Chapter 14
Breakfast was fruit and scrambled eggs made by Ishleen. The lot of them crowded into the kitchen the same as with dinner, though only three of the six workers arrived during the hour it took for the food to be made and them to all eat it.
Ryker sent the two that had helped with dinner, Thea and Cyril, upstairs to check the rooms once they were done eating, easily falling into the leadership role again.
His father had prepared him well, taught him how to be an overbearing asshole.
How to speak in a way that demanded attention.
Personally, he couldn’t give two shits about whether the other people in the building were oversleeping, or if something had happened to them.
But he’d noticed the way the others had tensed, and knew it was best to give them a sense that everything was under control.
When people panicked, things got dangerous, and with unknown creatures roaming outside, there was already enough of that to deal with.
“I can make you more,” Ishleen offered when Ryker ate the last bite of eggs on his plate.
She’d taken the seat on his right, had angled her body toward him, and was clearly leaning into his space. He’d mostly ignored her, too focused on eating and gathering his thoughts, but it became impossible to continue doing so when she rested a hand over his forearm.
“You always eat a ton in the dining hall at school.” She smiled at him. All things considered, she seemed in much better shape than her friend Esti. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail, her face clean and covered in artfully done makeup. She’d be pretty, if Ryker was into that sort of thing.
Which he wasn’t.
He’d flirted with her before only to get Rue’s attention, but it must have gone to her head if she thought touching him was an okay thing for her to do.
Before he could tell her to back off, Rue, seated on Ryker’s left, dumped his remaining eggs onto Ryker’s plate.
“He doesn’t want sloppy seconds,” Ishleen said, keeping her tone teasing, even though there was an obvious competitive glint in her eye, which was absurd.
“No, I don’t.” Ryker swiveled in his chair before his words could sting Rue, swapping out their plates so the full one was back in front of the other guy. “What I want is for you to keep up your strength.” He captured the back of Rue’s nape, leaving his palm there pointedly. “Eat.”
“Wow, Ryk,” Penn laughed on the other side of the table, “you’re such an attentive big brother.”
“He’s had practice,” Hollis added, then immediately lowered his gaze when Ryker stared at him.
“What he has,” Ellery drawled from his perch at the end, “is patience. That’s new.
A week ago, he would have stabbed you both with his fork for daring to talk about Ryder.
Is this growth, bestie?” He clicked his tongue.
“I hope you can undo it before our next match. Enraged you is much more useful than whatever the fuck this is.”
“He’s playing leader,” Uriel chimed in, though it was clear he didn’t mean it as an insult, despite how it sounded. “Better him than us. Unless you want to try to keep this bunch calm and alive in his stead, cousin?”
“I barely want to keep us alive,” Ellery snorted.
“That’s what I thought.”
“Want to know what I’m thinking?”
“No,” Ryker answered for Uriel, but of course that did nothing to deter Ell.
“This whole nice guy persona is an act for little brother.” He pointed at Rue with the end of his utensil, grinning when Rue gave him a dirty look. “What? I’m doing you a favor. I’m telling them all it’s best not to mess with you. Or your man.” This last part was directed at Ishleen, who stilled.
“Don’t go around spreading rumors,” Rue stated, tensing when Ryker’s fingers reflexively tightened around his neck at the swift rebuttal.
Bowie suddenly grabbed onto Ryker’s wrist, attempting to tug him off. “Let him go, Ryker.”
“Never.” Ryker wouldn’t be doing that ever again. He got to his feet, making sure to keep his hold on Rue all the while.
Across the table, Hollis frowned. “You’re stepbrothers.”
“Your point?” He didn’t shake off Bowie’s hold, but turned his attentions to the other annoyance.
Ellery’s lack of interest toward the rest of their party was starting to sound highly appealing.
If he wasn’t worried about one of these idiots doing something stupid that could put them all at risk—put Rue at risk—he’d leave them to fend for themselves for sure.
“What?” Hollis glanced between the two of them. “You can’t seriously be—”
“Fucking my stepbrother?” Ryker cut him off bluntly. “What’s it to you? Unless,” he tipped his head in Esti’s direction, “the real reason you left your girlfriend to die yesterday was because you were hoping to get with Rue.”
“N-no way!” he sputtered, waving his hands in Esti’s direction, even though she was very pointedly acting like she wasn’t paying them any attention.
Her mom was dead and she needed stitches she wasn’t going to get here, so it was safe to assume she had bigger things to worry about than a shitty no doubt ex-boyfriend.
