“Is all replaceable. Nothing in there would be salvageable anyway.”
He was right. Even if something did survive, which was becoming more and more doubtful, it would all be smoke damaged.
For the second time in less than six months, I’d lost all my possessions, and it felt every bit as bad as the first, maybe even worse. Smoke let out a howl and I loosened my grip.
It hadn’t taken long for the truce to fall apart and the gloves to come off.
***
Morning light had just started to disrupt the dark sky as we met in the office for an impromptu meeting to discuss the latest development. My fingers pushed the hair from my face and a fluttering of ashes floated to the floor. Then there was the smell of eau d’ ashtray that permeated the air in a ten foot radius around where I sat in the middle of the office, Smoke on my lap, even stinker than I was.
Fate was leaning on the desk in front of me, Murphy standing to his right and Luck to his left. The Jinxes were doing laps around the room on their skateboards, each go around punctuated at the sharp turns with skidding sounds.
Knox—who was looking pretty good in another high end suit of navy blue, bought with an obviously much higher salary than I received—followed them with his eyes in a way that confirmed they’d managed to irritate the new guy.
“Don’t tell me the agency doesn’t have another condo,” I said to Knox. I wasn’t sure how he’d found out about this little get together, since I was certain it wasn’t from Fate. Still, maybe I could make use of him.
“No, nothing,” he replied, still not turning away from the Jinxes like a housecat staring at an annoying fly it couldn’t reach. Wow, they’d really gotten under his skin.
“You aren’t staying alone.” Fate crossed his arms in front of his chest and the muscles in his forearms looked like they were geared up for a fistfight. His eyes stared hard and his mouth was tense. It was what I thought of as his emotional lockdown face. It was the look he gave when he was unmovable; I’d come to know it well.
Luck edged back to sit on the desk, crossed her shapely legs and trim ankles, all the more attractive for being donned with five inch red stilettos. “It’s not like you have much of a choice anyway. Duh, your condo looks like the remnants of last night’s bonfire, and an extremely festive one at that,” Luck added, stating the obvious.
“Thanks, Luck. What a wonderful visual that is.” I could imagine all the psychos toasting marshmallows as the fires died down. I hadn’t stuck around that long myself, having seen all I’d needed in the fifteen minutes I’d been there.
“You should stay with me,” she added, undaunted by my sarcasm. The only sign of nervousness from her was the continual digging out of her red lipstick as she reapplied it to already pouty fresh red lips. It was the fifth time she’d done it since she’d heard what happened, beginning with the convenience store attack and followed by my condo building being burnt to a crisp.
Being overly groomed in response to Malokin declaring war wasn’t a sign of weakness to me. In my book, it meant you had some balls if that’s the most you were slipping. And if he won, at least she’d go out looking her best.
“No,” Fate said, countering Luck’s offer. His body was so tense I could actually trace the line of his veins visually all the way from his elbow to his hands. This was going to be a tough battle, and I wasn’t sure I had the gas left in the tank to take it on. The only thing that gave me any fuel was wanting to curl up in a ball in a dark room and be able to process this all in solitude. And if I couldn’t be left alone completely, Luck won hands down. She was far easier to ignore.
“I’m tired. I’ve had a very rough day and I’m not arguing. I’m going home with Luck for tonight, and before you start asking who’s covering my back, I’ve got Luck. Who’s covering yours? Do you think you’re untouchable?”
“Yes. I do,” he said.
“Really?” I leaned back in my seat, feeling much more bravado than I thought I’d be able to muster. He’d walked right into my hands with that last statement, and I could never walk away from a challenge. “And why is that?” I said, backing him into a corner. Fate had secrets and I was fairly certain I wasn’t the only one he kept them from. If he wanted me to stay with him badly enough, he could come clean.
“Because I’m me.” He smirked.
I’d thought I’d laid a trap. Traps didn’t work on Fate. He didn’t feel the compulsion that normal people did to defend themselves or explain. I should’ve known better.
“You’re in that house alone so you don’t have a leg to stand on. At least Luck and I will have each other. ”
I leaned back and let my eyelids droop closed over gritty eyeballs, thinking I should have splashed some water on my face. I couldn’t wait until the day was over. Once I went to sleep, it wouldn’t be the day my home burned down or the day I was almost raped while I stared down at my favorite ice cream. It would be a fresh new day where all sorts of wonderful things could happen.
Or maybe it would just be the shitty day after everything went to hell. Still, probably an improvement.
“She’s got a point,” Murphy said from his position next to Fate, his trench coat rustling with his finger pointing.
My eyes widened and fixated on my unexpected ally. I hadn’t thought I’d get any support from his corner, not when it went against something Fate wanted. He wasn’t as bad as the Jinxes but he had a slight Fate crush. Embarrassingly enough, there seemed to be a long list of us on it.
“Thank you, Murphy.” The count had just hit three against his one opposing vote.
Fate threw him a look that I thought would send him scrambling, but Murphy looked back at him and kept talking. “I’m on your side. I don’t think anyone should be alone,” Murphy added.
Now I was the one shooting dirty looks in Murphy’s direction. This was more along the lines of what I’d expected from him.
