Chapter 5
Five
“So are we going to talk about it?”
I had my back turned to Phillip, hastily packing my duffel bag. I was glad to be going home briefly before heading out on the road so I could re-up on clothing and take a minute to pet Blinken and my newly adopted kitty, Nod. I’d already made arrangements with Lee, who had agreed to come check on them and feed them while I was away. I felt sorry for them, Blinken especially. Over the past few weeks, I’d barely been home, and I knew they were feeling neglected. I only hoped Blinken wouldn’t scratch Lee’s eyes out since the last time he’d seen him had been under different—and scarier, at least for Blinken—circumstances.
I sighed. “Talk about what?” I asked, even though I knew very well what he was referring to.
“I know you must have thoughts,” Phillip said, coming up behind me and putting his arms around my shoulders. “About everything I said in the interview. Some things more than others.”
“I mean, sure,” I said, leaning into him. It was impossible not to melt whenever he touched me, even when I was annoyed. His skin touched mine, and I lost all resolve. “I definitely have thoughts…but I’m not sure they matter at this point. It sounds like you’ve already made up your mind.”
“Honey, please don’t be like that,” Phillip said, squeezing me tighter, his mouth near my ear. “A lot of what I said, about making new music and stuff, I was just saying to…I don’t know, heighten the suspense. To make the interview sound good. I knew he’d ask, and I didn’t want to just outright say I had no plans.”
“Why not?” I asked, turning to face him. “If that’s the truth, why should you have any issue saying it?”
Phillip looked uncomfortable, his eyes cutting to the side.
I poked him in the chest. “Because you do have plans,” I said accusingly. “You are planning to make a comeback.”
“I wouldn’t call it that…”
“ Don’t call it a comeback?’” I laughed, and he looked at me, confused. “Phillip, if you’re wanting to get back into the music thing, to reform the band… just say that. It isn’t like I wouldn’t understand. I know music is your passion, and I know now that you’re back in touch with Jason and Nate…”
“We haven’t discussed anything concrete, really,” Phillip said quickly. “I just wrote a few songs, got a few melodies down, when you and I were apart. And it made me realize how much I missed the whole thing. Honestly, the guys are into it for the money, but I don’t even know if they’ve been practicing. It’s been so long, so much has changed…” He sighed. “And without Kim…Look, I don’t even know what the future holds. I’m just…we’re just…thinking about things. That’s all.” He put his hands on my shoulders and looked deep into my eyes. “I’d never do anything that would cause you harm or make you unhappy. We’re a team.” His eyes bored into mine. “If you’re not comfortable with it, say the word, and it’ll never happen.”
“Well, I suppose you’re lucky that I’m literally the world’s biggest Bloomer Demons fan,” I said with a dry chuckle. “So it isn’t very likely I would say no. And you knew that going in, which is why you felt so comfortable telling Dylan Quint to ‘stay tuned.’”
“You’re right. I’m sorry,” he said, peering at me. He brushed a tendril of hair from my forehead, his touch warm. “I mean it, Stormy. Whatever I said in that interview, it all changes if you say so. I won’t do anything to jeopardize your safety, your mental health, or what you and I have. You’re the most important thing in the world to me. And you always will be.”
I looked deep into his dark-green eyes. I could tell he was sincere. How had I gotten so lucky? “You’re the most important thing to me too.”
“I know,” Phillip said, smiling back, his eyes soft. “I’m grateful for that every day. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
He met me for a kiss, his lips tender and sweet. When he pulled away, I cupped his stubbly cheek. “I’d never ask you not to make music,” I promised. “We’ll figure it out. Whatever you decide—with the band, without—we’ll work it out, okay?”
“Only if you’re sure.”
“I’m sure,” I said. “I love you. I want you to be happy.”
Phillip’s arms crushed me to him. “I want you to be happy too.”
“I am,” I said, pressing my head to his chest, feeling his heartbeat thumping steadily. “I’ll be even happier when all this is over. Do you think we’ll ever be able to just sit down and relax?”
“God, I hope so.”
God, it was good to see Lee. I pitched forward and wrapped him in a clumsy hug, his white-blond hair tickling my temple as he bear-hugged me back. In such a short time, Lee and I had gone from strangers, to enemies, to almost-lovers, and now we had settled into an almost sibling-like friendship that I’d come to value deeply. It was probably circumstance, the two of us being thrown into stressful, high-trauma situations together that had bonded us, but I’d take it. I hoped the friendship would stick since I just adored Lee Courtenay. I pulled back and gave him a wide smile. “You’re sure a sight for sore eyes.”
“You act like I didn’t just see you two days ago,” Lee said, his freckled cheeks turning up with laughter. The light, purplish bruise fading on one of those cheeks was a sad reminder of the latest ordeal we’d all been through, but beyond that, he didn’t look any worse for wear. In fact, he looked healthy—and happy. The smile on his lips was genuine. It might have been the happiest I’d ever seen him.
