17. Myles
Chapter 17
Myles
“ W hat do you mean, you killed them?” I demand.
“Exactly what it sounds like,” Arson says with a casual shrug. “Slit Mom’s throat, but dear old Dad I tore apart piece by piece.” His lips twist derisively. “Better end than either of those sons of bitches deserved.”
Nausea twists my stomach. The guy’s a psychopath. What kind of person casually confesses to brutally murdering their parents? Our parents.
Arson crosses his arms over his chest. “You think I’m a monster.”
“N-no, I just...”
Just what? What could I even say that would buy me time to get Ever far away from this psycho?
“Yeah, actually.” I swallow, standing to my full height and preparing for the ass-kicking of my life. “But can you really blame me?”
An indecipherable look flashes across the rogue assassin’s eyes before I can decipher it. “You didn’t know them like I did. Otherwise you’d see that I was doing the world a favor.”
Ever claps her hands once sharply. “I’d say this conversation calls for a beer, don’t you guys? I’ll go get some and let you two talk.”
“Oh, angel, you’re no one’s serving girl.” Glancing around the lobby I use for project consults, Arson picks up Ever and sets her on the front desk, ignoring her protests as he points a warning finger at me. “Watch her until I get back.” Then he disappears into thin air.
I don’t hesitate, knowing every second counts. “Come on.” I lunge forward to grab Ever’s hand and drag her through the door into my workshop. There’s nowhere in this town she can hide that Arson can’t access, so Ever’s only shot of escape is the prototype I stayed up all night working on for her.
“Where are we going?” she asks, glancing over her shoulder and relaxing a bit when she sees no one's chasing us.
Snatching the necklace off one of my work tables, I slide the silver chain over her head. The opal pendant is framed by intricate metalwork that appears like lace, completely innocuous. Nobody would suspect it was anything other than a pretty piece of jewelry, even if they looked closely. “Pinch the pendant with your thumbprint pressing into the back and focus on the need to hide. It’ll allow you to disappear, even mask your scent while you escape. Understand? Pinch it again while focusing on the feeling of being safe, and it’ll deactivate.”
She gives me a wary look. “Myles, Arson isn’t a threat to either of us. You know that… right?”
“That man is the definition of a threat.”
“Fair, but isn’t everyone capable of hurting someone under the right circumstances?” she argues. “I know if someone attacked me, I wouldn’t hesitate to do whatever it took to defend myself, even if it killed them. And I wouldn’t lose a wink of sleep over it.”
I swallow; hard. She doesn’t know how right she is, and that’s exactly why she needs to get far away from Arson… and me. Mysts are dangerous, and good people get hurt when we lose control. Arson doesn’t look like he knows the definition of the word, and it’s only a matter of time before Ever gets caught in the crossfire.
Oblivious to my internal freak out, Ever continues, “He must’ve had a good reason for killing his, your, parents, don’t you think? Otherwise why would he say anything when it could destroy the relationship he’s hoping to build with you? He could’ve taken that secret to the grave.” She lifts the chain, admiring the pendant before tucking it down her shirt. “You’re the reason he came here, you know. He left home to search for his long lost brother. So all I’m asking is for you to hear him out before you decide he’s the enemy. Please?”
Wait. He left his guild and became a rogue to find me ? But why? I’m nothing special.
Maybe he wants to finish what he started and is tying up loose ends so he can get an inheritance or something. That makes more sense. At least while he’s busy murdering me, Ever will be able to make a break for it.
With a heavy exhale, I resign myself to my fate. “Alright. But if this doesn’t go like you’re hoping, run and don’t look back . Until we know what you are and if you have any abilities, you need some way to protect yourself. Promise me you’ll always wear it, just in case. It’s waterproof, so leave it on in the shower. You never know when shit might hit the fan.”
Brow scrunched up in concern, she tentatively dips her head in agreement, keeping her thoughts to herself. Good thing too, because not two seconds later Arson returns with several bottles of liquor, mixers, and a case of beer.
“Discount therapy is now in session!”
I frantically clear off a spot before he crushes anything as my workspace is turned into a bar. Arson disappears again, popping back with a handful of full sized drinking glasses.