Fate raised his eyebrows and turned his gloat glare all the way to maximum output for my benefit.
“Oh, so now Murphy is the be-all and end-all on tactical matters?” I didn’t care if it was a valid point. I didn’t like getting ganged up on. I’d had enough of gangs for a while.
Murphy, who’d been in a slouch, straightened his shoulders. “I’ll have you know, I’m very good tactically. I’m an excellent chess player.”
Knox, forcing his eyes away from the long skid marks on the floor left by the Jinxes’ last lap, dragged his attention back to the group.
He did that weird sleeve jerk, which men who wore suits a lot often did, to look at his watch. “He’s right. No one should be staying alone.”
“Are you kidding?” I nailed Knox with a stare that said I’d thought maybe we could be friends but not anymore. Of all the people I’d expected to back Fate up, Knox was the last. He and Fate hardly had a bromance brewing.
Didn’t anyone get it? I wasn’t looking for attention or someone to take care of me. All I wanted was to crawl into a bed, be left alone to digest the shitty day I’d had and go to sleep. Why was this turning into such a fiasco? This day just kept getting longer. It felt as if the last twenty-four hours had magically stretched into forty-eight.
Knox’s eyes softened when they landed on mine. He shot me a look back that silently asked me for patience. “He’s right. The entire office should condense. After what happened with you, it’s for the best.” He looked at the occupants again and then his eyes came right back to me. “I’ve also received orders,” he added.
I knew it was Knox’s way of apologizing, and he didn’t need to tell me who issued them. Paddy. There was no way Knox would go against him, not in all eternity. The chips were piling up against me, and I was getting too tired to argue. A quiet corner was starting to outweigh who was there.
“How many people do you think you can fit at your place?” Knox questioned Fate. “The larger the group the better.”
“I’ll take whoever wants to come,” Fate said. “We’ll make it work.”
�
�I want to come! I love a good slumber party!” Luck said.
Murphy jumped on the bandwagon and I saw the Jinxes’ ears perk up as if they’d heard something of interest.
Would these people ever not seem weird? I didn’t think so.
I forced my legs to straighten underneath me and set off another dusting of ash. “Smoke and I are going to Luck’s tonight. That’s final. Tomorrow is soon enough for everyone to have to climb all over each other.”
Luck started rubbing a hand across her brow like someone would rub their cheek if you had a dirt spot on your face.
“What?” I asked, having a hard time thinking what could be seen on my face past all the dirt.
“Your eyes are glowing,” Fate offered.
Shit. I’d thought I’d gotten that under control. They were all looking at me like I was finally starting to crack.
“Now can I go to Luck’s in peace?”
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow,” Fate said. I think he was taking pity on me.
Luck stepped forward. “Come on, I’ve got an outfit you can borrow for now. Let’s go to the bathroom and clean you up a bit.”
I didn’t argue with that. I was leaving a trail of dirt as I walked away.
“Looks like we have a base,” I heard Knox say as we left.
Huh? Did that mean he was coming too?
Chapter Eleven
Everyone was treating me with kid gloves since fiasco one, the near gang rape, and fiasco two, the condo burning down that almost took my cat with it. Fate had picked me up from Luck’s house the next evening. But he’d backed off only to sic his boys on me. I’d seen both Cutty and Lars in Luck’s backyard throughout the evening.
Luck was planning on staying with him too so I wasn’t sure why I needed a personal escort. She’d promised to drive Smoke over with her since Fate had wanted to make a stop. I’d burnt out my arguing skills over the past day—something I never thought would happen—and I was slightly more agreeable while I waited for my words to replenish.
Fate pulled the car up behind a closed strip mall about halfway between Luck’s place and his house. Every store in the row had been boarded up in the past week. I knew because I’d slowly watched it happen. I passed by here every day on my way to the office and I’d kept count. The last store in this strip mall had closed as of a few days ago.
“What are we doing here?” I asked.
“You’re going to need clothes.” He got out of the car and waited until I followed. He pulled out a set of keys and opened the backdoor to a place called Sandy’s Boutique. I’d shopped here when I was human and made better money. I hadn’t stepped foot into the place since I’d begun my new job.
“You own this place?” Fate and a women’s boutique went together about as well as a wolf in a hen house.
“I own the building, not the store.” He held the rear entrance door open for me and flipped on the lights. “Pick out whatever you need. I’ll cover it with the owner.”
Who would cover it with him? I walked around the store, knowing I couldn’t afford anything here without even having to look at a tag. Wow, this was awkward. Maybe I should just get one outfit to hold me over.
No, this was ridiculous. I was going to pick up two items that would cost me my whole pay for a month? “I can’t afford this place. There’s a clothing store down the street that’s still open. I’ll go there tomorrow.”
“I told you not to worry about it.” He shrugged, as if he didn’t understand my problem. Dismissing the issue, he looked back down at his phone as he leaned against the counter.
“But I can’t not worry about it.”
“You can pay me back if it makes you feel better.” He was still looking down at his phone as if he didn’t understand the concept of worrying about money.
“On my pay, it’ll take me fifty years with the price of things in here.”