“Well, that may be true, but the last time we all saw each other, things were a bit tense,” I retorted, cuffing him on the arm. “You can’t blame me for being a little on edge.”
“I’m safe,” Lee said softly, putting a hand on my shoulder. “We all are. That’s all that matters.” His light-blue eyes were filled with kind concern. “And you’re going to find your dad safe and sound too. I just know it.”
“Sure we can’t lend a hand?” I turned to see Benny—all muscular limbs—emerging from Lee’s car, clad in his usual black denim shorts and cut-up T-shirt. As he came up the porch steps to embrace me with a friendly hug of his own, I couldn’t help but think how good he looked too. His eyes were bright and he looked happier than I’d ever seen him as well; in fact, I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen an actual grin on his face until now. Benny was often decked out in various levels of goth makeup and clothes, so seeing him au naturale like this was a bit of a novelty. His own black hair—thicker and with more threads of auburn than Phillip’s but around the same length—was pulled back in a mini-ponytail, and he wasn’t wearing his signature contacts, so I could see his soft brown eyes in all their natural glory. They made a nice contrast to the smattering of freckles across his tanned cheeks. It tickled me that both he and Lee were freckled; I imagined them giving each other freckly butterfly kisses, an image that filled me with warm giggles and would likely make them both glower with annoyance if they knew.
As I stepped back, Benny’s eyes met Lee’s, the two taking an eyeful of each other, and they flushed simultaneously. I looked at Phillip and grinned. Just watching them stand together on my porch, feeling the chemistry they had with each other, it was undeniable—they were soulmates, and without each other, both were totally lost. It did my heart good to watch as Benny casually wrapped an arm around Lee’s shoulders, pulling him close, and leaned down to place a sloppy kiss on Lee’s temple. The way they instinctively leaned into each other reminded me of Phillip and me.
I hated to break up the moment. I’d rather stand there watching the two of them and their obvious happiness forever, but Phillip and I had to get going. “To answer your question, the biggest favor you can do for me is just watch my cats,” I said, “And keep an eye on the place in general, if you don’t mind. I doubt anyone will come around but…well, it’s me. You never know.”
“We’ll keep it all safe and sound,” Lee assured me. “Scout’s honor. I won’t let anyone, or anything, come into this place. And I’ll give the cats more love than they can handle. Anything else you want seen to?”
I shrugged. “The last person I trusted with watching the place was Sloan, and she failed miserably, so the bar is set pretty low. All I ask is that you give the fur babies some kibble and water and maybe a chin scritch now and then. Make sure nobody is robbing me of all my valuables.” I laughed. “Not that I have any.”
“Have you heard from her?” Lee asked. “Sloan?”
“No,” I answered, deciding whether I wanted to tell them I’d seen Sloan in the hotel lobby the day before. My first instinct was to sit on it until I made heads or tails of what I’d seen; what if it wasn’t her, and I was having delusions that were related to my own anxieties? But after all the conflicts I’d had with Phillip recently over us keeping things from each other, I knew I had to tell them. We couldn’t all help each other if we were keeping secrets. Besides, what if Sloan showed up here? Better to have Lee and Benny on high alert. “I haven’t heard from her. But I did…I feel like I might have seen her yesterday.” I quickly filled the three of them in on what I’d seen—a woman fitting Sloan’s description, lingering in the doorway, dressed to the nines, as the journalists had tried to ambush Phillip.
Phillip’s face was thoughtful. “Why would she have been there, do you think?”
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “Just to be nosy, maybe? I wouldn’t put it past her. I can imagine she’s curious about what’s going on, what happened to us after we left Elvin’s compound.”
“You should have told me right away,” Phillip said, but he didn’t look angry, only curious.
“When we left her, she was pretty much the worst for wear,” Lee mused. “She must have hightailed it to Savannah as soon as we left. How did she recover and get into town so fast?”
“Not much to recover from, really,” I said, absently touching my cheek where Sloan had scratched me with her nails. It was healing quickly, thanks to some Neosporin and a few zaps from Benny’s magic hands. I’d managed to cover it up with concealer—a really great concealer that Sloan herself had recommended to me years ago, in fact—but I could still feel it. Occasionally, it seemed to ping, like a reminder. Just a faint itch, a little burn, to make sure I didn’t forget. A reminder of what had gone down between my former best friend and me. “I just zapped her one good time or two. I didn’t do her any serious, lasting harm. I imagine she just drove home, or took an Uber. How she found us at the hotel, though, I don’t know.”
“Could she have any help?” Benny asked. “Who’s still around among Guthrie and Elvin’s associates?”