“Stop saying stuff like that!” Bowie shot to his feet now as well. “You’re embarrassing him!”
“Am I?” Ryker tipped his head down at Rue. “Are you embarrassed, sweetheart?”
“Sweet—” Penn caught himself and cleared his throat.
“Oh, come off your high horse,” Ellery sneered. “They’re not blood related you absolute morons.”
“Still, it’s…” Hollis licked his lips, “it’s not normal.”
“Normal?” He flung a hand toward the window over the sink. “Are you forgetting about the monsters outside? None of this shit is normal. Get over it.”
“You haven’t answered me yet.” Ryker was going to make Rue say it.
Right now. In front of all of them. That way there wouldn’t be any more misunderstandings from anyone.
He’d yet to inform him that he planned on leaving today with the other Black Harts to search the pool house, and there was no way he’d be comfortable going if he wasn’t certain no one in here would try anything in his absence. “Am I embarrassing you?”
“Yes,” Rue said. “Cut it out.”
“Yes?” The smirk he flashed next wasn’t very kind. “Should I put you over the table and show them how you moan for me when—”
Admittedly, he’d seen the punch coming.
But foresight didn’t mean he was any less pissed off when Bowie’s fist connected with his jaw.
The momentum forced him to release Rue, and he stumbled back, practically falling into Ishleen, whose arms came up around his middle. She helped to steady him, but didn’t let go even once he was stable, keeping her hands on his waist.
Ryker allowed it.
The jealous expression that Rue set their way was worth briefly tolerating another’s touch.
Rue planted a palm against Bowie’s chest, eyes on Ishleen’s fingers splaying over Ryker’s hips.
The corner of his mouth hurt, and when Ryker darted out his tongue to assess the damage, he tasted copper.
“Creature bait could come in handy,” Uriel surmised, staring Bowie down.
“Don’t you dare,” Rue snapped. “No one touches him.”
“But it’s fine for him to touch Ryker?” Ellery’s good mood had soured. Interesting, considering he’d always found infighting hilarious.
Ryker had already figured out that Bowie was sporting a crush toward Rue, but now that he’d confirmed it, he was feeling less inspired to protect the bastard from whatever was out there hunting them.
Unfortunately, that sort of mindset wasn’t going to fly with Rue, and they’d made a deal, so…
He sighed. “Ishleen, could you help me clean this cut? He got me pretty good.”
“Of course!” She started to pull him away from the table. “I left the first aid kit in the foyer after I redressed Esti’s leg. Come with me.”
“Stop,” Rue lost his cool after they’d only made it a couple of steps.
Ryker paused and pretended to consider, then turned to glance at him over his shoulder. “She’s got this. You worry about keeping your friend safe from mine. Seems to be your top priority.”
“They won’t mess with him if you tell them not to.”
It was cute that he thought the Black Harts followed Ryker’s orders. They didn’t. They were deferring to him for now because it was in everyone’s best interests, but the unspoken hierarchy between them went that way for a reason.
So neither Ryker or Illya could get too angry if one of the others chose to ignore their commands.
But now wasn’t the time to correct Rue’s assumptions, and Ellery and Uriel kept their mouths shut on the matter as well.
“You promised you’d protect them,” Rue reminded.
“Did you go to him for help?” Bowie sounded wounded. “Don’t bother. We can take care of ourselves.”
“Sure you can.” Ellery snorted.
“He says he’s fine.” Ryker shrugged and went to leave with Ishleen.
Rue stormed forward, then passed them, blocking their path.
In retaliation, Ishleen slipped one of her hands into Ryker’s.
“Going to do something, little brother?” Ryker challenged. This thing between them was still unsteady. He knew they were inevitable, that he had no plans of ever letting the other man leave him, but Rue was as of yet still in the dark about the extent of Ryker’s obsession.
Of his fury.
It was still there, brimming just beneath the surface. Bubbling up whenever he was reminded of how Rue had gone radio silent the second everything with Ryder had gone down. How he’d come back, only because Rhys had insisted, and had gone so far out of his way to avoid being caught alone with Ryker.
Knowing the reason behind that, that he hadn’t run out of grief over Ryder’s loss, or because he hadn’t wanted Ryk, helped soothe most of the anger, but it didn’t dampen it completely. How could it, when leaving had still been Rue’s choice?
He’d decided running away would be better than confiding in Ryker.
Ryk wasn’t done punishing him for that.
Call him petty.
But helping him out could be punishment too.