Chapter 30 #4
“ A deal with the devil,” she teases, but still seems unsettled as she gets up from her chair and moves across the room to the dresser against the wall.
She removes a blanket from the bottom drawer, then comes to stand at the foot of my borrowed bed.
“I’ve been icing the bruises on your chest, and the temperature is supposed to drop some more with this second cold front coming in. You might need this tonight.”
What I need is a hug…around my neck…with your thighs…heal me…
“ Will you tuck me in before you go?” I mean it as a joke, but for some reason, the playful smile, though possibly forced, slides right off her face. She catches herself, glancing away from me to fuss with unfolding the blanket, then spreads it out over me.
“I’ll be back to check on you, and again before I leave for the night,” she says, picking up a small plastic shopping bag which appears to contain my clothes.
I glance down and lift the sheet covering the lower half of my body to peek at the new sweatpants I’ve got on.
“You can thank Cherry for the clothes…and Viking for getting you into them,” she says.
“I’ll wash what you were wearing and bring it back…
Try to get some rest.” She grabs my filthy cut and leather moto-jacket from the back of a chair as well.
When the door shuts quietly behind her, I can’t help but wonder if that peculiar reaction had something to do with my nightmares.
“ I s he awake?” I ask, meeting Vanna at the halfway point in the hall.
“I think you should let him rest and just talk to him in the morning,” she practically insists, but it’s without any of the anger she was harboring for me this morning. Still, she doesn’t look up at me.
“Did he say something to you? What’s wrong? I can clearly see something is bothering you… What did he do?”
“He was asleep when I went in,” she says, barely sparing me a glance.
“But he was having a nightmare while I was cleaning him up… I… I tried to wake him, but I couldn’t at first. I almost left the room to come and get you…
It was bad , Dean… Worse than the kind I used to have.
” Her eyes are glassy and pained when she finally peers up at me, and I’m not sure if it’s over some sort of sympathetic emotional reaction to Legion, or if she’s upset by the memories of her past triggered by witnessing whatever she did in that room with him.
I’m not happy about either scenario, but the thought of her having any more sympathy for the demonic prick sends another pang of jealousy ripping through my chest. It only gets worse when she speaks again.
“ He was calling out for his mother…” Her voice nearly breaks, tears spilling over and down her cheeks.
“H-he sounded like a little boy…a hurt, frightened little boy…and I couldn’t help but think of Ace.
” She steps into me, needing to be held, and I’m grateful and eager to oblige, instantly wrapping my arms around her.
Maybe I’m a complete asshole, but I can’t help but wonder if he knew damn well she was in the room with him, and this was all an act.
Another fucking scheme to garner himself more of her sympathy, to wrap his fucking tentacles around her a little tighter.
I keep this suspicion to myself for the time being.
If I’m wrong, I’ll definitely look like the asshole, and not only will she feel more sympathy for him, she’ll be madder at me.
“Ace is safe, Vanna. No one will ever hurt him. I will always protect the both of you,” I assure her. It’s the truth, and I’d rather comfort her about our son, not my wannabe rival . I feel her head nod against my chest.
“I know.” She sniffles, straightening to peer up at me again. “I should get these clothes in the laundry. I doubt he’ll be up and about any time soon, but at least they’ll be clean when he is.”
L egion is sitting a little more propped up in the bed when I enter his room.
“ Ah , you just missed your wife,” the bastard grins despite a cracked lip.
“What’s the intel?” I ask, shutting the door and ignoring his obvious attempt at baiting me.
“I’m feeling slightly better, thank you for inquiring.”
“I’m gonna ask you one more time, before you’re feeling a whole lot worse. What do you have for me?”
“ Scathing resentment .” Legion scowls but rules in favor of self-preservation. “Blowing up that house in Jocsan really got their attention. And despite discovering Stanley, they’re willing to cut a deal with you.”
“What deal?”
“I need a smoke.”
“Knock yourself out.”
“I’ve had quite my fill of that, thank you.” Legion slowly moves to grab his cigarettes and lighter from the nightstand and sits up on the side of the bed. I realize the IV is no longer embedded in his hand.
“Did the vet come and go already?” I ask, nodding at the discarded IV line.
