Skeleton King (The Dirty Heroes Collection Book 9)

by Charity B.

  “I would need to talk to my wife before I can give you an answer.”

  He nods in desperation. “Oh, of course. I understand that.” He and Christy look at each other, and I wonder if he ever gazed at me with that much adoration. “What if she just stayed the night tonight? Then maybe next week, we do a weekend? We can work our way up so it’s not such a big shock for any of us.”

  Lacing my fingers, I turn to Christy. “Is this what you want?”

  She blinks back tears as she nods. “I don’t want to make my dad worse because he’s taking care of me. And I don’t want to go to an orphanage, so yes, please. I would like you to adopt me.”

  Jesus, this is heavy. It takes more effort than normal to exhale a deep breath. “Okay then, we can try tonight.” Looking at my watch tells me I’ve been here way too long for Sarah to not have noticed that I left. I glance over to my father. “Hallows Grove has strict rules about visitors. You won’t be given access past the gates. Are you comfortable with that?”

  His smile reads something akin to pride. “As long as you’d be willing to bring her by my house on occasion?”

  I sigh with my nod. “Of course.”

  He reaches across the table, placing a hand on my arm. “I don’t deserve this kindness, but for Christy’s sake, I am eternally grateful.”

  He pays the bill, and as we walk out to the parking lot, we make plans to meet here tomorrow afternoon so I can bring her back. Opening the cab door of his truck, he pulls out a pink Barbie suitcase.

  It’s awkward to stand here watching her cry while they say their goodbyes. He assures her he’ll see her tomorrow, and after thanking me one last time, he climbs in his truck.

  Christy rocks back on the heels of her white tennis shoes. “Can I ride in the front seat?”

  I smirk at her. “Sure, kid.”

  She hands me her suitcase, and I put it in the trunk as she asks, “What’s the shovel for?”

  “Digging. Now come on, let’s go.”

  What the hell am I doing? How is this supposed to work? I can’t hide my business from her, and I can’t have her talking about anything she might see. Not to mention, Mayor Greer is going to freak out. We literally just passed the law about Mundane minors three months ago. However, there won’t be anyone looking for her, and if Sarah and I adopt her, she’ll legally be our child and therefore a Hallows Grove resident.

  We get into the car where she immediately begins changing the radio stations. “How old are you anyway? When my dad said you were my brother, I thought you’d be…” she trails off, and I’m surprised at myself when I laugh at her trying to not offend me.

  “Younger?” she smiles sheepishly. “I’m twenty-eight, which believe it or not, isn’t that old.” I tease her. “So, how old are you?”

  “Eight and three quarters.”

  I’m surprised at how easy she is to be around. I thought this would be incredibly uncomfortable, yet before I know it, we’re pulling up to the south gates. Even though I feel that I should warn her about the type of town this is, I honestly don’t even know where to start, so I stay silent.

  Holding my finger on the intercom button, I call for Harley. “Hey, it’s John. Will you send for Mayor Greer? I need to speak with him.”

  “Never left, I’m coming out.” Greer’s voice crackles through the speaker.

  Once he walks out of the gate technician building, I climb out of my car, telling Christy, “Stay here.”

  “What was all that about?” Greer barks as he approaches me.

  I drop my shoulders with a sigh, there’s no easy way to say this. “That was my father. He’s sick and needs me to take care of my sister…permanently.”

  With flaring nostrils, he looks over my shoulder. “You would have legal custody of her?” I’m surprised at how well he’s taking this.

  “Yes,” I quickly answer, “if that’s what Sarah and I decide to do.”

  “Sometimes, I think you’re more trouble than you’re worth.” He’s only halfway serious…I think. “Until she’s officially a resident, just be careful what you let her see. And as soon as you and Sarah make your decision, bring the child to me.”

  “Of course, Mayor.”

  I’m grateful that went so much smoother than expected, and I can only hope for the same with Sarah. I get back in the car, smiling at Christy. “Are you ready?” Nodding, she looks out her window as we drive through the gates. “Welcome to Hallows Grove.”