“Pick your poison,” he asks Ever, sweeping an arm at the wide selection. If I wasn’t scrutinizing him so closely, waiting for him to pull the knife he’s going to use to slit my throat, I’d have missed the way his eyes flick anxiously between Ever and the bottles, almost like… he’s nervous. If he’d offered me a drink first, I’d assume the ‘pick your poison’ comment was literal, but despite my feelings where Arson’s concerned, I have to reluctantly admit that Ledger’s right.
He would never intentionally hurt Ever. He looks at her like she hung the moon and clearly is angling for her to accept him as one of her mates. It’s the intentional part that worries me though, because the man has far too much power for someone so reckless and unhinged.
“Oh sweet, I love peaches.” Grabbing a glass, Ever pours herself a heavy-handed splash of peach rum and fills up the rest of the glass with some sort of berry juice, taking a drink and making a happy little hum. “Perfect. Want to try a sip?”
The rigid tension in Arson’s shoulders relaxes a fraction. “Absolutely.” He drinks from the same spot she did, giving her a heated look. “Delicious.”
Her cheeks warm, but she tears her gaze away from him to offer me her glass. “Interested?”
In you? Far more than I should be when I don’t stand a snowball’s chance in Hell.
My cheeks warm. “Um, sure.” If I’m living on borrowed time, why the hell not? Maybe if I get drunk enough, it won’t even hurt when my brother drives a knife into my back.
It goes down so smooth, I can barely even tell there’s any alcohol in it. “Oh, wow, that’s really good.”
She beams and my heart skips a beat. Fates, she’s pretty.
“I’ll make you one, give me a sec.” She bounces off before I can stop her, but it’s obvious what she’s doing. Plying me with alcohol to keep me from freaking out after our conversation so I’ll stick around and give Arson a chance to explain.
Honestly, it’s a solid plan.
She leads the way back to the front of my workshop and sits beside me on the leather couch. Arson drops down in the chair across from us, using his shadows to put the coffee table back in place and setting down the open bottles he brought with him from the back.
Eventually, Ever breaks the awkward silence. “Sooooo, Arson. I’m going out on a limb here and assuming I’m not the only one with a million questions.”
His shoulders slump. “My parents- ours, sorry, that’ll take some getting used to,” he corrects, shooting me a glance. “They weren’t good people. Managed to piss off some powerful people that took out a hit on them. When they realized the Shadow Knight Guild was after them, they knew they were fucked. So in a last ditch effort, they left me behind with a note as they fled in the middle of the night. Ideally, our parents hoped they’d accept me as payment for their debt; the people they pissed off had ties to the skin trade, or might just be looking for an indentured servant they could keep around the house. But if not, they’d still stand a better chance living on the run without a kid in tow.” Face twisting in a scowl, he grunts, “I was five.”
My stomach twists as I breathe, “What the actual fuck?”
“The assassin assigned to the job showed up a few hours later, read the note, and was furious,” he continues. “Rather than hand me over and offer the proposed deal, he brought me back to the guild and paid off our parents’ debt.”
Ever scowls. “Why the hell would he pay it for those bastards?”
“Karma. Those kills were mine , and he made sure they’d be waiting for me when I was ready.” As Arson fills up his glass, I finish off mine and hold it out for a refill.
“Mom tried to justify their actions, so I slit her throat. I was there for closure, not to be her verbal punching bag. Dad, though, made a terrible mistake; he tried to bargain. Told me I had a brother, and if I let him live, he’d tell me where to find him.” The gruesome scar on Arson’s cheek pulls into a haunting sight as he grins. “I don’t negotiate with monsters. I remind them that there’s always a bigger one out there.”
Ever subtly nudges my shoulder with hers when I sit there silently gaping for far too long.
“Shit, sorry. I just… don’t know what to say. That’s fucked up, man.”
Arson snorts, lifting his glass in agreement. “What’d your parents tell you about how they adopted you?”
I take a long drink, starting to accept that maybe Ever had a point. Everything Arson claims is lining up with what my parents told me. “That they were out on a date night at Beelzebar when they overheard my birth parents trying to sell a baby to a guy involved in the skin trade business. Mom used her siren abilities to convince them to sell me to them instead for the couple hundred bucks they had in their wallets and then took off before the spell wore off. Grabbed everything they couldn’t leave behind and were on the road that night, not stopping until we made it halfway across the country. Pretended mom gave birth at home, so while they aren’t sure how old I was when they found me, we figure I’m about a month older than what it says on my birth certificate. I’ve always gone by that birthday though, for simplicity’s sake.”