“Um…Shank, maybe?” I said, shuddering involuntarily at the henchman’s name. That was the only word I could think of when I thought of Shank: henchman . “I’m sure there are others, but he’s the only one I actually know. Unless Lydia or Renee…” I looked at Lee uneasily, hating to even bring up the possibility that his mother and aunt might be involved. I wanted so desperately to trust them, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to, not fully.
He shook his head. “No. Aunt Renee has been holed up at my father’s old place, and she’s pretty traumatized. Grieving and everything…she’s barely gotten out of bed. And Mom, well, she was on the first bus back to Boston yesterday morning.” His freckles stood out against the paleness of his cheeks. “And besides, neither of them would help her. My mother especially, not after Sloan was dating my dad. They’re on our side, Stormy, I swear. If they weren’t before, they definitely are now after all they’ve been through.”
Phillip grabbed at my hand. “What about Tess?” he asked softly.
I started to shake my head, to protest. I couldn’t believe my ex-husband, even with as many mistakes as he’d made over the years, could do anything to hurt me. But…a part of me wondered.
Because I’d believed the same thing about Sloan too.
I bit my lip. “I’d like to think he wouldn’t be involved, but…well fuck, I just don’t know anymore.” To my horror, tears pricked against my eyelids. “I don’t know who I can trust. I suppose he’s just as much a possibility as anyone else.”
“I’m sorry, Stormy,” Benny said, his eyes flickering with empathy. “I know it’s hard.”
“Oh, just ignore me,” I said stupidly, wiping at my eyes, trying for a laugh. “It’s been a long couple weeks. I’m overwhelmed and full of theatrics. I’ll be fine.”
“You’ve been through hell,” Lee said. “You raised the dead, got kidnapped, raised the dead again, went through a breakup, recovered a bunch of lost memories, reconciled with your mom, discovered your powers, your cat got catnapped, then your friend went missing, a dead body turned up in the marsh, and then you found out your best friend betrayed you.” He listed the events off on his hand, tapping them together as he ran out of fingers. “Now your dad’s missing. I think you’re allowed to feel sorry for yourself for a second. That’s a lot, Stormy. A lot for like, a few years. To have all that happen within a few weeks…well, it’s no wonder you’re half insane.”
“Who said I’m half insane?” I asked, laughing, wiping at my eyes again.
“We all are,” Benny said with a grin. “The Wolfden, home for the wayward, hopeless, and insane.”
“Save me a room.” I chuckled. “Sounds like my kinda place.”
“You’ll have to call ahead to Nikolai or Jamie to reserve one,” Benny replied. “Clara’s been so fucking extra recently, I need a few days’ break.”
I opened my mouth to ask about that—I’d been having some weird feelings about Clara myself lately—but decided against it. I had enough on my plate, goddamit. Clara, a female amateur wrestler and Benny’s ex (who still apparently had a major thing for him despite him having moved on to Lee), was by far my least favorite of the Wolfden’s members and the only person who gave me pause when it came to trusting the group implicitly. I kept remembering the showdown she and I had had outside of Jamie’s trailer, just after Benny had been shot and his body taken. Clara didn’t know me, and I got that she might not trust me right off the bat. But I sensed it was more than plain old distrust driving her. It didn’t help matters that she gave me an eat-shit look every time we were in a room together.
So far, I’d ignored Clara, and I intended to keep doing so, but I wasn’t prepared to put up with her shit, either. She might be able to wipe the floor with me, strong and powerful as she was, but I had my own built-in self-defense mechanism, and I’d use it if I had to.
Lee turned to Benny and gave him a peck on the cheek. “You guys are welcome to stay here and chill; anything at the house is yours,” I said, knowing all too well what it felt like to need privacy and alone time. “You might need to do a food shop, though. I haven’t been home enough to stock up on supplies. There’s a bottle of red on top of the fridge. Just make yourselves at home.”
“I appreciate it. It’ll be nice to have a respite, just the two of us,” Benny said, and Lee smiled. “Just the two of us, alone, for more than a second.”
“I get that,” I said, turning to Phillip with a smile. “We felt the same way, holed up at that hotel for two days. Though I think ol’ Rockstar here was chomping at the bit to give that interview and get back in the spotlight.”
Phillip’s face colored. “It wasn’t exactly like that—" he started huffily, but I stopped him with a finger under his chin.
“It’s okay, Phillip. You can admit you like the fame.” I gave him a tickle until his lips curled up in a smile. “Who wouldn’t? And after all, that’s why I first fell in love with you.”
“And here I was thinking it was because of my body.” Phillip grinned.
“Believe me,” Lee said, opening my screen door and heading into the trailer, “it was that too. He laughed and waved his hand in a shoo motion “Now you two get the fuck out of here already. Love ya, bye.” He and Benny went inside and slammed the door, their laughter sounding from inside.