by C. P. Rider
Her hand trembled as she reached for the radio knob and turned off the music. "That was Cynthia. Cynthia Amador." She cleared her throat. "My ex."
"Oh. That Cynthia."
"Yeah."
The one sure thing I knew about Chandra's ex-girlfriend was that bringing up her name was a good way to get the living shit choked out of me. I also knew that losing Cynthia had taken Chandra to a very low place, and left her there for a long time.
"I didn't realize she lived in La Paloma."
"Me neither. I figured she'd head back to Tucson after she walked out." Chandra pulled the car into the parking lot. "Guess this is her way of torturing me."
"Maybe she did leave. And maybe she returned for some reason." I shook my cup again, enjoying the way my bracelet tinkled. I loved my bracelet. Not only because the jewelry was pretty, but also because it felt as if I was carrying a little piece of Lucas with me. I didn't want to look too deeply into why that meant so much.
Chandra's shoulders slumped as she cut off the engine. "At the risk of insulting you—"
"No, I didn't read her." I set the cup of ice in the door pocket and my food bag on the dashboard. I'd salvaged the other half of my quesadilla, and putting it on the dash meant it would still be warm when I got out of the store.
"Well, if she's here for me, she might as well turn around and go home. I don't need her screwing with my head. We're done."
I thought of Julio and nodded. "I know exactly what you mean."
"Yeah, I guess if anyone does, you do." One side of Chandra's mouth lifted into a shaky grin.
More than anything else, that unsteady little smile on my friend's face made me hate Cynthia a little, and I didn't even know the woman.
"Come on, let's get your stuff." She took the keys from the ignition and handed them to me.
"This should be quick." I took a moment to be grateful for the birthday money my dad had deposited. I'd already earmarked most of it for necessities.
Chandra held out a black credit card with Lucas's name on it. "Alpha said to charge whatever you want."
"Nope." I pushed it back at her with my palm. "I'll just stick to a budget."
She tucked the card into her pocket. "I told him you were going to say that."
"Sometimes I think you know me better than he does." I slid open the passenger door and got out.
"Not even close, from what I heard the other night." She came around to the front of the truck and raised her eyebrows at me. "Literally. You're loud in bed."
"I'm expressive." I said this with a flourish of my hand. "And next time, close your ears. I didn't know you were sleeping over that night or I would have been quieter."
"I was traumatized." She shivered and we both laughed.
Hers sounded sad.
As we hustled to the closest set of entry doors, walking briskly over sunbaked asphalt, I edged up next to Chandra and put my arm around her shoulders. I gave her a quick squeeze and let go, in case she didn't want to be hugged and popped me in the mouth for touching her uninvited.
She didn't smack me. Instead, she nodded a bit too fast, nervously adjusted her sunglasses, and smiled a little more, which I took to mean she didn't mind the hug.
There was so much more to Chandra than most people ever saw. She had a huge heart and an incredible capacity for love and loyalty. In a short time, she had become one of my best friends. And if Cynthia thought she was going to pop in and make life difficult for her, well, she'd better think twice.
We made it back to the bakery at half past three in the afternoon, stuffed with good food, and laden with stuff. I'd even picked up a couple new dresses and a pair of oversized sunglasses. Chandra bought a black cotton T-shirt, a blowtorch, and some protein bars. Gotta love DiscMart: one-stop shopping.
"I'm putting in a security system," Chandra announced after she helped me unload the groceries and baking supplies from the truck. "This bakery is a nexus of criminal activity. It has officially overtaken the Dusty Cactus Saloon as the most violent location in town, and the saloon hosts a paranormal biker convention once a year."
"I can't afford security."
"I said, I'm putting it in." She stared at the splashes of dried blood on the kitchen wall near the café door while I put everything away. She offered to help me with that, too, but I preferred to do it myself. That way I knew where things were.
"You're putting the security system in?" I called out from inside the cooling unit where I was stacking boxes of butter. "Not Lucas?"
