Chapter 17
Eli had never felt as lonely in his house as he did that evening. There was nothing. He was all alone, and he didn't have to go out into the garden to close the gates behind the rabbits and chickens.
After a couple of hours, he grabbed a thick sweater and put on shoes, and hurried out through the door.
The street was deserted--of course it was.
Maria, Teresa, Lorenzo, and Alice were at the ranch.
He was the only one living here now. He hadn't said goodbye to them.
Guilt washed over him. Alice had come into town to get him, and only a few hours later, he'd left again.
Shaking his head, he hurried toward the hotel. He didn't go past the shop. He didn't want to see it, so he stuck to the other street leading out to the town square. Most windows were dark, which wasn't how it normally was. It wasn't so late people had gone to bed yet, so there should be activity.
He crossed the square without seeing a single soul, then he hurried over to the hotel.
There was light spilling out from the windows, and Eli opened the door to the lobby.
It was unlocked, but the reception desk was deserted.
There was no one by the bar, and when Eli stilled to listen, he couldn't hear a single sound.
After a moment's hesitation, he walked toward the kitchen. Elijah had been there when he'd last come around. He gently rapped his knuckles against the swing door before pushing it open.
Elijah was by the kitchen island, knitting something. The image made Eli still. He hadn't known Elijah could knit, and since it looked like a simple scarf without any patterns or decorations, maybe he wasn't great at it.
A sound escaped Elijah when he spotted Eli and dumped the knitting needles and yarn in a small basket and shoved it onto a shelf underneath the island as if ashamed of having been caught.
Eli stared at him. Why hide it? “Are you okay?"
Elijah looked at him for a second. “Yeah, sure. I didn't think you'd be back already."
Eli shook his head. He wasn't sure what he meant by it, but it was what he did. “I think I panicked."
Elijah grinned. “You panicked? What happened?"
Eli sighed, and Elijah jumped off the stool he'd been sitting on and gestured for Eli to take it. The island wasn't built to sit by, there was no room for his legs, but it was nice to get off his feet. Elijah hurried out through the swing door and was soon back with a stool from the bar. “Tea?"
“Would be lovely, thank you."
Elijah put a kettle on and prepared a pot. “It's not real tea. I've dried spearmint leaves."
“That's perfect." Few people had real tea these days. Or he assumed those who lived where they grew tea had it, but transportation was dangerous and expensive.
They were silent while Elijah prepared their drink, then he placed a mug each on the island and sat on the stool. “So...what happened?"
Eli told him about going to Thano's, how everyone had helped carry his things, and built a chicken coop and a pen for the rabbits. He left out fucking Thano on his bed while people worked outside, but the memory made him blush.
“Why are you here then?" Elijah poured the tea.
“They talked as if I'd live there."
Elijah's face was blank. “Yeees?"
“But what about the shop? What about the people here? What will they eat?"
Shrugging, Elijah cradled the mug. “Maybe it's the wake-up call they need."
“You think I should let people starve?"
Elijah grimaced. “Someone else would've taken it over.
What's happening is insane, and the new rules are coming too fast. In only a couple of days, our way of existence has changed.
Ambrose brought in some friend of his and made him deputy.
He lives here too now, which is good. More income.
But I feel like I'm harboring criminals or something. "
Eli guessed it was the man Rosie and Lisa-Mae had seen on the dock. Was someone from another settlement trying to take over Last Hope? Nah, the board was power-hungry, but Eli didn't think there was any agenda from outer forces.
“I have to be here. People will starve without the shop.
They'll most likely starve with the shop too because I won't have any meat.
How will anyone get hold of meat?" He cradled his head.
“The others aren't coming to town anymore.
They're having a meeting now where Thano is forbidding them to come. "
When Elijah didn't reply, Eli looked up at him.
“You could've been there, Eli. You could've been like Romeo. How many times have you looked at him and wished you were him?"
“Ciar is scary. I wouldn't want to sleep next to him at night."
Elijah chuckled. “Thano is scary. He's the boogie man personified." His grin turned wicked. “In a nice suit."
Eli shrugged. Thano could be scary, and he did look fine in a suit, but he'd never been anything but kind to Eli. He'd been willing to change his entire life for Eli without truly knowing him. Fuck. He groaned.
“Maybe you should've been thinking about yourself for once. What kind of life do we live here? I bet being at the ranch is better if you're sure you won't get eaten."
