Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (Dead Things Series Book 1) (41 page)

71

EMBER

E
mber sat there long after Kai left. She didn’t know why she’d felt his betrayal the most. Maybe because Tristin hated her so her using her to get Quinn back made sense in a twisted logic kind of way. She didn’t feel the sting of Isa’s betrayal like the others because she believed the alpha had the best of intentions.

“Can we talk?”

Her eyes flicked dully to Mace. He lounged against the side of the house. He tried to look indifferent but his shoulders were just a little too stiff. She supposed if she let herself feel it, Mace’s betrayal would have hurt the most. If she chose to feel it. Which she didn’t.

Maybe it was her magic attempting to keep its anchor. Maybe it was her amazing denial skills. She didn’t know. She didn’t care. When she looked at him she just wanted. She wanted his magic, his kiss, his body, his scent. She just wanted him for however long she could have him. She could deal with the pain when she was more herself.

“What is there to talk about?”

“You have to know, when this whole thing started, I didn’t know his plan. I really was hired just to watch you. I didn’t know his plan to take your power and I certainly wanted nothing to do with killing you.”

“No, you just wanted my soul,” she said, standing and moving towards him.

“It’s not like that, not really.”

She didn’t want to hear his excuses. She didn’t care anymore. Everybody lied. Every one of them wanted something from her. She would bide her time, play the good girl and when she could, she’d run.

She dragged her hands along his chest, feeling the scar tissue beneath his t-shirt. She let her nails dig in just enough for him to grimace. She nosed her way along his jaw to his ear. “Hungry?” she whispered.

She took the way his breath hitched as a yes.

“Me too,” she told him catching his bottom lip between her teeth.

“I told you, we can’t do that again.” He pressed the words against her open mouth, hands sliding into her hair. She dragged her tongue across his lower lip. “Are you sure?” she taunted, her hands sliding around his back, dipping below his shirt. He flinched as her fingers traced the layers of scars.

He flipped them so she was pressed against the side of the house. “You are playing a very dangerous game, Luv,” he murmured.

She worried at his lip with her teeth before soothing it with her tongue. “I thought you liked danger? I have to say, you aren’t really living up to your bad boy reputation.” Her gaze met his and his eyes flashed silver. His hands were at her thighs, lifting her, giving her no choice but to wrap her legs around him. This time he kissed her how she wanted to be kissed, hard and punishing with no empty platitudes about sorry. He walked them backwards, setting her on the railing. She didn’t unwind her legs, just pulled him closer, her magic snaking around them both, offering herself to him in every way.

He gasped into her mouth as he realized she was the one who’d opened the connection for him to feed. She smiled. He pressed against her harder, practically crawling inside her. He couldn’t get enough.

She shivered as he fed. His hands were everywhere. His lips everywhere. She liked this feeling of control. The big, bad soul eater helpless to resist what she offered; of what only she could offer. She could do this forever.

She could hear herself making whiny, needy little sounds but she didn’t care. His hips were pressing into her in the best possible way and the sensations seemed to reverberate through her in a way she didn’t think she’d ever be able to describe.

Her magic severed the connection when it decided he’d had enough. He pulled back, stumbling, eyes glassy, slack jawed and intoxicated. “Yeah, you love that, don’t you?” she purred at him. “Just because we are stuck with each other doesn’t mean we can’t both get something out of it. You don’t even have to lie to me anymore.”

“Ember,” he slurred. “That’s not-”

“Shh, be good and you can have some more,” she promised.

His lips found hers and she tried to ignore the way her power gloated. She could keep him if she wanted to, soul drunk and so very pliant. She could. She mentally shook the thought away. She couldn’t get cocky. Her magic was only happy when Mace was near. She couldn’t lose sight of what they were doing there. She needed him, if only for a bit longer.

72

TRISTIN

T
ristin lay curled against her pillows, Quinn’s black frames on her face and his hat scrunched in her hand. It hurt more this time. She couldn’t say why. The first time it had felt like somebody sawed her open while she was still awake; a pain so acute she knew it couldn’t last forever. This time, it was like she’d lost a limb but could still feel the pain of it, this phantom empty agony with no hope of ever resolving.

She pressed the hat to her nose, tears soaking through the knit cap. His scent faded more every day. Ember had gotten to see him. She’d gotten to say goodbye face to face. She felt like if she could just see him, touch him one more time, maybe she could see her way around it. Like maybe she could honor his request to move on.

But the idea made her sick in her soul. She didn’t want to live her life without him in it. She didn’t want to get married and have kids if he wasn’t there in some way. Even if he came to his senses about her and met the real girl of his dreams. One capable of talking about her feelings and taking care of him like he’d deserved. Even if he’d met that girl, Tristin could have resigned herself to the work of living as long as Quinn was just…there.

But he wasn’t. He never would be.

She jumped as something tapped against her window. She gaped at the shadow perched just outside on the roof. She stared until Astrid gestured to open the window, scowl fixed in place.

Tristin hopped to her feet, rushing to let her in. “What the hell are you doing here? Isa and the pack know everything, if they catch you here…”

Astrid laughed, “What? If they catch me, what are they going to do?”