Ever squeezes my knee in silent support, and Arson’s eyes narrow on the contact, taking a slow drink. But he doesn’t chop off my hand or throw his glass in my face, so I’m counting it as a win. After a few minutes of everyone lost in their own heads, Arson sets his drink aside and gets to his feet, running a hand through his dark hair anxiously.
“Were they nice?” Pacing, his agitation ramps up. “I’m sorry for how long it took me to track you down. If I’d known you were out there, I’d have come for you sooner. Then nobody in this damn town would talk to me and, well,” he gestures emphatically at Ever, like that explains everything. And really, it does.
I blame the alcohol for my loose lips. “She’s a really pretty distraction, I don’t blame you.”
Ever cants her head, taking another drink before tentatively asking, “So… were they good to you, then? The people that took you in?”
Acutely aware that it’s a touchy subject after hearing she grew up in foster care, I give her an apologetic smile. “Yeah. They’re the best parents anyone could ask for, and I know how lucky I am to have ended up with them.”
Arson offers a sharp nod. “Alright then, it’s settled. If you like them that much, they can be our parents now, and we forget those waste of spaces that birthed us ever existed.”
Ever chuckles. “Pretty sure it doesn’t work that way.”
“Does too. He’s my brother, so his parents are my parents,” Arson argues. “That means when we get married, they’ll be your parents too, so you better get with the program, pretty girl.”
“Who says I’m marrying you?” Ever fires back with a teasing glint in her eyes.
“The invitation I’m typing up tomorrow,” he says without missing a beat. “I’ll make sure to send you one so you can save the date.”
She laughs, cheeks warm as she tops off her glass. “You’re ridiculous.”
Ever might think he’s joking around, but that gleam in Arson’s eye makes me think he’s crazy enough to actually do it.
When it blows up in his face and sends her running for the hills, she’ll need a getaway driver…
I shake my head sharply. That kind of thinking is dangerous and only going to lead to heartache. Because Ever? She could have anyone that she wants.
And I’m the guy that’s always left sitting out alone in the cold.
“You seriously made all of these?” Arson asks, touching everything in my workshop and giving me an eye twitch.
“Yes, and I’d appreciate it if you put that down before you blow the place up.”
“It’s a bomb?” he asks excitedly, looking at it with renewed enthusiasm and making no move to set it down.
Ever shakes her head at him and carefully plucks it out of his hands. “Read the room, Arson. You may not have grown up with siblings, but remember, you’re in his space touching his things, and he specifically asked you to put it down. Keep it up, he’ll ban you from his shop permanently.”
Arson’s lips part in surprise. “He can’t ban me, we’re brothers!”
Ever stumbles a bit, and a shadow snaps around her waist without Arson so much as twitching. I hate to admit it, but that level of control is impressive. “He sure as shit can,” she objects. “If he designed a barrier around an entire city to keep humans out, he can easily make one to boot a demon with boundary issues from his workshop.”
Arson’s eyes widen. “ You’re the one that created the barrier?”
Sheepishly, I rub the back of my neck. “Yeah, but it’s pretty out of date. I’ve been meaning to refresh it, but I keep getting side tracked with other projects. I know it’s not my best work, but at the time-”
“So you’re the reason I couldn’t use my powers and got hit by a car,” he presses, and I wince, bracing for him to take a swing at me. Yet, much to my surprise, it never comes. “Thanks, man. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have met my future wife.”
I blink at him, at a loss for how the hell to respond to that reaction. I’m saved from having to reply as Ever pulls out her vibrating phone and glances at the screen in confusion. “It’s my old boss.”
“Hello?” Her confusion morphs into rage in an instant. “What the fuck, Adam? You seriously harassed Carrie into using her phone?”
This close to her, I can faintly hear a man snap, “What else was I supposed to do, Everest? You fucking blocked me, and we need to talk.”
While she argues with him, Arson and I share a look. This guy is clearly going to be a problem, because if he’s jumping through this many hoops to contact Ever, he isn’t going away anytime soon. You’d think the distance and new girlfriend would be enough to distract him, but money makes people do crazy things. Lawyers usually know how to work people though, so I can’t imagine what he’s thinking he’ll accomplish talking to her like this.
