Chapter One #2
“I can’t believe I’m letting cats look at me like I’m an idiot.
” Their identical, familiar looks of exasperation burned into my stomach.
“If you want pup cups on the way to wherever we’re going, you better stop giving me the evil eye.
” I swear, Lucifer snorted at me. Sounded like a sneeze, but I knew he actually snorted.
I snagged my keys, locking the door on my way out to meet Carrie.
The loud rumble of motorcycles heralded the group’s arrival.
Just like Carrie’d said, a big blue Bronco pulled up to the curb.
Carrie wasn’t driving, though. Hawk, Carrie’s very overprotective man, sat behind the wheel.
He got out before Carrie, but she rounded the front of the vehicle and headed straight to me.
My neighbors glared from their windows, handkerchiefs pressed to their faces. The stench had followed me outside, clinging to my clothes and hair like an invisible, putrid cloud. In fact, there seemed to be a cloud just kinda… hanging out. Surrounding the building in a noxious blue/green haze.
“You smell like death warmed over,” Carrie said without a hint of judgment. Just a statement of fact. With a really big grin on her face.
I laughed nervously. “Yeah, turns out mixing wolfsbane and fermented beet juice creates something worse than tear gas.” I tugged at my burnt orange sweater, which now sported several green stains. “I’m so sorry about this. Thank you for coming.”
Carrie waved me off. “Not another word about it. Shit happens. And sometimes it’s in the form of a really foul witches’ brew.
” Her smile was infectious as she slid her arm through mine.
Despite the fact her eyes had to be watering, Carrie took everything in stride.
She didn’t act like I smelled like roadkill, only guided me back inside the building to my apartment.
If she distracted me, I wouldn’t concentrate on the men she brought with her.
“I don’t know why you brought so many people.” I didn’t want them seeing how little I had. Carrie was the least judgmental person I knew, and even she was going to blink at the small amount I had to take with me.
“We’re moving you completely out of here, Ellie.” Carrie gave me a firm look. “You should have taken me up on my offer months ago when you told me about this jackass raising the rent on you with no notice.”
“I can take care of myself.” I winced. “Usually.”
“Sure you can.” Carrie held back so I could unlock and open the door. “But sometimes, you just need to kick back with the girls and regroup.”
I stared at Carrie for a long moment until my lips spread in a slow smile. “I like that.”
“Thought you might. Come on. Let’s get your stuff and go take a medical-grade shower.”
“I’m not sure even that will get the stench outta my hair.”
“Where’s all your shit?” Carrie looked around at the three cat carriers, the single suitcase, my computer bag, and a giant tub of cat food and cat toys. And the portable cat tree. Oh. And one small tote with all my Halloween decorations.
I waved my hand at the small pile. “Right there.”
Carrie approached and knelt down to peer at the little demons. “Three black cats. Are they for protection?”
“They’re my babies,” I said, sticking my fingers through Salem’s carrier door to stroke his head. “This is Salem, that’s Lucifer, and the drama queen in the corner is Binx.” Lucifer hissed in response, as if offended by my accurate character assessment.
“They’re beautiful,” Carrie said, wiggling her fingers at Lucifer, who seemed to soften at her attention. Traitor.
Heavy footsteps thundered up the stairs, and two massive men appeared in my doorway. Both wore leather cuts with the Kiss of Death MC patches prominently displayed.
“Damn, girl. What’d you do? Summon a demon and have it shit itself to death?” I wasn’t sure which guy spoke because they were standing side by side and they both had pulled their shirts over their nose.
“Knuckles!” Carrie scolded, but she couldn’t help laughing.
“Something like that,” I admitted. “Sorry about the smell.”
The other guy had to be Hawk. He surveyed my meager pile of belongings, his eyebrows rising slightly. “This all you got?”
I nodded, feeling heat creep into my cheeks. “Yeah. I travel light.”
“Uh-huh.” Hawk and Knuckles exchanged a look before Knuckles continued. “All right. Let’s get your things loaded up. I’ve got some straps to secure the pet carriers for the ride. Also got you one of the big suites so your cats got room to move around.”
“Please don’t go to any more trouble than necessary.” I looked from Knuckles to Carrie and back. “You can’t know how much I appreciate you taking me in on such short notice. I’m willing to work to earn my keep while I’m there.”