"Happy birthday," she said. "And yeah, it's from me. Alpha already got you that bracelet you keep staring at. He made me drive up to La Jolla with him to pick it up. That store…" She shivered. "So much sparkle."
Sparkle sounded good to me. "Was the tiny padlock your idea?" I held up my hand and tapped the charm.
"Nope. That was all him. He did mention to the salesperson that the ball reminded him of the sun or something like that."
He'd been telling the truth about the sun. That made me feel all warm inside. "That's so cute."
"Yuck. Don't start."
"I can't help it. He's sweet." I swung the bracelet around my wrist. "I'm almost positive the padlock has a tracking device inside of it."
Chandra gave me a questioning look.
"Oh, the whole lock thing is what makes me think that. It would be just like him to put the tracker inside a padlock, wouldn't it? He's locked onto my location? He's got me locked to him? The wordplay possibilities are endless."
Her forehead wrinkled as she regarded me. "That doesn't bother you?"
"A few weeks ago, it would have. Not now. Maybe he sleeps more soundly knowing I'm wearing it. Maybe he lets you sleep. I'm not keeping secrets from him. I don't care if he knows where I go."
"Magnanimous of you."
"He worries about the alphas who keep showing up on my doorstep, and if this sets his mind at ease, it's okay with me. Anyway, if I don't like it, it's as simple as taking off the bracelet, right?"
"Sure." She strolled to the plywood door, examined the padlock and hasp Earp had installed to help keep me secure. He'd even put hinges on it so I could open and close it. "You need a new back door."
"I ordered one. It should be here in a week or so."
"Something steel. A deadbolt would be good, too."
"If a shifter wants in, he or she doesn't need to use the door, they can just bust in or shoot me through the windows."
"Not after I put bulletproof glass in them."
"Chandra…"
"What? It's either that or one of us has to camp outside your place until the alpha attacks stop. I have a crick in my neck from sitting in my Jeep all night."
"I knew it. Lucas still has you guarding me."
"Don't get all worked up about it. Alpha stopped when you asked him to. That's how your ex-fiancé got into the bakery, remember? Smooth move, Neels."
"Oh god, don't." My stomach contracted. I can't believe I used to think Julio calling me that was cute. "Next time Lucas puts you on guard duty come inside and spend the night on my sofa upstairs. At least you'll be comfortable. Tell Amir, too."
"All right."
"I do have some security." I went to the sink and got out the heavy-duty disinfectant spray and a stack of torn, old rags, since I'd be tossing them out. "King put up a camera."
Chandra nodded approvingly. "I know. I'm heading across the street next to check out the angle, see what it doesn't cover. Alpha asked me to look at some surveillance options."
While I might get annoyed at Lucas for being overprotective, I wasn't a total fool. If he wanted to keep an eye on my place in case an alpha got the drop on me—like last night—I wasn't going to fight him on it.
"Do you know if Julio is still in town?"
"He's staying at a dive motel in La Paloma. Driving back and forth in a rental Honda SUV. Blue. I've got the plate number if you need it."
"Uh, no. Blue Honda is good enough. Is he really a lone alpha?"
"Looks that
way."
I squirted the cleanser on the wall and floor. There wasn't only blood; there were other things stuck to the wall. Nasty.
"It doesn't fit. Julio was always a go-along-with-the-group sort of guy. He's not assertive at all."
"People change. I've been looking into him since he first got to town a week ago." She held up her hand when I opened my mouth. "I know you’re mad about that, but Alpha was trying to give you time to heal from everything."
"He's not my emotional filter. I am a grown woman and I can handle my own life." I thought that over. "Most of the time."
"And the rest of the time you run to the witches and wine yourself into oblivion."
"Margarita myself into oblivion, thank you very much. And that's my prerogative."
I stared at the pink foamy liquid sliding down the wall to pool on the floor. "What a mess."
"It's temporary," Chandra said. "It'll get better."
"Yes. But as history has taught me, not before it gets worse."
Chapter Ten
There was a knock on my makeshift back door around 7 p.m.