Maybe he’s given up on charming her and thinks he can threaten her into signing a contract?
Rage warms my already heated blood, and I blame the liquid courage as I pluck the phone out of her hands and switch to a video call. The screen lights up a minute later with the prick's face, his smug expression falling when he realizes it isn’t Ever.
“Ever’s husband speaking, how may I help you?” I ask calmly.
“I beg your pardon?”
“If you insist. Go on then; beg.”
The guy sputters, red creeping up his neck. He doesn’t even acknowledge me at first, continuing to talk to Ever. “Everest, babe, enough with the games. It’s cute you think I’d be jealous, but I’m not that hard up for pussy. We need to discuss business.”
Ever starts to tell him off, but Arson claps a hand over her mouth, catching onto what I’m doing. In the shell of her ear, he whispers, “Trust us, angel.”
It takes everything I have not to bite Adam’s head off, but I maintain my composure. “I handle the finances in our marriage, so if you have business questions, you can discuss them with me, or not at all.”
There’s a lengthy pause before he clears his throat. “No wonder she ran off without a word. How long was she cheating on me with you?”
“Did you want to talk business or not? I’m a busy man.”
Through a clenched jaw, Adam says, “Everest left before signing the final contract with my company and stole the product we commissioned. Either she returns the technology she stole from us, or we’ll be pursuing legal action. Out of respect for our previous relationship, I’m giving her a chance to take care of this before she’s financially ruined; you as well now, since she conned you into marrying her so quickly, likely for this exact reason. If you need a divorce lawyer, I’ve got some friends I can recommend.”
“It sounds to me that if a contract wasn’t signed, the commission isn’t legally enforceable and your company owns nothing. Have they paid her for the project in advance?”
“We’re still in negotiations-”
“And did you initially provide the specifications for the project and approach her to create it?”
He grinds his teeth. “Not exact-”
“So what you’re really saying is your company wished to purchase my wife’s invention, and you fucked up and sent her running for the hills before she signed on the dotted line. Sounds like a you problem. Instead of threatening her, you should have been trying to sweeten the deal to convince her that signing with your company was in her best interest instead of driving her into the arms of your competitors.”
I hold Ever’s shocked gaze as I finish, “If you contact my wife again, I’ll be suing you for harassment. You lost, Adam. Not just the payday, but an amazing woman you took for granted. Go lick your wounds and leave us the hell alone.” Ending the call, I shut it off and tuck it in my back pocket. “Tomorrow, we’ll get you a new number.”
“Damn, brother,” Arson says, clapping my shoulder. “Who knew you had it in you?”
Heat blooms across my cheeks as reality crashes back in. What the hell was I thinking? I take a seat, putting my face in my hands and groaning. “I’m so sorry, Ever, I don’t know what came over me. I should have checked first that you were okay with me handling it, but I’ve dealt with plenty of men like that in my line of work. It’s misogynistic as hell, but they’ll listen to a man they don’t even know before the woman they’re harassing, and-”
“Thank you.” Ever’s lips gently brush my cheek. “Seriously, Myles, I appreciate it. It sucks, but if that’s what it takes to get him to back off, that’s what matters.” Her eyes sparkle with mirth as she teases, “Besides, it was kind of hot hearing my husband put him in his place.”
The tips of my ears burn, heart beating out of my chest. Arson, bless his soul, pulls the attention off of me and scoops Ever up in his arms. Immediately, I take back my appreciation as he drops her in my lap and says, “Here, you can borrow my emotional support girlfriend for a while, you’ve earned it.”
Dirty thoughts flash through my brain at the offer, and I avoid looking at Ever so she can’t see my flaming face. No hiding my rapidly hardening cock digging into her thighs, though.
“Never agreed to be your girlfriend, and you can’t give me to your brother as a reward,” Ever chuckles, riding a heavy buzz and flipping him off.
“Fiancè, right, my bad,” Arson corrects unabashedly, ignoring her protests.
“Arson, you can’t just… I mean, why would you,” I stammer, cutting myself off before I make a complete fool of myself, at a loss for words.
“I can and I will. Ever clearly likes you, and what my girl wants, she gets.”