Chapter 17 Dex
DEX
Wylder was the brother I never got mad at. I could honestly count on one hand the number of times I’d lost my temper with him. The times I’d yelled or tried to deck him. And four of them were when I was under the age of ten.
But I was angry now, my temper bubbling to the surface. And it wasn’t just because he’d scared Brae and had her scampering off. It was because he’d sent her away. He’d broken the first moment in forever that I’d felt seen.
By someone who hadn’t lived through what I had. My brothers understood because they carried the same scars.
But for someone who hadn’t lived it to understand? That was a gift. And Brae had understood without me sharing a single detail.
Wylder studied me for a long moment.
“What?” I clipped, the anger bleeding into the word.
His brows lifted. “Just wondering what that was about.”
“So you had to stick your nose in?”
“When did you become such a grumpy bastard?” Wylder asked.
I sighed because he was right. I took a moment and sucked in air as if it could coat all my raw and ravaged edges. “Since I came back here and had to deal with narrow-minded assholes.”
It was a half-truth at best, but Wylder still went on alert. “Who?”
The word had an edge to it that would’ve been surprising to anyone except our brothers.
Wylder gave off an easygoing, nonthreatening vibe to the world.
It was his defense mechanism. A protection.
But my brothers and I knew that if something tripped his justice trigger or threatened one of us, Wylder could become a completely different person.
“Breathe, hulk man. Just Miller being his prickish self, as usual.” My gaze flicked to Brae, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop it.
And Wylder, being who he was, didn’t miss the minuscule movement. “He being an ass to her?”
I didn’t move my eyes from Brae. Couldn’t. Every moment I studied her gave me another piece of the puzzle. Like now. She was stronger than you would think. She might be small, but she could flip chairs and shift tables with the ease of someone twice her size.
Good.
Something about her being strong put me at ease. The knowledge that she could protect herself. Even though I knew the truth: everyone was at risk if someone knew the angles to hit.
“Dex,” Wylder growled.
My gaze finally snapped back to my brother. “Yeah, he’s being an ass to her. Stonewalling, mostly.”
Wylder’s gaze flicked to Brae, and I saw him assess her in a new way, pain flicking through dark-hazel eyes nearly identical to mine.
Wylder wasn’t just the peacekeeper; he was our patron saint of lost souls.
He took in anyone who needed an extra hand, and it had bitten him in the ass more than once.
But he never let it stop him. He’d offer jobs, counsel, a place to get your feet back under you. And he was a protector.
“That’s the last thing she needs,” he muttered.
I followed his line of sight, watching as Brae wiped down one final table and quickly moved on to refilling condiments. “No shit.”
An arm slid around my shoulders and Wylder’s, pulling us into a huddle. “What’re we talking about? Hot town goss?” Maverick asked, humor in his tone.
“Jesus,” Wylder muttered.
I shoved Mav off us. “You need a second job.”
He brushed invisible dirt off his U.S. Forest Service tee with the smoke-jumper logo. “Already got two. That’s enough for me.”
“Two part-time jobs,” I shot back. “You need at least double that to keep you out of trouble.”
It was true but not exactly fair. From late spring through early fall, Mav worked with the smoke jumpers, who had a station just outside of town.
The rest of the year, he had to settle for the boring old Starlight Grove Fire Department.
But he made up for the lack of action by seeking out every death-defying hobby he could find, from BASE jumping to whitewater rafting to free climbing.
A part of me wondered if all those hobbies and jobs that put him in the literal line of fire were part of him coming to terms with almost losing his life all those years ago. He’d come the closest. Maybe now, he needed to prove that he was no longer afraid.
Mav’s mouth twisted into a grin. “But then I couldn’t come spend time with my favorite brothers.”
“You mean mooch food off us because you just got off a shift?” Wylder asked.
Mav’s grin only widened. “I can do both. Now, tell me what you two were whispering about.” He scanned the bar, his gaze halting on Brae. “Wait, is that her?” He let out a low whistle. “No wonder you’re breaking all the rules.”
“I’m not breaking any rules,” I grumbled.
Wylder’s steady gaze landed on me. “No, just laws.”
I tried not to shift in place, knowing Wylder would pick up on any slight movement. Because he was right. I’d broken half a dozen already. But my silence gave him the answer he needed.
Wylder let out a curse. “Seriously, Dex? This is exactly what Kol was worried about.”
A muscle along my jaw started to flutter in a staccato beat. “And that’s not a little hypocritical? You know I use the same tactics in cases we work.”
“But they aren’t local,” Wylder bit out, his voice dropping low. “It won’t get us on local radar.”
“Me. I’m the one doing this. The rest of you bowed out. So if anyone pays a price, it’ll be me.” And I’d pay it. Just so I didn’t have to see that gutted look on Brae’s face ever again. The one that said she was totally and completely alone.
Tiny divots appeared in the hollows of Wylder’s cheeks, his jaw clenching tight. “You know it doesn’t work that way. Not for us. One of us gets on the radar, all of us do.”
“I’m not hiding from narrow-minded assholes,” I clipped.
“Boys, boys, boys,” Maverick cut in. “Let’s take a breath, okay?”
I didn’t take my gaze off Wylder. Instead, I gave him the truth, playing a card I knew would trump everything.
“You didn’t hear her. How torn up she is about her friend.
She’s had no one. No one helping her raise that kid except her friend.
Nova might as well have been her sister.
Her only family. And now, she’s been alone for a year, doing everything she can to find that sister.
You might not want to take the risk of helping her. But I will.”
A feeling of rightness swept through me. I’d battled with myself last night—even this morning. Guilt had mixed with my need to help. But now, I knew. This was the right thing. The good thing. More, it felt a little less like I was hiding in the shadows. Which felt damn good.
Wylder stayed quiet, his expression going blank in the way I knew meant his brain was exploring every angle. I felt Mav’s gaze ping-pong between us as he waited.
Finally, Wylder scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Fuck me.”
Victory and relief washed through me.
Mav grabbed both of our shoulders. “Does this mean we’re in?” He sounded like a damn kid hopped up on too much sugar.
Wylder’s focus didn’t stray from me. “We’re helping. Just try not to get us arrested. Or exposed.”
I knew what that last piece meant. We didn’t need the world at large to know what we were up to. “I think we can trust her.”
My brothers stilled because they knew what that meant. Trust didn’t come easily for any of us. But Brae had proven herself again today. The way she met me in the shadows. How she’d shown me her shame in an attempt to soothe mine.
“I hope you’re right,” Wylder muttered.
A faint ringing had me seeking out the sound. I looked up to see Brae behind the bar, drying glasses. She held one in her hand while she fished out her phone with the other, a smile on her face as she waved to Travis, who’d just appeared at the hostess stand.
But the moment her eyes locked on the screen, everything changed. The rosy pink on her cheeks went stark white as if all the blood had drained from her face in an instant.
Glass shattered, the sound like an explosion in the empty room. And I was already running.