Chapter 16 Vigo
VIGO
Hawk wasn’t happy, but he’d get over it. Especially when we started to play with our new toy.
Brand new, if you know what I mean.
Virginity wasn’t usually a thing that turned me on.
I didn’t like the responsibility: making sure it was nice for the girl (because only a monster wouldn’t), making sure she was okay (I was usually too reckless to make sure anyone was okay, even myself), taking care of her afterward when what I really wanted to do was fuck again or jump on the bed or run naked through the backyard or eat two sleeves of Oreos.
But this time was different. I didn’t know if it was because she was Bram’s little sister or if it was just her — the way she shook like a baby bird when we’d led her out of the tunnels, not an ounce of defiance in her sweet little body — but I was looking forward to breaking her in right.
Other than Titus and Goose, still outside the door to the tunnels, the Orpheum was quiet and deserted when we emerged into the hall upstairs.
Fight Night was long since over, the Orpheum’s other recreational activities finished for the night, and we led Cassie past the concession stand and out onto the street, which was just as deserted.
The sky was still dark overhead, a slim line of orange light hugging the mountains in the east. We usually liked to make the Hunt last. This one had lasted less than six hours, but with our little mouse between us, I found I didn’t care.
“You drive here?” Hawk asked her.
She shook her head. “Walked.”
“Let’s go.” He was five steps ahead of us when she started moving.
We walked a few feet down Main to where I’d parked the G-Wagon. We usually walked around town, but we never knew what time of day it would be when we left the Orpheum after a Hunt.
Plus it was impossible to tell what kind of shape our girl would be in when we left the tunnels, and sometimes we weren’t able to salvage her clothes.
We were always toeing the line of what was legal, and more often than not, crossing it.
No reason to draw attention to ourselves traipsing through town with a naked girl who was covered in blood.
“This is yours?” Cassie asked, looking sideways at the bright orange G-Wagon.
“Not what you expected?” I asked.
“Actually, it was exactly what I should have expected.”
Fair.
Hawk opened the door. “Get in.”
“You don’t have to come with me to get my stuff,” she said, climbing into the back seat. “It’s not like I can leave town.”
I saw her point: her business was here, her brother. But no way was I missing out on an opportunity to check out her place. You could learn a lot about someone by where they lived, and I was eager to know all I could about our new little mouse.
“No offense,” Jagger said, “but I’m not sure you want to walk down Main Street right now.”
She looked down at her clothes, rumpled and dirty, then pulled out her phone. She used the camera app to look at her blood-streaked face and grimaced. “Fine.”
Jagger climbed in next to her in the back. Hawk took shotgun as I walked around to the driver’s side. I was used to driving when we were together: Jagger’s car was way too crowded for all of us and Hawk’s wasn’t much better.
Plus I valued my eardrums and Hawk was always on the verge of blowing his speakers.
Once I was behind the wheel I looked at Cassie in the rearview mirror. “Where are we going?”
“Coffee shop,” she said. “Cassie’s Cuppa.”
“I could definitely go for a coffee,” I said.
“I live there,” she said. “Over the shop.”
“Cool, we can kill two birds with one stone.”
I put the G-Wagon in gear and headed down Main, past the buildings in Southside that had seen better days and over the line into the north side of town, where the shops all had awnings, fresh paint, and fancy signs.
“Jesus fuck,” I said, looking around. “This place is uptight.”
“How long has it been since you’ve been on this side of town?” Cassie asked.
“I mean, we go through it all the time. I just never pay much attention.”
I didn’t know why I was paying attention now except for the fact that Cassie lived here.
“Just pull up front,” Cassie said when the sign for Cassie’s Cuppa came into view.
“Why Cassie’s Cuppa?” Jagger asked as I put the car in park.
She reached for the door. “It’s what my mom called a cup of tea.”
I didn’t like that she sounded sad, and even more than that, I didn’t like that I didn’t like it.
She looked surprised when we joined her on the sidewalk. “You’re not coming in?”