“No. I removed it myself,” he replies, placing a cigarette between his lips, about to light up.
“You might want to crack a window. Vanna’s not a fan.”
He attempts to stand, grimacing as he reaches for the blinds to slip his fingers through and unlatch the locking mechanism. Apparently, the reach is too much for his fractured ribs, and he sinks carefully back down to the mattress, defeated by the pain.
“This is a nonsmoking establishment anyway,” I say.
“You’re a real hard-ass,” Legion mutters, plucking the cigarette from his lips and slipping it back in the pack. He places it, and the lighter, on the nightstand and grabs the bottle of painkillers.
“And you were just about to tell me what went down last night.”
“Reaper’s second in command is a prick who goes by the road name Jagger,” Legion begins, twisting open the cap and popping two pills into his mouth.
He swallows them dry before continuing. “ Jagger informed me they were willing to pull out of Bermuda County completely if you agreed to back off. I pressed them for Jocsan County as well. They rejected it, but counter-offered a promise to stay out of the region where the Jokers’ clubhouse is located.
They won’t give up the entirety of Jocsan because of the ports…
I tried… I also warned you the strike in Jocsan would prompt a response.
” He lets out a heavy sigh as if frustrated.
“ Apparently , the house we hit with the Jokers was a setup, and they used us to take out one of their rivals.”
“So, they knew about Stan.”
He nods. “It was inevitable…but we squeezed him for what we could.”
“What happened to Stan?”
“He wasn’t aware they were on to him until just before he met me. I took him out.”
“You killed him?”
“That was inevitable, too.” Legion moves slowly and cautiously to lean back on the bed against the pillows, then studies me for a moment. “They offered me a spot in their crew. Thought you should know that.”
I narrow my glare at him. “And why is that? Did you think I’d be inspired to offer you a place with us?”
“No. I know that will never happen. That you will never trust or forgive me. I accept it’s a lost cause between us.”
“Am I to assume they rocked your shit because you turned down the offer?”
Legion scoffs. “No. My shit was destined to be rocked regardless. They didn’t ask me for a decision on the spot. I’ve been granted time to consider their offer while I heal from this message .”
“Generous.”
He glares at my sarcasm. “I haven’t forgotten you’re only tolerating my presence because of the fact I could have your little Road Captain locked up for felony arson.”
“That’s certainly not buying you any goodwill.”
A sly grin twitches at the corner of his mouth. “Might the fact that your wife cares about me hold sway over your tolerance as well?”
“There you go, playing with fire again.”
“ Indeed .”
“Get back to Jagger.”
“ As I was saying , he told me they’d be in touch in a few weeks.” Legion smirks, adding, “I’m fairly certain I’ll refuse the offer officially.”
“Or so you would have me believe.”
“The thought crossed my mind, I’ll admit that. But then, not only would I be betraying you…”
“You’d be betraying her .”
“ And I won’t do that ,” he sneers, mimicking the words of the song he danced with my wife to. I don’t feel bad that he got jumped. But if I did, the sentiment would have evaporated into thin air at his antagonizing words.
“Did you recognize this Jagger?” I ask.
Legion tilts his head slightly. “He remained in the shadows, though his voice was familiar… Do you know him?”
“Not sure yet. This situation is beginning to require a level of trust I’m not sure either of us is capable of.”
“ Beginning to?” He chuckles.
“You could be lying to me right now. You could be playing me like you played Vanna before.”
He cocks a cut brow. “Played Vanna?”
“Making her think you were trapped in some horrible nightmare, calling out for help… Way to garner a little extra sympathy from my wife, you manipulative asshole.”
He seems to pale, swallowing hard before asking, “What did she say?”
Maybe he wasn’t pulling any bullshit for once.
Those cold grey eyes stare back at me with an unease I’ve rarely seen in Legion.
I don’t know the specific details of his childhood, but I know enough, having witnessed the exchange between Legion and his brother before he ended his brother’s life…
It isn’t hard to guess what those nightmares may have been about.
I decide to spare him any further shame and embarrassment pertaining to the subject. “Nothing specific… Just that it was clear you were experiencing some kind of night terror.”