Chapter 15
Isa
Worried and on edge, Isa fought for patience. “Just drop me off first,” she repeated as she finished her one-word text to Locke. “Wonderland is closer. Drop me off, then take Kelly home.”
Des stood in front of her, arms crossed, eyes hidden behind sunglasses, expression unyielding. “We can wait at Wonderland until Locke shows up.”
The last twenty-four hours—hell, the last forty-eight—had been a nonstop pressure cooker, and Isa’s rising frustration threatened to blow the lid right off her churning emotions.
She locked her jaw, determined not to let it spew all over Des.
She understood he worried, but for fuck’s sake, she was a grown-ass woman who did not need a babysitter.
“No, you can’t. You need to get that girl home, and I need to get back to the bar,” she said.
As if it wasn’t enough that the meeting with River had gone long, Wonderland’s alcohol delivery was running early, leaving Isa with just enough time to get back to the bar to accept it. If Des stopped playing overprotective brother.
“We can wait.”
Isa went toe-to-toe with him. “No, you won’t.
” She grabbed Des’s chin and forced him to look to where Kelly stood a little ways down the sidewalk, talking on her phone, shoulders hunched, arms wrapped protectively around her stomach.
“She needs to get home to her mom, where she feels safe.” Under her fingertips, a muscle jumped in Des’s jaw.
“Fine,” he snarled as he circled her wrist and pulled her hand away from his face. He lowered his head until he could glare at her over his sunglasses. “You will set the security ward and keep it active until Locke shows up.”
Under her skin, irritation simmered, making her twitchy and bitchy.
She twisted out of his grasp. “Fine. Whatever.” She pulled her sunglasses off her head, grimaced when they took a couple of strands of hair with them, and shoved them in place.
“Delivery’s only fifteen minutes out.” And if they weren’t there to accept it, a reschedule would cost extra.
She caught Kelly’s attention and pointed toward Des’s SUV.
When the younger woman held up a finger, indicating she wouldn’t be long, Isa started over to the car.
Des followed, muttering. She had pulled open the passenger door when her phone vibrated with an incoming text.
Knowing who it was from, she sucked in air, hoping patience would follow, and checked the message.
CU in 30.
She got into the SUV, slammed the door shut—harder than necessary—then gave Locke’s response a thumbs-up instead of the middle finger before dropping her phone into the console cupholder so she could fasten her seat belt.
The driver’s-side door flew open, and on a wave of irritation, Des got behind the wheel. His silence was loud as he started the engine and hiked up the AC. It grew louder as they both stared out the windshield at Kelly. Isa wasn’t surprised when Des broke first.
“Dammit, Isa.” His rough voice held anger and fear. “This isn’t good.”
“I know.”
And it wasn’t Angel they were talking about but what had gone down in the lawyer’s office.
Even though River tried to put a positive spin on things, the more he spoke, the more Des and Isa could read between the lines, and what they detected made them edgy.
Based on the preliminary police report River had gotten his hands on, the scene supported Kelly’s self-defense stance, but if push came to shove and they ended up with a trial, it would come down to a he-said, she-said situation, with the he in this case very much dead at Kelly’s hand, something a jury might not look on favorably.
River explained that he was “fairly confident” the incident wouldn’t make it as far as a trial, but just in case, he went into detail on a couple of defense approaches, one of which involved Isa.
“If it comes to it, I’ll do it,” Isa said. By “it,” she meant hosting Leo’s soul and basically giving voice to the only other eyewitness to his death.
Des’s fingers flexed against the steering wheel, a muscle jumping in his jaw. “If you can even call him back.”
“If it keeps Kelly out of jail, I’ll drag his ass back one piece at a time.” And she would. It would just be… difficult.
“And then what, Isa?” Des finally looked at her. “You told me he was already fragmenting. That was almost two days ago.”
“It can be done.”