When I stopped to take a breath, Knuckles interrupted me. “You’re our guest, Ellie. If you need to stay longer than a few weeks, we’ll talk about another arrangement.”
“I hope it will only be a few days, not weeks.” I was starting to fret, and the cats took notice. As if they could feel my distress, all three started yowling at the top of their lungs.
“Jesus Christ!” I thought that was the guy across the hall.
He was always complaining about something.
“Cut the fuckin’ racket! Unless you’re fuckin’ something.
Then make all the racket you want. But it Goddamned well better not be a fuckin’ cat!
” There was a pause. “Pussy, sure. But not a fuckin’ cat! ” The cats got louder.
Carrie froze, her expression hardening. “Excuse me a moment.” Her sweet smile did not reach her eyes, and she immediately turned on her heel and headed out my apartment door.
“Ah, hell.” Hawk dropped the trash bag he’d been holding and stumbled after Carrie. The sounds of a scuffle echoed from the hallway. A high-pitched scream followed. Then another. And one more before the sound was abruptly cut off.
I glanced at the other man. Knuckles. He shrugged and tried to smother a smile but failed. Miserably.
A few seconds later, Carrie breezed in. This time, she had a genuine smile on her face. “Well. Where were we?”
“I think the better question would be, what did you do to my poor neighbor?”
“Your ‘poor neighbor’ is an asshole.” Carrie said, dusting her hands. “I taught him the value of good manners and minding his own business.”
“Uh, Knuckles?” Hawk stood in the doorway, rubbing the back of his neck. “I might have accidentally knocked that guy out.”
“You did not!” Carrie jabbed her finger in her man’s chest. “I did. Don’t take credit for my badassness.”
“He dead?” Knuckles didn’t look up from where he was bagging up the last of the ruined towels and pots and that poor plastic spoon. Or what was left of it.
“Nah. But I can’t promise he don’t have brain damage.”
“Oh, he has brain damage all right,” Carrie said brightly. “But that’s not my fault. He was like that before I got there.”
We loaded my meager possessions into the back of the Bronco. My cats still protested loudly as I secured their carriers in the backseat with Knuckles’ help. Their yowls reached a crescendo that made several passing pedestrians cross the street to avoid us.
“I promise it’s just temporary, sweethearts,” I cooed, though I had no idea if that was true. I slid into the passenger seat beside Carrie. The guys were on motorcycles in front of and behind us.
Carrie started the vehicle. “I hope not. I think you’re gonna like the compound. Besides, it’s a sight better than staying in this dump.” She waved her hand at the place before she followed the bike in front of us onto the road.
As we pulled away from the curb, I watched my apartment building shrink in the side mirror. My chest tightened. For all its flaws, that apartment had been my sanctuary for the past two years -- the first place that had felt like mine after leaving my father’s suffocating influence.
“Is that where we’re going? The compound?”
“Yep. Safest place in the whole city. They have the most wonderful place for all us old ladies to hang out. They call it the Oasis, and that’s really what it is.
” She smiled, and it struck me how genuinely happy my new friend was.
There was a difference in how she was in public and how she was now.
I got the impression she held herself back and was on her guard most of the time. Now she acted carefree.
“Really?”
“Oh, yeah. Whole place is fenced in. And there’s plenty of room for you to do all the spells you want to, no matter how much like ass they smell.”
I laughed. “I think you’re giving ass too much credit. Ass can’t hold a candle to that potion.”
“You’re right.”
Ten minutes later we rolled through the chain-link gate. I stared in awe at the place. “This is so freakin’ cool!”
A series of warehouses formed neat rows.
I have no idea how many there were, but the paths between them were covered in camouflage netting.
The whole thing was surrounded by chain-link fencing with barbed wire at the top.
It had a post-apocalyptic feeling going on but without the scary vibe.
Which… sounded quite odd given the look of the place.
I knew most of the guys here had done time in prison and maybe I should be afraid.
But Carrie was a really sweet person and she and the guys from this club had literally moved me from my apartment and offered to let me stay here for an unspecified amount of time.
They were going through a lot of trouble if their motives were nefarious.