Chapter 31
LEGION
“ A man could definitely get used to this,” I grin as Vanna places a breakfast tray across my lap. My mouth is already watering over the aroma and presentation of pancakes, maple syrup, scrambled eggs, and breakfast sausage.
“I wasn’t sure what you like for breakfast, so it’s a little bit of everything,” she says.
“I’m surprised the good warden permitted this.”
She gives me a slight frown, but then admits, “Well, Cherry and I made breakfast for Dean, Ace, Axel, and Viking, too. So technically, he can’t complain.” She lowers herself into the chair beside me. “I hope this is enough to hold you over until later. With Viking around, there will be no seconds.”
“I’ll eat whatever you place in front of me,” I smile, unraveling the napkin she’s rolled a knife and fork within. “Have you eaten?”
She waves her hand as if to brush the question away. “I’m rarely in the mood for breakfast. Please, eat before it gets cold.”
“So, the young Keegan is here,” I say, forking off a piece of pancake to shove into my mouth.
The moment I do, I’m astonished. I’ve eaten a grand-slam-style breakfast before.
They’ve all basically been the same. But I can taste the difference in this dish once again.
That special ingredient she sprinkles into everything she prepares… Love .
“Yes, we just stopped by because we’re taking Ace up to the cabin for two days.”
“ Oh?” Admittedly, I feel some type of indecipherable way about her departure… A vexatious emotion I do not wish to examine in her presence.
“There’s a Christmas village up there we think he’ll really enjoy,” she goes on while I eat. “And Dean has to wrap up a few things with the cabin itself for the winter.”
“I see.”
She smiles warmly and leans forward to pick up the napkin on the tray, gently wiping my chin. “You’re like Ace,” she giggles. “We make him wear a designated shirt for meals involving syrup and sauce.”
“My apologies,”
“Don’t…he’s three and you’re injured,” she says, sitting back in the chair. “I’m glad you seem to be doing a bit better.”
“ It’s the pastina,” I wink, and her little laugh is a comfort in and of itself.
Once I’ve consumed every morsel, I thank her again for her efforts and compassion.
“I don’t expect you to be up and about any time soon, but I hope you’ll still be here when we get back,” she says, standing to collect the tray. “There’s no rush for you to leave. There’s plenty of room here. I could always go get whatever you need, wherever you’ve been staying.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“It’s really no trouble.”
“I’ve spent the majority of my life as a nomad. There isn’t much I own… Besides…our common enemies blew up my riverside retreat.”
The plate and utensils clatter on the shaking tray before she clutches it against her abdomen to steady it. “What?”
“My temporary dwelling is no longer… It hasn’t been for a few weeks now. I’ve been sampling all your county has to offer in the way of lodgings, becoming quite the hotel connoisseur!”
She isn’t amused by my attempt at making light of the situation and spends a moment simply blinking back at me.
Her mind is no doubt running through worst-case scenarios.
I know precisely when she lands on one that strikes a nerve.
Her brows shift from censurably knitted to pitched upward, and her knuckles turn white around the edge of the tray.
“I assure you, sweet one, my transitory stay here poses no threat. This beating I’ve endured bought us a little time… An interim truce while all parties ponder the offers and concessions exchanged.”
We share in another bout of tense silence. She did not find any assurance in my words… She is a good mother…
“ Vanna… If I believed my presence was in any way a threat to you or those you love, I would crawl out of here … Have I not proven all I’m willing to do for you?”
Besides… I’m not going anywhere, including Hell , until I’ve completed my mission. Earned my redemption… God owes me that much!
I t isn’t long after she departs when Keegan, the bastard about to snatch her from my side , graces me with his brooding presence next.
That unremitting glare lands on the mostly empty glass of sweet tea perched on the bedside table, before it transfers to me.
To rub salt in his wounds, I pick up the napkin she left behind and dab the corner of my pernicious grin.
Adept himself at reading others without the exchange of words, Keegan pulls in a long breath, attempting to quell the ever-roiling rage I incite within him.
“Relax, Keegan… I ate her pastina and pancakes… not her pussy.”
“I’ll be doing that while we’re up at the cabin,” he gut-checks me with the statement…
Touché…asshole.
“And since we’re on the subject, when were you going to mention yours was blown up? That was fucking weeks ago and might have been a pretty strong indication this shit was looming on the horizon.” He gestures to my current state.