  “Do you think your wife will like me?”

  “Sarah’s the kindest person you’ll ever meet. You really don’t need to worry about her.”

  Just as I pull into my driveway, Sarah walks around from the backyard with her hands on her hips, looking adorably frustrated. I step out of the car, hearing the sounds of the party going on out back.

  “Where did you go?” she asks, just before her eyes land on Christy climbing out of the Buick.

  “It’s quite the story,” I say with a dry laugh. That’s putting it mildly. Dropping my voice, I tell her, “We’re going to need to have a discussion later.” Suddenly, a small hand wraps around mine, and I look down to see Christy’s fingers clutching tightly.

  Sarah’s mouth is gaping while her eyebrows scrunch in uncertainty. Bending over to touch her knees, she greets Christy softly, “Hello. My name is Sarah, what’s yours?”

  Christy’s eyes scan over Sarah’s scars, and I’m wondering if I should have prepared her for them. “Christy Skelver.” Sarah’s eyes widen as they lift up to me. “I’m Johnathan’s half-sister.”

  Snapping up to standing, Sarah frowns. I still struggle to know how to handle her emotions sometimes. “Johnathan never told me he had a sister.”

  My eyebrows shoot up at her attitude and the way she says my full name. She’s never once called me that. I can only assume the hurt in her expression is from her thinking I’ve kept things from her.

  “Johnathan,” I mimic her tone, “didn’t know.” Her head tilts in confusion, so I’m about to elaborate when Christy beats me to it.

  “Our dad is sick, and there’s nobody else to take care of me.”

  I was kind of hoping to bring up the subject a bit more gently. All emotion is wiped from Sarah’s face until a small smile begins to peek out. “Oh…I see.”

  Pointing behind the house, I tell Christy, “There are some kids in the backyard, why don’t you go play with them? I’ll bring your suitcase inside.”

  The very second she’s out of earshot, Sarah wraps her arms around my waist. “Is she really staying with us?”

  Her question comes out like a plead. I want to say yes, but we need to think this through first. Neither of us has any idea how to take care of a kid. “We’ll see how things go.”

  “What will happen to her if we don’t keep her?”

  I drop my head with a sigh. I would much rather have this conversation when half the town isn’t in my backyard. “She’ll be put with other children that don’t have anyone to look after them.”

  “Foster care?” She shakes her head. “John, everything I’ve heard about that sounds horrible.”

  Kissing her head, I squeeze her against my chest. “We have some time to decide. I just got you, I’m not sure if I’m ready to have our time alone together cut so short.”

  She nods, but I’m pretty sure in her mind, the choice has already been made.

  April 3rd ~ Evening

  I lean against the doorframe, watching Sarah run her fingers through Christy’s hair while she reads her a book. I’m grateful that Christy’s asleep because the story is about a man who loses his mind and tries to kill his entire family. Nothing is curled up in a ball at their feet, snoring loudly.

  Today went really well, and aside from a couple of issues with the Sanity Eaters being assholes, to which Sarah didn’t hesitate intervening and reminding them they were guests at her home, Christy seemed to have a lot of fun. She was pretty much attached to Sarah’s hip all evening, and Sarah definately didn’t appear to mind the
attention.

  Grabbing a large trash bag, I go out back to try to pick up some the mess from the party. After pouring out the leftover contents in several abandoned plastic cups, I clean off one of the picnic tables.

  “We have to keep her.” Sarah’s voice says softly. “She’s supposed to be with us. I just know it.”

  Sitting at the table, I hold my arms out to her, to which she responds by immediately sitting on my lap. As much as I still think we should take time to really put thought into this, I also know I’ll never be able to live with myself if I turn the child away.

  Sarah leans her head back against my shoulders and says in a dreamy way, “She has your nose... and dimples.”

  There’s no logical reason why that should warm my chest as much as it does. The truth is, as confused as I am over my feelings about Christy, I know I want her to stay too. “You’re completely sure about this, aren’t you?”

  Climbing off my lap, she lowers to her knees, slowly unzipping my pants. “One hundred percent.”