“I’m sure it can, but should it?” he asked. When she didn’t answer, he went for the kill. “It’s not like it’s floating around, waiting to be called back. Say you find enough pieces to patch that soul together and you are able to weave him back into some sort of reflection. How warped will it be?”
Isa winced. Des’s assessment was spot-on. Whatever remained of Leo’s soul would be reshaped by the judgment it was enduring, and the result could be dangerous.
Des didn’t give her a chance to respond. “Then there’s the legality of it all. Say the judge allows it and the defense doesn’t scream ‘bias’? Then the judge is going to hex you so you can’t interfere. Which means there’s shit all you can do if the little fucker decides to turn.”
And based on her first encounter with Leo, the odds of that happening were high. Not something she wanted to admit to Des.
He didn’t need her to. “Exactly,” he said.
She turned away and saw Kelly heading toward them.
Des did the same. “You need to get Locke to share whatever the hell is happening with River.” His voice was tight and hot.
Des’s order just added pressure to the weight of guilt she already carried.
“And how do you propose I do that, Des?”
Because whatever was going down with that damnable drug wasn’t something the Families wanted out there, which left Kelly as nothing more than collateral damage.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure you can figure it out,” he said.
She wished she had his faith in her persuasive abilities.
Kelly reached the car and pulled open the back door. “Hey, sorry about that. My mom said she’ll meet us at my place.” She hopped into the back seat. Kelly kept talking as she got situated and pulled the door closed behind her. “She wants to stay with me. Says she’ll help me finish packing up.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Isa said.
“I don’t know,” Kelly admitted in a low voice. “Maybe I should call my new boss and ask if I can delay my start.”
“No,” Des said. “You heard River. He told you the investigation is going to take some time, and if the police have more questions, you can always come back.” He put the SUV in gear and headed for the bar.
“So they can arrest me,” Kelly said softly.
“They aren’t going to arrest you,” Isa said, turning so she could see Kelly.
The young woman was staring out the window, her face pale, her hands knotted in her lap. “Not yet.”
“Hey.” Isa’s sharp voice had Kelly turning to her, eyes wide. “Enough, Kelly. I know you’re scared, and you have every right to be, but you did nothing wrong.”
With uncharacteristic bitterness, Kelly snapped, “I killed him, Isa.”
“In self-defense,” Isa shot back, refusing to let the other woman see how much it hurt to push this.
“You think your mom, me, Des, Cass—any of us—would rather be attending your funeral right now?” Kelly blinked, her mouth forming a small disbelieving oh, but Isa refused to back off.
“You didn’t start the argument. You didn’t hit him.
You walked him home, and he attacked you. His choice, Kelly. Not yours.”
“He was wasted.” Guilt trapped the girl in her corner.
Not about to let her get stuck there, Isa said, “And whose choice was that?”
Tears welled in Kelly’s eyes, and she pressed her lips together. She dropped her gaze to her lap, where her fingers were twisted together so tightly her knuckles were white. “I should’ve just got out.”
“You tried.”
Tears spilled and trailed down Kelly’s cheeks.
Isa softened her tone. “And when that didn’t work, you did what you needed so you could get away. You have the right to defend yourself, Kelly. Especially when your life is at risk—and it was.”
Kelly gave a hesitant nod.
Isa sighed, knowing it would take time and tools for Kelly to work through things. Since she had no idea what those tools were, she made a mental note to give Kelly’s mom the number of a therapist who had worked with some of Wonderland’s after-hours clients.
The rest of the short ride passed in quiet, each rider caught up in their own thoughts.
By the time Des pulled up in front of Wonderland, Isa was sick of hers.
They kept tangling up in useless circles.
She exchanged subdued goodbyes with Kelly and an abbreviated one with Des that included another annoying reminder by him to set the security wards.
Then she was free, at least momentarily.
She could feel Des watching her cross to the building, undo the security, and slip inside.
As soon as the door closed, she reset the damn wards.
Only then did she hear the faint rev of Dev’s engine as he left.