Chapter 22
Kiara
Carefully, I extract myself from the bed.
Well, nest, which makes it ten times harder with Devlin and Z sandwiching me between them.
We shut off the shower hours ago, but between the residual heat in our makeshift steam room and being snuggled between two clingy furnaces?
It’s the first night I’ve slept like a rock in days.
The water bill is going to bankrupt me, but that sounds like tomorrow Kiara’s problem.
Sucks to be her.
If nothing else, last night’s whirlwind of events has cemented my determination to get my shit together by any means necessary.
I have one mate with ADHD, and another that’s feral.
A picture of stability, they do not make.
One of us has to be the adult in this relationship, and sadly, it looks like I drew the short straw.
Those poor, unfortunate souls. They don’t have the first clue that I’d happily burn bridges while standing on them out of spite.
I give it three months until we’re all homeless.
Still, I’m determined to give it the good ‘ol college try.
So I begrudgingly tiptoe out of the warmest room in the house and swiftly shut the door behind me.
Changing at hyperspeed and adding a few extra layers, I wind up in the kitchen, microwaving some hot chocolate since the stove is out of commission with the gas shut off.
While I sip it to warm myself up enough to function, I let my mind wander.
Unfortunately, all of my plans end in the same place.
I’m going to have to choose. The math simply doesn’t work to keep both the house and the clinic.
At least the clinic brings in some form of income, and there’s always a couple of empty rooms we can sleep in.
Once the decision is made, it’s like a weight is lifted from my shoulders.
The electric bill at the clinic? Half as much as the house for whatever insane reason.
Probably the lack of clients, but I’m going to lie to myself a little longer so I don’t feel so pathetic.
Stryker’s benevolent contributions may not be enough to cover my mortgage and utilities on top of everything else, but if I scrap my house from the equation?
I can cover the vet clinic bills this month and still have a little leftover for groceries.
Feeling optimistic for the first time in months, I head off to see Ellis at the realtor’s office. Only for him to cut off my newfound hope at the knees.
“It’s already paid off, silly goose, why would you want to sell?
Are you leaving Mercy so soon? If someone’s threatening you or the other mimics, you know the gargoyles would leap at the chance to eviscerate them.
It’s been peaceful here for long enough that they're getting bored and itching for a fight, but you didn’t hear that from me.
Regardless, you don’t have to leave.” Head canted, the fae looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“What are you talking about? I’ve only owned the house for six months, there’s no way it’s paid off.”
Frowning, Ellis hands me his records to check over. “It was paid off in full a couple days ago, babe. I assumed it was a courting gift.”
Courting gift? Stryker wouldn’t seriously go that far… would he? That’s insane.
I scan the paperwork, my gaze latching onto the signature, and stop breathing.
Havoc. Fucking. Knight.
What the hell is he playing at? Does he seriously think that he can flit in and out of my life whenever it suits him and order me around at his convenience? Hold my house over my head as leverage?
Buuuuuuulllllfuckingshit.
Best motivation a girl could ask for.
“I want to sell.”
Ellis’s emerald eyes shine with concern as he rubs the back of his neck. “Maybe you should sleep on it, babe. Most people would sacrifice a limb for a paid off house.”
My eye twitches. “Nope, one hundred percent sure. Free me from that life sentence and every string attached.”
Ellis narrows his eyes as it clicks and nods slowly. “Let me guess. Havoc is persona non grata?”
“That’s being generous. Havoc is persona a la rage quit life. He’s my fated mate, but tossed me out on my ass to start over in Mercy ridge alone and left me to drown, only to swoop in at the last minute to play the hero like that scores him any brownie points.”
Ellis’s gaze hardens to stone. “Noted. Want me to put him on the city’s ban list? I can get his ass booted like that.” He snaps his fingers, dead serious.
For a solid two minutes, I genuinely consider it.
Think about what life would be like if Vic were barred from entering Mercy Ridge completely.
I’d pay good money to be a fly on the wall as the barrier threw him out on his ass.
But a small, terrible part of me wants to see how he’ll react when he finds out I rejected his manipulative gift.