  Fuck, with people over here all day, we haven’t been able to have sex since this morning, and we haven’t gone that long since I was shot. I’m more than ready for her hot mouth, thrusting as soon as her lips wrap around me. My fingers grip her head as I push her down farther. As good as her mouth feels, it doesn’t compare to her pussy.

  Sliding out of her mouth, I help her to her feet before bending her over the picnic table. I hold her dress scrunched at her waist, using my free hand to yank down her panties. My fingers probe between her legs, and just as she is every time, she’s soaking wet. While I slip in easily, the walls of her cunt squeeze me so tight, I groan. My God. I’m never going get used to how fucking amazing this feels. I thrust hard into her a few times, somehow getting harder at the sound of her mewling.

  Gripping tight onto her hips, I continue moving myself in and out of her body. “When do you want to tell her?”

  She pushes her hips back, rocking hard onto my body. “Let’s surprise her.” She moans. “We can…set up her…room first.” Her words come out in sexy as fuck pants.

  “Ewe! Are you guys doin’ it?”

  I’ve never moved so damn fast in my entire life. Sarah and I lurch away from each other as I try to shove my rock-hard cock back into my jeans. “Jesus Christ!”

  “W-we, um, uh…” Sarah stutters.

  I finally get halfway decent, aside from my still very prominent erection, and turn to face Christy. She’s holding a blonde doll in a rainbow dress, wearing her long pink nightgown. “Are you really going to adopt me?”

  Her eyes are wide with hope, and I can’t help but grin. Sarah takes my hand, leading us to kneel in front of Christy. “We want nothing more.” Sarah’s voice reveals that she’s on the verge of tears.

  Christy lunges forward, wrapping her arms around both of us. “Thank you, thank you!”

  Of course I’m terrified, but I was terrified with Sarah too. I have a wife I never thought I would have, and now a family I’d never even considered possible.

  Maybe what Sarah says is true. Everything happens the way it’s meant to.

  Make Me Real - Sneak Peek

  In the City of Lights, I'm a shadow. I have no substance. I'm the whisper behind you that you think you heard. I'm the one that swallows your light like a black hole. You think you see me, but like my pop says, I'm just a puppet. A blip. Air. A thought gone by.

  I'll never be real.

  But after twenty-four years of silently watching life in this city pass me by, I hunger for the one thing that beckons me like a lighthouse on a torrential sea: Blue. The girl with glitter eyes, a body spun of sin, and the only soul to make me feel. She terrifies me as much as tempts me... because I know she sees who I could be.

  The urge to keep her for my own is strong.

  So is the urge to destroy her.

  Chapter 1

  The Stage

  “Welcome to the City of Lights, welcome!” sang the recorded voice through the speakers somewhere above me.

  A group of harlequin clowns with black and gold balloons tied around their ruffled, satin cuffs repeated the mantra as I walked past them through the streets, sticking to the shadows that I was born to.

  If I were the kind of man that smiled, there’d be one on my face right now. Instead, I simply inhaled the scent of fried treats, spun sugar, and popcorn, soothed by the sounds of merriment around me.

  Home.

  The City of Lights was finally awake as the night rose. People called it a magical place, a place where anything and everything under the moon could happen. A carnival that never moved on, a party that started, again and again, each night, one that everyone was invited to.

  But there was a price. If you stayed too long, the magic of the city swallowed you whole, turning you into its victim like a prisoner on an acid trip. The surreal would become your reality, and the mundane the enemy, and you’d be nothing but a gaping maw of constant hunger, always craving that first high and never satisfied.

  That was unless you were born and raised here. There weren’t many of us, but there were enough to not be taken in by the City’s lure. And it was a good thing, too, otherwise, there’d be no one manning the ship, and a big ship the City of Lights was.

  Bars, cabarets, opera houses, restaurants, shows, events, and salons. The Corral, the Crystal Garden, the Ethereal Imperial Circus, The Rabbit Hole. The Carnivale. All the infamous attractions for the adult senses.