I'd finished scrubbing the kitchen an hour earlier. Afterward, I made up a batch of bread dough and stuck it in the refrigerator for a slow rise, then took a shower and changed into a white prairie girl nightgown and hot pink fuzzy socks. I was currently pondering what to have for dinner now that I had groceries. Soup, probably, considering how much I'd eaten for lunch.
Zipping downstairs, I answered the knock, thinking it was Lucas.
It was Julio. He was holding a pizza box I recognized as being from a restaurant in La Paloma, a six-pack of soda, and a grocery bag. Not exactly who I wanted to see, but better than another alpha kidnapper.
"Hey," he said. "Cute pajamas."
"Hey," I replied. "Thanks." I flashed back on a memory of us greeting each other at the bakery in Las Vegas every morning for weeks until he worked up the courage to ask me out. It had all seemed so simple back then.
"I remembered you never had food in your fridge unless José gave you leftovers. Thought you might be hungry."
A quick sweep over his brain told me he was telling the truth, so I let him in.
"Whoa." He handed me the soda and touched his head. "Did you just read me?"
"Yes."
I snagged the six-pack, broke two cans off the plastic loops, and put the rest in the bakery fridge. He wasn't going up to my apartment. It felt far too intimate to have him in my personal space, which was a weird thing for me to feel considering this was the man I'd once intended to spend the rest of my life with.
"You do that pretty freely now? Read people?" Julio handed me the rest of the groceries and I put them away. The basics: bread, milk, peanut butter, honey, and five chocolate bars. I didn't tell him I'd already bought groceries. It seemed ungrateful. Besides, I hadn't bought chocolate. An oversight on my part.
"Right now, yes. I don't have the luxury of being polite."
He opened his can of soda, took a drink. "I get that you feel you have to read other people, but why me? You have nothing to fear from me."
"Do you really want a response to that?" I grabbed my soda and the pizza, and motioned Julio to follow me into the café. We sat at a table near the window his brother had shot out a few months ago, and dug in.
"I'm sorry, Neels."
"Neely. Please." I bit into the mushroom, bell pepper, and olive-topped pizza. My favorite. "This is good. I haven't had pizza in ages. We don't get delivery out this way and neither of the two restaurants here serve it."
Julio folded his piece of pizza in half lengthwise and took a huge bite. Chewed. Swallowed. "Why do you stay in Sundance?"
"I like it here."
He indicated the bakery with a sweep of his hand. "You're planning to run this place on your own?"
"Pretty much. I have a friend who used to help out periodically, but he's working now."
He took another bite of his slice, chewed thoughtfully. "Would you say that, in general, the people here are your friends?"
"Some. Some are afraid of me now that they know I'm a spiker. They think I'm going to spike them dead for cutting me off in traffic. Why they don't feel that way about other paranormals who are just as deadly as I am, I'll never understand."
"There aren't any paranormals as deadly as you are." Julio stared straight into my eyes, holding my gaze. I'd forgotten how green his eyes became when he was wholly focused on someone. "You have to know that."
"I'm not impervious to bullets, and I don't have claws or giant teeth. I'm not super-fast, nor can I heal quickly. There are other paranormals who are just as deadly as I am, if not more."
"Not really." He drank the rest of his soda and pointed at me with the empty can. "Maybe a witch would be as dangerous as you are. Definitely a warlock. Demon. But other than that, you've got a clear playing field."
I disagreed, but didn't see any point in pursuing the subject. I finished my slice of pizza and sat back in my chair. "What are you doing here, Julio?"
"Having dinner with you."
I sighed. "Julio…"
"We left things undone. We left each other undone." He reached across the table and took my hand. "I'm here because I think we need to talk. I'm here because I want to make amends. I'm here because … I love you."
"You don't. I'm not sure you ever did, not really."
"Come on, Neels. You know I've loved you since I met you. And you loved me the same way. You told me that, remember?"