“You’ve got the time.” His voice faltered on the last word and I looked away.
I knew what he was thinking because I was as well. I might not have the time; not if the vision he’d seen of me being killed was accurate. Neither of us brought it up often but it wasn’t something easily forgotten, not when you were the walking dead.
I grabbed a shopping bag from the counter beside him, figuring debt was the least of my issues right now and tried to forget the reminder from a moment ago.
I walked around the store debating on which was more depressing, ceasing to exist or minimum wage for an eternity. My intention had been to grab the basic essentials but the reminder of my throat getting slit added an additional level of stress that drove my need for shopping therapy way past the point of subduing.
Twenty minutes later, Fate looked up from his phone to the bags and heaps of shoeboxes I was trying to juggle. He reached into his pocket to add another wad of cash to the pile he’d already left near the register. He scribbled a note and placed that and the cash in the drawer before we left.
We got to his place less than five minutes later and he helped me carry in all my new belongings. I’d thought he was being a gentleman when he’d grabbed them for me.
He walked past the kitchen and living room. Things didn’t go bad until, instead of taking the stairs to the bedrooms above, he headed straight towards the master suite—his suite—the lair of the… That was the scariest part about it. I didn’t even know what the hell he really was.
My body, which had been simply watching, finally sprang into action and chased him down as my bags disappeared inside with him.
He was placing them on the bed when I walked into the room.
“Why are you putting my things in here? I know you have guest rooms. I’ve seen them.”
“We need the space. You heard them back at the office. We’re going to have half the place staying here. No one can afford to have their own room. Going to have to double up at minimum.”
“Double. Up.” I said the words as if I’d never heard them before. How could I have not thought of this scenario? That’s right, I’d been worried about everything falling apart while he’d been worried about falling into bed.
He said it as if he had no control of the situation. No—worse—like he was as stuck as I was. Fate didn’t do anything he didn’t want.
It all made sense. It was why he didn’t mind the entire office cramming into his house.
“You did this to…” My words faltered. I couldn’t say he did it to win. Oh no, that might lead to an outright discussion about what he wanted to win. Next thing, we’d be talking about sex. Then what if it led to a discussion about why I wouldn’t? The warning bells were starting to chime. I needed to abort this conversation immediately. I could picture it now, me in a pile on the floor crying why don’t you love me? Because that was the only thing left that could make this week complete.
And it could happen. I never would’ve imagined I’d be that girl, the kind who would grovel and beg. Now it hung over me like a looming threat. If I veered too close to the edge, I’d fall over, broken, desperate and clinging to whatever flimsy root I could.
“I don’t need to double with you. I think it would be better if I doubled with another female. Luck is coming tonight.”
He shook his head. “She’s rooming with Mother.”
“What about—”
“The Jinxes are in with Knox.”
He hadn’t merely been texting or surfing the web on his phone while I’d been shopping; he’d been tightening the noose. I guess that was what I got for being lured in by pretty linen sundresses. Oh the shame of it! He’d used the lure of frilly things in my time of need to distract me. A row of pretty colors and strappy sandals and I’d been a lamb to the slaughter.
“You’ve got other rooms.”
Legs wide, hands in his pockets, he said, “Taken.” The low husky way he pronounced that word gave me an altogether different idea of what he meant.
I watched him walk past me and shut the door while I was still looking at my new things on his bed, like a piece of mea
t sitting in the center of metal claws ready to snap its teeth into me. What would I do? Would I go quietly or would I chew off my paw?
So stunned at how neatly his trap had been set, I didn’t realize he was still there until he was standing before me, smelling all sorts of good and looking all manners of broad and handsome. How was a girl supposed to fight against this caliber of ammunition?
“I like when Luck dresses you,” he said, as his hand lifted to run over the swell of my hip. Luck had lent me the dress this morning. Her washing machine had mysteriously not been working. I knew I should have put my smoky, stinky clothes back on.
“Thanks.” I wasn’t surprised he liked it. Luck’s wardrobe had one goal in mind, make as many men drool as possible. She was extremely good at it. She never gave it all away, just hinted enough here and there to keep their eyes glued to her, waiting to catch another glimpse, a little more cleavage when she bent over or a bit more thigh when her step went a little wider at just the right moment. She was like a sex appeal ninja and she’d armed me with one of her secret weapons.
“I’m sorry about this,” he said, not demonstrating an ounce of remorse. His fingers tested the span of my waist where the dress showed it off to its best, before returning down to the swell of my hip again, fingers splaying
“Sorry about sharing the room?” I needed to break off contact because I was going down hard and soon. Maybe I wanted to. No, I knew I wanted to, and I couldn’t remember why I was fighting it. Maybe the ride was worth the crash.
“No. Not that.” His right arm wrapped around my waist as his left hand bunched in my hair, angling my head back, the better to access it. I was too shocked to think or doing anything before his lips were on mine. The only thing that came to mind briefly was what had happened to covert tactics, subtle attacks that came from the side and nipped away slowly at my reserve? This was nothing like the kisses he’d been stealing over the last few weeks. This was a full siege.
Fated: Karma Series, Book Three Page 9