  Every night, like a living thing, the electric lights would display the full gamut of sin, luring and feeding the many visitors.

  But it was the dark places that the lights cast shadows on that held me here and made me feel at home. The quiet corners, the shady alcoves. The breakrooms where the workers with sweaty brows took a beat or two to rest from their customers. The walk home on Esplanade Lane as the sun began to awaken in a marbled sky in a last hurrah to the end of a long night, where the last bit of the City’s employees headed to their beds, always accompanied by a lonesome pair of lovers walking hand in hand, whispering and laughing softly to themselves in wine-colored voices.

  It was my city, glamorous and grotesque is all its glory.

  But tonight, something was different. Something inside me felt unsettled, as if something were waking up inside me, restless, wanting.

  But the feeling was subtle enough that I barely registered it as I kept to the wall, my target in sight.

  About ten yards ahead, the man crossed the cobblestone lane. His hands were in his pockets, his dark long coat touching the ground, and every few paces, puffs of steam would bellow out from the grates below his boots as he meandered his way through the Night District.

  Pepper Stone was his name. A high-stakes player Johnny-Come-Lately.

  Pepper had been on Pop’s radar for weeks now, ever since wiping the Wolf boys clean of ten grand. Whether or not he’d cheated wasn’t the point. He was new. Flashy. Arrogant. And more importantly, he didn’t stay to play.

  When I rounded the corner, I checked to my left and right, preparing to cross. A troupe of jugglers and jesters passed by, their laughter singing in my ears. Up ahead, Pepper stood, body turned toward a hidden door in the wall.

  I waited patiently as two dancers cartwheeled past me, one turning in my direction to wink. I crossed the lane, just as my target went inside.

  I jogged the last few yards to the secret door that practically blended in with the stone façade. Hidden in the third knot of rock above a thin seam of door frame was the buzzer. I pressed the button and checked my pocket watch. I had thirty minutes before I needed to get back to the shop.

  In seconds, a small partition slid open and a pair of dark eyes met mine.

  “Jasmine,” I replied, my voice gruff from disuse. The partition shut once more and the door opened, admitting me in.

  Mesmer was an old establishment, and its clientele came from all walks of life. Each night, the password changed. Secrets and forbidden desires held court. Big money and loose mor
als, small minds and hungry eyes.

  I felt the stain of sin blanket me as I passed the threshold and entered the main salon.

  Crooning music with a heavy, slow bass played from the stage. The club had a crowd of thirty or so people tonight. I scanned the smoky, dim room. Pepper was seated at the bar.

  “What can I get you, sexy?” a lush feminine voice said on my left.

  When I felt her touch on my bicep, I turned to look at her and shrugged her off with a shake. Her face was painted white, framed by cotton candy pink hair that really did look like spun sugar. She wore a blue sequined outfit that barely covered her goods, and her thin lips were stained raspberry.

  I ignored her and made my way to the back. About ten or twelve customers sat at the long glossy bar, most facing the stage to the right. There were two stools unoccupied next to Pepper. I chose the closest one.

  The bartender put a napkin in front of me. He had to have been over seven feet tall. Rail thin with muddy green eyes that narrowed on me in a flash of recognition. I knew what he saw; broad shoulders underneath a dark gray hooded-sweatshirt, hood-up, menacing energy. He didn’t know me personally, but my instincts told me he knew of me.

  He cleared his throat and tossed the frown, replacing it with resolve. “What can I get you, sir?”

  “Water.”

  The man next to me, my target, overheard and laughed as the bartender walked away to get my order. “Water? Boy, you’re missing out. Life’s too short for temperance.”

  I didn’t need to turn and face him. I could see him clearly in the mirror in front of me, but he wasn’t glancing my way. Instead, he faced the stage

  My water came, but I didn’t touch it. I waited a bit. The music ended and started up a new tune, coinciding perfectly with the lights around us that changed to a cerulean blue. When Pepper’s glass slowly touched down on my right, I reached back, straightening my leg so that I could get into my back pocket. I turned my head to the stage and froze.