I felt, rather than saw, Lucas walk into the café. This was partly because my back was to him, and partly because he was seething with anger and projecting it into the bakery. I may not be able to read him, but I could still feel his rage the way anyone else would.
Julio's head snapped up. He sniffed the air and began to growl. I freed my hand from his and grabbed another slice of pizza.
"Having a pajama party?" Lucas leaned against the doorway separating the café from the kitchen. "Smells like pizza in here."
"Lucas, you remember Julio. Julio, you remember Alpha Blacke." I felt silly reintroducing them since I knew exactly how they felt about each other, but I was hoping they might behave better if we got off to a more formal start.
Julio slowly rose. "Blacke."
"Roso." Never had so much fury been infused into such a tiny word.
They were not going to behave.
"Neely says she plans to stay here in Sundance." The way Julio said this made me think he was leading up to something. It wasn't an idle comment.
"Yes."
When Lucas was sarcastic, he was uncomfortable or pissed off. When he was monosyllabic, he was in that white space behind pure fury. I whirled around in my chair and held out my hand to him. The one wearing his bracelet. "Come join us for pizza."
Slowly, casually, he strolled up to me and threaded his fingers through mine. "Is it that gross pizza you like with no meat?"
"Yes. And it's not gross."
"The thing is—" Julio continued as if we hadn't spoken. "—she also said this town hates her."
"I said the town is afraid of me." I bit into my pizza.
"Some might be afraid. But the town doesn't hate you." Lucas sat in the chair behind mine and twisted a lock of my hair around his finger. "These are shifters. They can be slower to accept new people, but they will."
Julio scowled at Lucas's hand on my hair. "You think so, Alpha Blacke?"
I narrowed my eyes at him. "What are you getting at?"
"I don't understand why you'd want to stay here when you could leave, start over in a new place where no one knows what you are. You could go back to just being yourself." He picked up his empty can and crumpled it in his fist. "And I don't understand why a man who cares for you would want to keep you in a place where you are clearly in danger."
Lucas let the curl he was playing with spin out of his hand. "I don't want her in a place where she's in danger. I want her in my bed every night where I can keep her safe."
Julio launched
the crushed can across the room into the trash.
I held up my half-eaten piece of pizza. "Can we drop the posturing and eat? I swear, you shifters run on pure testosterone. All of you—men, women, non-binary, you all seem to be happiest when you're behaving like charging bulls fighting over a red towel."
"Red towel? Is that some sort of weird symbolism?" Lucas asked.
"Maybe." I scrunched my nose at him. "It was the best I could do on short notice. I really just want to eat without listening to you two go at it."
Lucas leaned over me and swiped a piece of pizza from the box. "Chandra said you refused to use my card when you went shopping today."
"I will not treat you like my own personal bank. If I'm going to stay in Sundance, I have to make the bakery work on my own. I can't rely on you."
"Yes, you can."
"Lucas…"
Julio flopped back down in his chair. "You'd be better off leaving town and you know it."
"And what? Run away with you?" Lucas ate as he spoke. He tried to appear blasé, but I could see the anger etched into his expression.
Since I couldn't read him for whatever reason, I read Julio instead.
…Damn this alpha… Up to something… She's too nice for her own good… Get her away from here… Hope she can forgive me someday… Hates me…
"You're reading me again. I can feel you in there." He looked less than thrilled about it.
I didn't apologize. Chandra said I apologized too much and besides, I wasn't sorry. "Julio, I don't hate you. And you don't have to worry about me. I'm okay here. I have good friends who have become family." I set my pizza crust on my napkin, dusted my hands over it. "Going somewhere where no one knows what I am doesn't appeal to me. Even with the understanding that I won't be accepted by everyone, I like that the people here know I'm a spiker. I don't have to hide."
"Maybe you should be hiding. How many alphas have to send attack teams for you to realize how serious this is?"
Lucas polished off his pizza and stood, pulling me out of my chair with him. "Roso makes a good point. You should move in with me until we get things sorted out."
"She'd be better off leaving town." Julio's eyes glowed orange.