I attempt to shrug, but the stabbing sensation shooting through my ribcage convinces me to abandon the gesture. “It was a rental,” I grunt through the pain.
“Well, you’ve managed to maneuver yourself into our clubhouse for the foreseeable future after all .” He crosses his arms contemptuously. “ Congratulations… Welcome home… Prick .”
His disingenuous tone grates against my tempered patience.
I’ve hurt men for far less. I haven’t tolerated any measure of disrespect, belittlement, or condescension in close to two decades…
Perhaps Keegan would benefit from a reminder of who he is talking to…
I don’t require a knife to fucking cut him…
Forcing a slight, insincere smile of my own, I tell him, “Once I am up and about, I am happy to help around the Twisted Throttle… I don’t expect free room and board, and I do have more than a decade of bar experience, having owned one myself until recently.”
“Did your enemies blow that up, too?” he mordaciously inquires.
“No. In fact, it fetched a fantastic price and more than bank-rolled my relocation to your precious Bermuda County…a gentleman’s club I happened to remodel and name myself.” Despite the discomfort from sneering, it’s worth the paling expression on Keegan’s face when I tell him, “ The Morning Star…”
Let that eat at his sanity while he’s away with her…
T he truck tires grind to a stop on the snow-dusted gravel of the driveway, and I grip the steering wheel a few seconds longer than I need to.
My knuckles are stiff from death-gripping it for the majority of the way to our mountain cabin.
Throwing the truck into park, I mentally remind myself to just breathe.
Smile. Keep my shit together for my family…
“Hey…” Vanna’s fingers touch my arm. “Everything okay?”
“Aces, baby.” I force a smile for her and unbuckle my seatbelt. “Just a long drive in a cage is all.” I pull the keys from the ignition and hand them to her. “Why don’t you get Ace inside, and I’ll bring in the bags and the groceries?”
She unbuckles her seatbelt and stretches before peering over her shoulder at our son soundly sleeping in his car seat.
A loving smile stretches her lips, and she reaches back to gently rub his knee, stirring him awake.
He blinks and glances around, craning his little neck to see out the window better.
“Are we there yet?” he asks, for probably the twentieth time, though with his nap, we got a brief reprieve.
“We made it,” Vanna says, opening her door and getting out of the truck to unbuckle Ace and grab his backpack.
I exit the truck as well, pretending to need a moment to stretch myself, while they make their way inside the cabin. The cold mountain air has nothing on the block of ice in the pit of my stomach.
The Morning Star… The fucking way he said it with that demonic grin…
How could he know? Vanna and I destroyed the spell together almost five years ago…
Did she tell him about it? Is what he said about his former strip club even true?
And if it is, did he reveal the connection to her?
Why wouldn’t she have told me if he did?
The fucking prick knows somehow. And he dropped that fucking brain-bomb on me to sabotage our getaway. Though there’s a chance this is all a coincidence…a very slim fucking chance, and I need to know whether it is or not right now.
I slip my cellphone from my pocket and check to see if it has service. It’s still hit or miss way up here, and I may just have to wait until we take a ride to that little Christmas town tomorrow.
Fuck my life… No signal.
I shove the useless thing back in my pocket and sling open the back passenger door. Grabbing the groceries to bring them inside first, I trudge up the wooden steps, determined to put this Morning Star situation out of my mind for now.
When I step inside, Vanna already has the lights on in the front of the cabin, the heat turned up, and is getting Ace situated in the living room near the stone fireplace.
Once I get a fire going, we’ll all be more comfortable.
I put the groceries on the small kitchen island and turn to go back out for our suitcase, but she heads me off at the door.
“Are you sure everything is alright?” she quietly asks, placing her hand on my arm again.
“I told you, doll. I’m Aces, baby.” I press a kiss to her forehead, but when I pull back to look at her, she folds her arms, clearly unconvinced. “I still have a bunch of shit to do before I can even think about relaxing, kitten. I’m just in get-it-done mode .”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“You can put the groceries away. Unless you want to lug in firewood instead?”
She scrunches her nose, and I’m sure we’re both thinking back to the last time she helped with the firewood and a spider crawled up her arm. I chuckle at the memory of the shriek she let out. It rivaled a hawk’s.
“ Shut up ,” she playfully warns, shoving me toward the door now. “ It was huge, and you know it!”