Is he going to try to order me into accepting it like I’m one of the men he commands?
Cry a little and beg for a second chance? Do wraiths even have tear ducts?
Come ooooooon tears. I could bottle them up and sell ‘em for a fortune.
“No, but I might take you up on that later. For now, let’s just get the ball rolling.”
Paperwork already in hand, he nods. “Do you have somewhere else to stay?”
“Yeah, don’t worry about me. I’ll be okay.” Someday.
As he works on the paperwork, pointing out everywhere I have to sign to untangle myself from Havoc’s convoluted web, Ellis goes off on a ranting tangent I only half listen to.
“- Ridge is set up to help people get back on their feet. I wish you’d have come to me when you first started struggling.
I could have worked something out with the utility companies, helped you secure extensions; something! ”
Pausing mid signature, I scowl at him. “Well it would’ve been nice to know that was an option. You couldn’t have included that info when I bought the stupid house in the first place?”
His eye twitches. “Did you even bother to read the packet I sent you home with?”
I mean… it was like five hundred pages. All the information for how to set up utilities and stuff was on top, the rest just looked like a copy of the title and mortgage paperwork. Why would I even think about rereading that?
He face-palms himself. “I’ll take that grimace as a no.
Noted, I’ll include it with the run down for new residents and call to check in with the rest of the mimics to make sure they aren’t suffering in silence.
Shit, might as well reach out to everyone that moved in over the last six months.
Fates, this is going to take weeks,” he groans.
Once I finish and am rubbing out a wicked hand cramp, Ellis gathers the paperwork.
“I’ll mail the check to you at the vet clinic, so keep an eye out in the coming weeks, and you’ll have six weeks once I file the paperwork to vacate the property.
But I’ll buy you lunch if you manage to get he-who-shall-not-be-named’s reaction on video when he finds out. ”
Chewing on the corner of his lip, he eventually works up the nerve to say, “It’s not my place, I know, but devil’s advocate moment.
Is it possible he realized how badly he fucked up and thought this was a grand gesture to grovel for forgiveness?
Because I’ve met tens of thousands of mysts in my life, and while I’m biased because those are the sort of people that would come to a safe haven city like this, I could count on one hand the number that would take the gift of a fated mate and simply…
throw it away. And of those few, it’d be a case of already being married and not wanting to hurt their partner, or they thought their mate deserved better than them.
Even the assholes would feel entitled like they were owed their mate or use them like an object to flaunt around like they were superior. ”
As much as it hurts, I take a second to really consider it.
I might have read the situation wrong the day we met, piecing together information from his room, sure.
But he’s had countless opportunities to prove me wrong in the past six months.
His son lives down the street from me and could pass along a message if he didn’t have the balls to face me himself.
And after how we left things during the last encounter?
It’s been days since the expo, but yet again, nada.
As the saying goes, if he wanted to, he would. And Havoc’s silence speaks volumes.
“I highly doubt someone like Havoc Knight would beg for anything, let alone forgiveness.” He’d have to apologize first, and that would require actually talking to me. So we all know that isn’t going to happen.
With a look of pity that kind of makes me want to punch him in his annoyingly perfect face, Ellis dips his head. “Let me know if you need help hiding a body, I have friends in low places.”
Chuckling, I thank him and head out. But while my shoulders feel lighter with financial freedom on the horizon, my heart is heavy on my walk through the city streets.
Ellis had a point. Why’s Vic suddenly pretending to care now?
And where does he get off coming in and bulldozing his way into my life after he cast me aside?
He sent me here like a dirty little secret and left me to struggle alone.
Maybe bumping into him at the expo reminded him that I exist, so he wants to toy with me until he gets bored and forgets about me again?
Fuck that, and fuck his help. I don’t want any part of the strings that come with it.
I’ll take his money though. Once that check clears, it’s mine. If he wanted any ground claiming I owe him something in exchange? He should’ve drawn up a contract laying out the terms and conditions.
Some life lessons are best taught the hard way, and Havoc’s about to get hit with 100,000 of them at once.