AFTER A REALLY relaxing shower with Brad, he wraps me up in a towel, and we lie on the bed. I’m just getting relaxed and settled when there’s a knock on the door. Brad pulls the duvet from under me and covers me up before he answers the door. It’s Howard. He looks grim and like he’s been hit by a truck. Brad is on edge straight away.
‘We need you downstairs,’ is all Howard says.
Brad nods. ‘I’ll be right down, gimme a minute.’
Howard just grunts and walks away.
‘What is it?’ I ask him.
‘It will either be Max or the kitsunes will need questioning. Nothing for you to worry about.’
‘Okay,’ I tell him, smiling. I don’t want to come across like a desperate woman, but I honestly just wanted to stay in here and forget what happened. I killed people today. That should affect me. It should, but it isn’t at all. I still feel numb to it all. I just know I wanted to get everyone out of there alive.
Devon. I need to speak to her. I shouldn’t leave this any longer.
I knock on her door. My hair’s still wet, but I’m dressed and look half decent.
Devon opens the door, and her eyes widen a little. ‘Hi, you want to come in?’
I smile—an awkward smile because I’m uncomfortable with the situation. She sweeps her arm across the open space welcoming me inside. I go right over to the chair, and she sits on the bed, watching me like I might blow up.
‘I just wanted to say I’m sorry,’ I blurt. She looks at me blankly for a second—then she smiles that awkward smile. We clearly both feel just as awkward as the other.
‘I’m so sorry you were brought into this, Maiya. You’re right. It was all my fault—’
‘It wasn’t your fault, Devon. It’s taken me a long time to realise it, but it’s not your fault. You didn’t do it to me—they did. Just like they did to you.’
Tears fill her eyes, and I feel so guilty. ‘I know it will take time, but we were good friends, right?’
She smiles, and before I know what she’s doing, she comes over and gives me a hug to rival a bear.
‘Yes! Maiya, I’m so relieved. I thought you were never going to speak to me again.’
Tears start to spill over, and that’s all I need because I fill up and I get that feeling in my throat where you can’t speak around the lump there. So, we sit together and just cry, holding onto each other for dear life.
‘So, you and Brad, huh?’ Devon asks playfully. I must go beet red because my cheeks feel like they’re on fire. But I smile—grin actually—because he makes me feel amazing. I nod.
‘I knew it would happen. I could see it a mile away—with Brad anyway.’ She smiles.
‘He’s great,’ I tell her, embarrassed.
‘He really is, and so are you. You make a great couple.’
‘Thanks. I’m just not sure if that’s what he wants yet. I mean, we’ve not discussed anything so…’
‘I’m sure you will though… do you feel like eating? I’m starved, and I’m sure we can whip something up in the kitchen?’
‘Sure, is everyone else okay?’ I ask with genuine concern. Who’d have thought I’d grow to like these people?
‘Yeah, everyone is good. Jared has had stitches and needs to rest for a day or so, but aside from being generally beaten up, everyone seems good.’
‘You saved their lives, you know,’ I tell her truthfully.
‘Well, if that’s the case, you did too.’ She hugs me again. We make our way down to the kitchen and find the men gathered around in there.
‘Harrison is chomping at the bit and wants to discharge himself,’ Jared says as we walk in.
‘How much longer does he need to stay?’ someone asks.
‘He doesn’t really. He’s fit, but still needs to rest, and the fucker won’t rest if we’re knee deep in shit. So I’ve told him he has to stay for now.’
‘Shame ‘cause we could fucking use him downstairs,’ someone else says. I look at Brad and realise he’s been looking at me the whole time. I smile, biting my bottom lip, and he grins. He pulls his chair back and comes to me, placing his hands on my hips. I look into his eyes, and it doesn’t matter that the room is full of people I don’t know. For that moment, it’s just him and me. He kisses me. Only a small kiss, but the fact he is doing it for all to see, makes me think that we do have a chance at being a couple. Maybe that is what he wants. He pulls away, and I ask if he would like food. Everyone speaks as one, the whole table answering, ‘Fuck yes!’
‘So, looks like we’re ordering take out!’ Devon says, smiling.
The meal is nice. I’ve never eaten with them all before. Jared is still very prickly towards me, but Brad has me sitting in his lap the whole time, so I feel much more comfortable than I would otherwise. I don’t know what Devon and I interrupted when we came in, but they don’t discuss anything while we’re there. Devon asks multiple questions about how today came about. They thought they had them all, so they let their guard down. Something that won’t happen again, they assure her.
‘What about my mother?’ Devon asks. ‘And how is she even alive?’
When they had stormed the place, Brad had said it was too easy, and that she gave up quickly. He was uneasy about it, but as the days ticked by, he became more relaxed. I guess so had everyone.
‘We going to question her tonight?’ Brad asks Jared.
‘Nah, but we will finish the others tonight. They’re no longer of any use. She can wait overnight and suffer until we’re fresh and not feeling the effects of today.’ Howard and Jared share a look and Howard gets up from the table and goes through the basement door. No doubt to finish the others off. A small voice in my head tells me that this should bother me, but I can’t find a single fuck to give. I’m glad they are going to die. All of them. And I’m glad that I got to take some of them out too.
We sit in the kitchen until late into the night, and I listen as they all talk like life-long friends. They’re a family. And it shows. The fact they have a member in the hospital is also playing on them, but he is under constant guard.
No one has seen any of the American Pack, and at the mention of Max, both Brad and Jared stiffen. Jared’s face turns up, annoyed, and he looks to Brody.
‘Any word on that fucker?’ Brody shakes his head pursing his lips in a flat line. Howard excuses himself at that point, telling Jared he needs air. Brody squares up to him at the door like he isn’t going to let him pass.
‘She’s fucking seventeen,’ he growls. Everyone stops talking as the two men square up.
‘That’s a legal age in our country,’ someone says, laughing. Brody isn’t happy and the way Howard is standing, neither is he. I’m not really sure what’s going down or why but no one seems worried. So I relax a little.
‘Brody,’ Jared warns. ‘Step back and let him go.’
Brody is clenching his jaw and glaring at Howard like he could kill, but he steps to the side and lets him pass. Howard follows him with his eyes, and his face is murderous. I remember the first time I saw him in the pub, I thought he was attractive in a moody sort of way. Now, I don’t see any of that—just a sulky face. He rarely smiles and is always on edge.