world’s best frozen apple slushes from The Core and cruise back roads, our fingers intertwined over the gearshift, talking about every single thing. But always, no matter where we went, there was cake.
At the rate we were going, I’d have to request a bigger uniform soon.
Lou closed the case’s lid and wiped her sticky hands on a towel. “You going to the festival tonight?”
I nodded and looked out the restaurant’s window front at the preparations underway across the street. The center of town was already blocked off from traffic. My skin tingled as my excitement grew. I’d never been to a festival before. Normally I avoided the things. Too many people with too many thoughts. But Jesse said I should go. Eat some fair food. Look at the lights. Win a stuffed animal. I smiled in anticipation.
Lou swung the towel onto her shoulder and leaned against the counter with a grin. “You really like this fella, don’t ya?”
My face heated, but I admitted, “I do.”
She took in my flushed face with a motherly eye. “He’s good for you, honey. You’re glowing all the time.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I smoothed my apron. “Thank you.”
A man at the far end of the counter raised his empty cup in our direction, and Lou motioned for me to stay and grabbed the pot of decaf. She paused beside me, her concerned thoughts drifting my way. “Just be careful.”
I looked up. “Of what?”
“There’s something different about him.” She rested her free hand on my forearm. “That’s all.”
It was nothing I didn’t already know. Jesse was different. But then, so was I. More than Lou could possibly imagine. “I’ll be careful.” I smiled at her. “Don’t worry.”
“I
won’t.” She winked at me as she walked away. “I know you’re a good girl.”
Mulling over what she’d said, I watched her refill the man’s mug. Though I appreciated her concern, I knew it was Jesse’s oddness that drew me to him. His unpredictability. And yes, the danger he presented. It was exhilarating. But mostly it was the way I could make him smile. It was like unearthing a rare, dusty antique, its joints creaky and stiff with age. But when you dusted it off and held it to the sun, its shine was almost too much for the eye to bear. And yet, you couldn’t look away. It was, in a word, beautiful.
The hissing and popping of the percolating coffee machine interrupted my musings. I brought my fingers to my lips and, with some embarrassment, realized I was smiling again. Glancing out into the diner, I caught the gaze of an old woman sitting at a nearby table with her husband. She was smiling too, her thoughts romantic and tinged with bittersweet memories. I turned back to the counter and began filling small ceramic pitchers with coffee creamer, thinking about Tilt-A-Whirls and cotton candy and bright, bright lights.
10
Family Reunions & Indecent Proposals
“You have three days.” The voice on the other end of the line was crisp. “Or Sire will send Bane. He grows impatient.”
In the alley shadows, Jesse leaned against a brick building as crowds of people passed by only a few feet away. Their faces were animated beneath the flashing lights, and they shouted to be heard over the cartoonish music of the festival.
“I’ll be there,” he said, watching them with disinterest.
“See that you are,” Joshua said and disconnected.
Jesse sighed and stood, running his thumb over the glassy screen of the phone. He’d become the master of lies. And he’d told the most elaborate one of all to himself. He was never going to let her go. Not from the very first moment she’d opened her mouth and taken his order at the diner. He could still remember the pink that’d crept into her cheeks under his gaze. And the way sunlight had glinted off her hair like a shiny penny. It was the first time he’d counted her freckles.
“Fourteen,” he whispered with his eyes closed, seeing her in his mind. There were always fourteen.
At first he hadn’t understood what was happening to him. How a girl, such an embarrassed, lonely girl, could have any power over him. It’d confused him. Frustrated him. Made him angry. He’d been determined to understand her. To discover what sort of magic she worked and find a way to destroy it.
And in doing so, he’d found the truth.
It’d started quietly enough. A vague reprimand when he would notice the way her legs flashed pale and slender as she walked away. A subtle chastisement when he found himself lingering over his empty coffee cup just so he could get a refill. But when he really started to look at her, really started to see her, which had always been inevitable, his mind had exploded in chaos. He’d wanted nothing more than to obey his sire. He’d needed it. Craved it. Yet . . . he’d also craved her. Needed her. Wanted her. The conflict had become deafening.
Until he’d realized the closer he was to her . . . the quieter his mind became.
And that was when he knew.
Jaw tight, he glanced down at his phone and dialed. It picked up on the first ring.
“Jess?” His brother’s voice was hesitant. Wary.
“You were right.” After over two centuries of not speaking, it was all he said. It was all he needed to.
A pause. “Patrick.”
“Yes,” he said. Felix had never trusted their sire, so this would come as no surprise. Before they’d parted ways so many years ago, Felix had tried, tirelessly, to convince Jesse that Patrick was invading his mind. Controlling him. Manipulating him. Jesse had denied it. Refused to even consider it. Not out of loyalty to Patrick, but because he was convinced he would know. That he would feel it.
He hadn’t.
Felix was silent as he no doubt absorbed the news and then asked, “How?”
Jesse glanced skyward, wondering how to explain. “The job I’m working,” he said finally. “I don’t know. This one’s different.”
“A woman.” It wasn’t a question.
Jesse sighed. His brother could read between the lines better than anyone he knew. “Yes.”
