Chapter 30

Loki.

Asire wasn’t in the room when I came out. Not surprising. I wouldn’t put it past Reggie to barge in here and drag her out. I finished getting ready and headed downstairs. Most of the Orphans were gone, leaving Asire, Reggie, Henrik and Lixa. One of whom always had to be upstairs babysitting. Lixa and another with the children.

When I got down there, Asire had been relegated to the children. She stood in the living room with all the tykes and explaining to them how to play a board game. When they seemed to get it she put the teenager in charge and said, “If you're not with them every time I come to check, you’re gonna find out why I’m an Orphan. Got it?”

He nodded, not looking a bit worried. He also wasn’t playing the board game with the six littlest kids. Two of the others were also supervising. As far as I could tell, supervising meant telling the others they were doing everything wrong. I predicted battle would break out within the next hour.

Asire extracted herself from all the grubby hands and noticed me for the first time. She offered a smile and then made her escape for the kitchen before the children realized she was walking away. I’d only been here a few days, but I’d noticed the children had a tendency to glom onto her.

Everyone but Henrik and Lixa were in the kitchen. Including my Family. I think they were hiding from the children. In small groups, I imagine children are fine, but when you have ten of them it seems like an army. One that you are ill prepared to battle and can’t use any of your best skills on.

I’d have set them loose on a board game as well. It was safer than trying to deal with them.

Asire grabbed a mug and poured some coffee into it. She added some creamer, but no sugar. She sat down at the kitchen table, between Billy and Regory. I got my own coffee, black, and leaned against the counter.

“We’re having a meeting tonight,” Reggie said. “To discuss our next course of action. I called Basil earlier and he didn’t pick up. I also called Debienne. Nothing. So, they’re up to something and I don’t know what.” Her voice darkened with the last statement. It was fine to be up to something as long as she was in on it.

“All of them?” Asire asked, distaste in her voice.

Reggie sighed. “Unfortunately.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Billy asked. “Shouldn’t everyone who’s helping be there?”

“In a Family, sure,” Reggie said. “Technically, we are not a Family. We are but a group of people that all the Families decided weren’t good enough to let in. That makes people bitter and sometimes bitter people lash out.”

My Family fell silent. Reggie was typing on her phone, so she didn’t notice the silence, but Asire did. She offered an apologetic smile, but it didn’t help. We were one of those Families that ‘decided she wasn’t good enough’. Of course, that’s not what happened, but Reggie’s words created guilt.

“When’s the last time any of you ate?” I asked, to change the subject.

“I don’t know. Yesterday and a million years ago,” Asire said. Yeah… a lot happened in the last twenty-four hours.

I got up and went to Asire’s fridge. It wasn’t very full, but it had eggs, bacon and sausage, so that was good enough. At my house, I was the one to cook dinner. We were usually working during lunch and I had to leave before Monday and Wynn typically were awake.

Reggie groaned when I was halfway through making the eggs. She dragged herself over to the table and sat down. “The contractor won’t start until the beginning of next month. So I have to find a new one.” She glared at the opposite wall, like that was what caused the offense.

“I can do some of it,” Asire said.

Reggie made a noncommittal sound.

“You can’t be out of business for a month,” Asire told her. “Not to mention, if you’re living here for a month, one of us won’t survive.”

Reggie smiled. “Aw. I could never kill you. I’d get lonely.”

Asire rolled her eyes. “You wish.”

“I’ll see if I can’t find a new contractor,” Reggie said. “Then I’ll let you know. First, we have to take care of this mess.”

She waved her hand, but she wasn’t talking about the kitchen. A mess it was, indeed.

I finished making all the food and put everything on the table. Asire got up and grabbed something from the fridge before sitting back down. While everyone else started eating, she was ripping her bacon into small pieces and cutting up the sausage. She took the shredded cheese she had retrieved from the fridge and sprinkled it over her hot food and then started mixing it all together.

She glanced up, as if sensing my attention. For a brief second, our eyes met before we both looked away.