“I'd get eaten." He grinned at Elijah, which was met by a splutter.
“He bit you?"
Eli gave a short nod.
“Was it painful?"
Eli opened his mouth to respond only to grimace. “When the fangs broke the skin it stung, but it was surprisingly painless otherwise. And when he licked it, the wound disappeared. He said he could remove the memory if I didn't want it, so maybe you've been bitten too without knowing it."
Elijah stared at him. “God, I hope not. Or...I mean, I don't want anyone to mess with my mind. I wasn't sure they could, but if Thano..." His voice died away. “Could you ask them not to mess with my mind?"
Pain stabbed at his heart. “I don't know if I'll ever see anyone from The Moonlight Ranch again." He grabbed the mug and sipped the tea to distract himself.
Elijah's gaze swept over his face. “I'm sure you will. I don't think Thano will leave you."
Sighing, Eli rubbed his neck. “I was the one who left him. Romeo told me I was Thano's mate, and I...panicked, I guess. I told him I don't know him and can't just move in with someone I don't know. Thano was upset and hurt and fixed a ride for me back to town."
“And you left?" Elijah looked at him as if he'd lost his mind.
“What was I to do?"
“Stay and be happy. You can never have a partner here. They'd kill you before they'd let you. You'll always have to deal with the board, will always have too little food, will always have to worry about saying or doing the wrong thing. Haven't you seen Romeo?"
“I think I've seen more of Romeo than you have."
“Yes, so you know he's not starving, he's not mistreated, he doesn't have to worry about a thing because as soon as there is trouble brewing, he's surrounded by scary as fuck monsters who won't let anyone get near him."
All true, but...“What about the people here?"
“Fuck the people here! They would never go out of their way to make your life better."
“Some would. Lisa-Mae and Rosie--"
“Would sell you out the moment they saw you kiss Thano."
Maybe.
Elijah shook his head. “You have a chance to get out of here. Take it."
“Had. I had a chance to get out." He hadn't taken it.
“Next time it arises, take it. I wouldn't have hesitated for a second."
“No?" Eli wasn't so sure. “What about the hotel?"
“The hotel is to keep me alive while I'm here. And maybe, when you're on the outside, you can find a way to help us without having to worry about the board."
Had something happened while he'd been gone? Elijah had mentioned the board several times now.
* * * *
Thano looked out over the faces gathered on the gravel road outside Romeo's house.
Now when Eli wasn't here, he almost wished they'd been in the clearing where they always were when they had meetings.
He didn't care what Romeo's coven thought about how they did things at the ranch.
He'd included humans because he wanted Eli's input.
“There were people by Eli's shop." Emeric was the first to speak, not something he normally did. He rarely spoke at all during meetings unless it was to clarify something he wasn't sure he'd understood right.
“Doing what?" If they'd been inside Eli's shop without his permission, Thano would hunt them down.
“I'm not sure. I didn't want to risk being seen, and I was in a bit of a hurry to get back here, but they fastened a paper on the door and a man with a gun had a--" He looked at Romeo and gestured with his hand, mimicking opening something. “--unfolding seat."
“Folding stool?" Romeo frowned.
“Pretty small, black fabric." Emeric gestured again, and Thano breathed in deep. What kind of chair the idiot had was irrelevant.
Romeo nodded. “Sounds like a folding stool or camping stool or whatever we want to call them."
“It doesn't matter what we call them." Thano tried hard not to snarl. “Couldn't you see what it said on the paper?"
“Wait." Teresa held up a hand. Of everyone in Romeo's coven, she was the one he liked the least. Maria was kind, Alice was in her own world, and Lorenzo was a good mate who mostly focused on making Alice happy, but Teresa--She complained a lot, and she often blamed Romeo for things going wrong in her life.
He wasn't sure he'd grant her a permanent stay at the ranch if it came to that.
“No one is allowed papers."
“The board has papers." Thano's tone was clipped. “If there is a paper on Eli's door, it'll be from the board."
She looked like she wanted to argue, but Thano had been on the board, she hadn't.
Emeric grimaced. “I didn't read the paper."
“Whatever it says, it sounds as if they've put a guard outside Eli's shop." Romeo hooked his arm in Ciar's. The easy touch made Thano's chest ache. “Maybe it isn't a bad thing, maybe he's there to keep people from looting."
“From what?" Byrd frowned at Romeo.
“Stealing. Maybe someone heard Eli was out of town and figured they could get away with stealing food."