“Who is she? And more importantly, what does she look like?”
“None of your damn business.” His brother’s love of women was renowned. And it was just like him to forget that centuries had passed since they’d been on speaking terms. Felix had always lived in the moment.
“Hell, Jess . . . you like this girl.”
Jesse was silent for a moment. Then, quietly, “Yes.”
Felix let out a low whistle, all humor gone. He understood the implications of what Jesse was telling him. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m taking her.”
“He’ll be angry.”
“Yes.”
“You know he’ll come after you.”
“Yes,” he said again.
Patrick had never bothered to hide his favoritism for the two of them, regardless of the general lack of respect they’d always shown for his authority. He viewed them as willful, rebellious children. He indulged them. Loved them even, in his own twisted way. Because they were his first sons, his progenies, they were cherished above all others that came after. But while they’d never bothered to hide their loathing of him, treading deliberately on the edge of his tolerances, they’d never outright disobeyed him like this either. No one had.
“We both know this has been coming for a long time,” Felix said. “The evil bastard is way past his expiration date. Count me in.”
Jesse almost laughed. His brother knew as well as he did that they couldn’t kill Patrick. Their sire was more powerful than both of them would ever be. “I don’t need you to fight,” Jesse said, glancing back at the festival. She would be here by now. “I just need you to do something for me.”
“If you try to take him on alone, he’ll destroy you,” Felix said.
Patrick would destroy them both if they tried to fight him. He sighed. “Not if he can’t find me.”
Felix paused. “You’re going home, aren’t you?”
Home. And all its memories. All its tragedies. He could still remember the screams from that night.
“Yes.” Jesse shoved his hand into his pocket. “At least until I can come up with somewhere better. He would never think to look there. Not at first.”
“No, he wouldn’t.” Felix’s voice was quiet as he agreed. “What do you need me to do?”
“Check the house,” Jesse said. “Make sure it’s still secure. Put some food in the fridge too.”
It’d been an unspoken agreement between them throughout the years that it be maintained as a safe house. At least below the surface. To anyone passing by, it looked like a dilapidated, overgrown cabin in the middle of nowhere. Which, of course, was exactly the idea. Every couple years or so, when he wasn’t at the mountain or working some job for Patrick, he’d go there and spend a few weeks in solitude. He didn’t know how often Felix went, but considering Jesse always found the place in pristine, dustless condition, he had to assume it was more often.
“I’ll leave now,” Felix said.
Jesse breathed a sigh of relief. When the world was about to end, when it came down to it, he realized in that moment there was no one he trusted more than his brother. Even after their troubled past. “Thanks, Felly,” he said, closing his eyes. “For everything.”
At the mention of the pet name, Felix’s breath caught and silence filled the line. It was what their little sister had called him when she’d been too young to pronounce the real thing. It hadn’t been spoken aloud in over three hundred years.
“You’re really fucking back, aren’t you?” Felix whispered, as if he hadn’t quite believed it until now.
“Yeah.” He gripped the phone to his ear.
Letting out a rough exhale, Felix laughed. “Well, hell. I’ve got to see this girl for myself.�
��
“Just get to the house.”
“You’re still a bossy bastard. I see that hasn’t changed.”
“I’m also still older than you. I’ve retained the right.”
Felix laughed again but then grew serious. “You need to be careful, Jess,” he said. “Whatever this girl has said or done to change you, Patrick could still get in your head. And you wouldn’t even know it.”
“I know.” Jesse had thought of this. But after tonight, she would be with him twenty-four hours a day. And he would be free from Patrick’s influence as a result. At least until he made it safe for her to leave. And anything that happened after that point, he didn’t want to think about.
“I’ll see you soon,” Felix said.
Jesse disconnected and slipped the phone in his pocket, already walking toward the festivities. The noise grew louder and the lights brighter as he neared. The scent of hundreds of people and every variety of fried food hung thick in the air. Even he couldn’t pick her out of this crowd by smell alone. He paused at the edge of a funnel-cake concession and scanned the faces up and down the packed street. Glancing at his watch, he cursed under his breath. He was late.
“I’m surprised to see you here all alone.”
Recognizing the voice, he turned to see the waitress from the diner. She was smiling at him, lips coated glossy red.
Ignoring her, he moved to walk past, only to have her hurry and block his path.
“Wait a minute, big guy,” she said, confidence making her breathless. She reached her hand up, bracelets jangling, and placed it on his chest, digging her nails in just a bit. “Sure you don’t wanna stay a little longer?”
Grabbing her wrist, he slung her hand off, his anger rising. “Back off.”
She gasped and rubbed at it, but her eyes flashed with excitement and desperation. He suspected she was high on something. “She doesn’t even have to know,” she said, glancing deliberately at the alley behind them. “We can go talk about it if you want.”
He shoved by her, but this time she grabbed his jacket sleeve, and his control snapped. He spun on her with a growl and took her by the throat, hauling her up against the side of the concession stand, which was partially in the shadows. The metal side of the trailer clanged hollowly as her shoulder blades connected with it.
First Fruits Page 8