Dovie was watching me. Her face was a bit too bland. She didn’t make a big deal out of anything, just took another bite from her food. Acting like nothing happened. I trusted that about as much as I would trust Monday to handle a job on her own. Not one bit.

Halfway through breakfast, Henrik walked in. His arms were laden down with groceries. He smelled of a fast food joint, so he had already eaten. He didn’t say anything as he started putting the groceries away. Asire would occasionally tell him he got something wrong. Through the whole thing, he didn’t say a word, but he wasn’t coming across aggressive.

Asire and Reggie started in on the dishes after breakfast. Or, more accurately, Asire started the dishes and Reggie stood next to her, making jokes. Several people offered to help, but she said she had it.

We convened in the television room. Someone had put the remote on the highest shelve and there was a note on the TV that said, “If you’re under sixteen and touch this, you’ll never get candy again.”

“I expected the city to be more…” Sunbeam paused before continuing. “Well, it’s not safe. But…the Orphans… I expected them to be more…” she trailed off again, crossing her arms over her chest and looking frustrated.

“Dangerous?” Billy asked. She had taken some energy from the wolves the night before, so her eyes were almost ice blue. Currently, they were also narrowed in warning. Sunbeam better not forget that one of those Orphans is Billy’s beloved cousin. Who was here because of us.

“Maybe,” Sunbeam said. “At least unstable. Most of them don’t seem so bad. I don’t get why they were Orphaned, most of them. There are one or two that I don’t like being in the same house as.”

Shade grunted his agreement. He was leaning against the wall behind the chair Sunbeam had occupied.

“You don’t have to be guilty to be Orphaned,” Regory said. His arms were tightly crossed.

I knew guilt was eating at him. He hadn’t dropped Asire off at the city, he hadn’t signed the papers to put her here, but he’d left her to save his mate. To him, that was almost as bad.

“She knows that,” Dovie said, coming to Sunbeam’s rescue. “I think what Beamer means is that the legions seem like the most civil of the races right now.”

Wynn gave her a sardonic look. “They drugged us and hit Loki and Henrik over the head. That’s not very civil.”

“They also haven’t attacked anyone in the street, unprovoked,” I said.

“Maybe,” Asire said from the doorway. “It’s not wise to talk about a group of people in their own house?” She was leaning against the jam with her arms crossed over her chest and an amused expression. Her brown hair hung neatly to her hips and she had her head cocked just slightly, showing an elegant curve to her neck.

My Family look embarrassed.

“In all fairness,” she continued, “Debienne, the vampire, is a bitch and does this kind of shit all the time. She likes to play with people. Basil, however, doesn’t usually act like this.”

Silence still.

She smirked. “Don’t worry. No one else heard anything. Otherwise, you’d have Reggie to deal with. If that happens…not even I can save you from your fate.”

She turned around and walked out. Her hips moved in a fascinating way when she walked. It drew my eye and I had to yank my gaze away before I found myself checking her out. Dovie was watching me again when I looked back. Once more, her face was completely bland.

I nodded my head toward the door and she followed me when I walked out. The others dispersed as well, lest we be caught once more. Since the entirety of the house wasn’t private, we went into the backyard. The backyard was quite large and there were trees strategically placed so that it was private. Currently they were all bare of leaves, but the naked branches were so many that one wouldn’t easily get a good view. The ground was covered in snow in a way that the front yard was not. I realized Asire must shovel the driveway. I often had to do the same back home, so I sympathized.

The children had infiltrated the backyard as well. There were four snow people. Two large and two small. One was dressed as a man with a tie, one a woman— you could tell because they used red licorice for the mouth and somehow made it look pouty. Then the snow children. One boy, with a baseball cap and one girl. She was wearing a cowgirl’s hat. I didn’t even want to know where they got that or why.

“Okay,” I said, turning to Dovie. “What’s up?”

She had her green eyes widened so that she looked more innocent than she actually was. I’d known her my entire life. I wasn’t about to be fooled by her theatrics. The air outside was refreshingly cold and had the harsh flavor of winter. Good for keeping my head clear for this kind of game.