“Why wouldn’t we?” I asked. “You got a secret boyfriend or something?”
“No, it’s just… I live there.”
“Are you saying you don’t want us in your apartment when I had my face buried in your pussy less than two hours ago?” Hawk asked.
Her eyes went wide and she looked around, like someone might have overheard even though most of Blackwell Falls was still sleeping or just stumbling out of bed for the shower. The coffee shop didn’t even open until seven.
“Will you keep it down?”
“He has a point,” I said, heading for the unobtrusive wood door to the right of the glass door that led to the coffee shop. “Bit late to be mysterious.”
She sighed and walked to the door, then punched a code into the keypad.
“What’s 1228?”
She glared at me over her shoulder. “Do you mind?”
I shrugged. “I’m a naturally curious person.”
“It’s Bram’s birthday,” she grumbled, opening the door. “Although I guess now I have to change it.”
“Your secrets are safe with us,” Jagger said, stepping through the doorway behind her.
He’d been quiet since we left the Orpheum, but that wasn’t unusual. Jagger liked to process stuff before he talked about it.
We were different that way. Processing stuff wasn’t really my style.
Cassie started up a long narrow staircase. “Close the door behind you.”
We made our way up the stairs, Hawk at the back, and ended up on the second-floor landing in front of a door with no name or number. There were no other apartments, just a second door with a sign that read Roof Access.
Cassie bent to the keypad and punched in the same code.
I peered over her shoulder. “You use the same code for both doors?”
“Oh my fucking god,” she muttered, opening the door. “You might as well come in.”
She left the door open behind her and I stepped into a spacious living area with an open kitchen and a dining nook that looked out over Main Street.
It was homey, with plants lining the windowsills, serene landscapes in old frames on the wall, and a comfortable-looking sofa and chair that faced a modestly sized TV.
“I’ll have to work,” she said. “During the next ninety days, I mean.”
Jagger picked up a framed photograph — Cassie smiling into the camera between two dark-haired girls — on one of the end tables. “At the coffee shop?”
Cassie nodded. “I have help, but I can’t just disappear for three months.”
“You’ll be able to work,” Hawk said, leaning against the counter in her small kitchen.
I opened the fridge to inspect the contents, picked up a container of orange juice, checked the date.
Not expired.
I put it back and removed a plastic container, then peeled back the lid.
Lasagna.
Cassie stalked across the room and snatched the container from my hand. “I didn’t give you permission to snoop in my fridge.”
“I didn’t know I needed permission.”
“It’s only polite.” She put the lasagna back in the fridge and closed the door.
I scratched my head. “Yeah, I stopped doing polite a while back.”
“Well, maybe you should start again.” She looked at Hawk. “So if I can work, will I be able to get more of my things from my apartment? Will I be able to… visit?”
Hawk lifted an eyebrow. “To visit your apartment?”
Jagger turned to look at her. “You can visit when you come to work. You won’t be a prisoner."
“I’m just trying to figure out how all this works.” She looked around. “This is my home.”
I felt the unfamiliar stirrings of sympathy. And it wasn’t that I didn’t care about other people. It was just that my curiosity usually overrode everything else. Now I realized that Cassie was sad and scared: sad to leave her cute little apartment and scared about what living with us would be like.
“You’ll stay with us when you’re not working,” I said. “You’ll eat meals with us. Live with us. Sleep with us.”
I stopped myself from saying fuck with us on account of the whole virginity thing. She’d seemed kind of sensitive about it.
But there would definitely be fucking. All kinds of fucking with all kinds of toys.
“Can I see my friends?” she asked softly.
“Within reason.” Hawk’s voice was cold.
Jesus fuck he could be a hard-ass.
“What about…” She hesitated. “What about Bram?”
It was a fair question, because Bram Montgomery was going to go absolutely batshit when he realized his little sister was our Hunt girl.
I was almost looking forward to it.
Hawk’s jaw tightened. “We’ll handle Bram.”
She didn’t look convinced. “I’ll get my things.”