“Well,” Dovie said. “We’re looking for a child that was kidnapped, I had to babysit her quite possibly suicidal mother this morning and I can’t help noticing that the Orphans don’t find anything unusual in any of this other than their lack of tracking ability. That’s a long half a week, don’t you think?”

I took in a deep breath and let the cold fortify me. Legions aren’t that affected by temperature, but that didn’t mean we didn’t feel it. “That is not what I meant and I have a sinking suspicion that you know this.”

Her eyes got even bigger. She shrugged.

“Dovie?” I cajoled.

I knew she’d given up when her shoulders slumped, just a tad. She rubbed her hands together and finally said, “You aren’t going to like what I have to say, but…you’ve been paying attention to Asire. I just happened to notice it.”

“So?” I asked. “She’s Billy’s cousin and the one who called us for help. Of course I’m paying attention to her.”

“Of course,” she said. “Let’s head back in before someone decides to hunt us down, shall we?”

She walked in before I could question her further. There had been something in her tone. The suggestion I hadn’t quite gotten yet.

The back door stood open for only a couple of seconds before Asire stuck her head out. “Hey,” she said. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” I said.

“So I can close the door before I have a bunch of child popsicles?” she asked.

I smirked. “Yeah.”

She stepped out and shut the door. “Kinda chilly to be hanging out in the backyard without a reason, don’t ya think?” she asked, stepping into the snow despite the shoes she wore. I knew she had a pair of boots for this kind of weather, but she didn’t seem to like wearing them. I supposed wet sneakers might not be a bad thing to her.

“I’ll just hang out with you for a bit,” she decided. “Before the children realize I’m gone and I need to find a new hiding spot.”

I smiled at her.

She blinked, and her expression went blank. Her eyes shifted to the side for a second before returning to me.

“On second thought, we should head back in,” Asire said. “Before Reggie decides to hunt me down.”

The kids were fighting now. I could hear Henrik’s calm, even voice telling them to calm down.

“We’re avoiding that,” Asire informed me, walking back to the media room. Since most of my Family was in there, I decided to follow.

Henrik got the kids to quiet down and that left us in relative silence. Reggie’s high heels marched into the room and she immediately started talking. “So we’re going to need to clear out the gym. It’s the only room big enough to hold everyone for the talk later. Do we have enough chairs?” The last was directed at Asire.

“Yes,” she said. “I’ll go get them.”

Sunbeam, who had been standing, jerked. My entire Family came to attention.

Sunbeam’s spine jacked backward and her eyes rolled into her head. Her hands clenched into fists tight enough that I immediately caught a whiff of blood. She started sliding to the side as her knees gave way and everyone in the room went for her. Asire was the one who caught her, since she was closest.

Asire lowered Sunbeam to the ground and stepped back, recognizing that there wasn’t anything she could do. The small woman’s back bowed off the floor. Sweat was starting to bead onto her forehead and she looked so, so pale. Her mouth cranked open but no sound came out.

Her back dropped and bowed again.

Shade pushed his way to her and knelt on the floor next to her head. He pulled her upper body into his lap and dug a pocketknife out of his jeans. Then waited. If he did anything now, it would only choke her.

Her eyes rolled back down and the whites turned crimson. A slow trickle of blood slid out of her nose and down her cheek. Shade’s jeans got the bead. The other nostril let out another thin stream. Her mouth closed and opened several times. Again and again. Suddenly she sucked in harsh breath and gasped on the air. Her tiny fist beat against the ground, but her fingers were locked tight.

Shade pressed the blade of the knife into his wrist and sliced the skin open, far from a vein. He pressed the wound to her mouth. Sunbeam’s body shuddered, writhing on the floor. Her tiny hands unraveled and those fingernails sank deep into Shade’s flesh, digging in until more blood fell. Her lips closed around his skin and she curled her body around his arm, holding it close to her as she suckled his blood.