“Tell your father? Unless he already knows.”

“Are you kidding? Don’t be stupid. Of course not.”

“How did you get up here anyway?”

“Easy, I cloaked myself from the wolves and climbed right on up. Speaking of climbing, did you know your cousin is outside climbing your soul eater like a tree? Looks like he’s enjoying every minute of it too.”

Tristin winced. That was a mental picture she didn’t need. She could not understand her cousin’s fascination with him. He was evil. He lied at every turn. He tried to kill her. Ember was pathetic.

“So, did you get her to the tattoo place?”

Tristin nodded, “I got her there but she spooked and ran.”

Astrid’s face flushed red, “What?”

Tristin met her gaze, tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth as she said, “She didn’t get the tattoo. The plan is off. We can’t bring him back.”

Astrid shoved Tristin hard enough to knock her into the mattress. She sat down before she fell, looking at the witch with wide eyes. “What is wrong with you?”

Astrid gaped at her, “What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you? You claim you love my brother but you give up so easily.”

“I did-I do love him but what you want can’t be done. Death magic won’t work.”

“You’re pathetic. I don’t need you for this. I’ll figure out another way and when I get my brother back I’ll make sure he knows how you lost your nerve. I thought you were the fighter.”

“You’re crazy, Astrid. There is nothing left to do, just let him go.”

“No. I won’t be stuck alone in this place. I can’t be in this family without him. I’ll figure out a way to get him back. I swear it.”

Tristin just stared helplessly as Astrid left the way she came.

When she felt like she was truly alone she finally gave in and just let herself be miserable. She carefully placed his glasses on the table and spread his hat across her pillow. This time when the tears came she didn’t try to stop them.

She didn’t even know if she could.

73

KAI

T
he morning of the bonfire, Kai woke panicked, wrenched from a nightmare where he lay trapped beneath a steal beam in a burning house. He woke up sweaty, weighed down by two hundred plus pounds of overheated werewolf. Rhys snored above him, tightening his grip when Kai made a halfhearted attempt to push him off.

Kai hadn’t wavered since their conversation but Isa told them it was essential the other packs believed Kai and Rhys were together. If the packs thought there was any dissention among their ranks they would be a target for a bigger pack to try and take over. Belle Haven was prime territory and now Kai knew why. Who wouldn’t want access to all the extra magical juice pumping from the ground? Isa insisted the only way the others would believe they were still a couple was by scent.

Isa had suggested the two cohabitate for the night, which showed just how desperate the alpha was. Kai couldn’t think of a time when Isa would ever have agreed to them sharing a bed. Kai knew he had to play the part, he just wished it wasn’t so painful. He pressed his nose against Rhys’ shoulder, inhaling deeply. He could just go back to sleep. Sleep was his friend. He lived for those tiny moments in between sleep and waking where he forgot, for just a while, how much it all sucked.

He shoved at the wolf one last time. Rhys grumbled, burying his face deeper against Kai’s neck. Goosebumps broke out along his skin. Even sleeping, Rhys knew how to make him squirm. He just wanted a few more minutes to pretend but it was a terrible idea. He wiggled trying to dislodge Rhys but only succeeded in letting Rhys settle more fully against him. He clenched his eyes shut and tried to think about baseball or that sound the wolves made when they shifted, anything to keep himself from taking advantage of the way Rhys’ hips were flush against his.

He knew the minute Rhys woke fully, feeling his body tensing above him. He waited, knowing his own bounding pulse gave him away. Rhys slid his hand over the bare skin of his arm, threading their fingers together and moving his hips in a way that had Kai’s vision going white at the edges. Kai opened his mouth to protest but Rhys ran his tongue along the space where his neck met his shoulder and all that came out was an undignified moan.

This is exactly how things had gone too far in the truck. Oh, God, thinking about what they’d done in the Suburban was doing exactly the opposite of calming his hormones. Rhys growled at the scent of Kai’s obvious arousal, pressing his pelvis against Kai’s to show his own interest in the proceedings. Kai gasped. It would be so easy to let things go there again, just one more time.

Rhys’ mouth found his and Kai’s lips parted instinctively, letting him in. Kai couldn’t think with Rhys touching him, kissing him. He pressed himself closer, rubbing himself against the wolf’s sweatpants clad thigh.

It took him too long to realize Rhys was speaking, muttering against his lips, “I miss you. I miss this. This is stupid.”

It was like cold water in his face. His feelings weren’t stupid. He’d lied to him. Rhys still didn’t get it. He turned his head away, shoving against him. “Get up. We aren’t doing this. I think we stink enough of each other for people to believe we are still together.”

Rhys pulled back, sitting on his knees. “Why are you being so stubborn about this? About us? You forgave Isa. Why not me?”

Kai pressed his lips together. “It’s different with you. For years, I’ve followed you around like an idiot. I confessed my undying love to you and you just stood there, letting me and it never once occurred to you to say anything about my sister and I being your prisoners?”

“You aren’t my prisoners,” Rhys muttered, looking put out.

Kai could feel his face turning red. “I can overlook the fact you can’t express your feelings. I can overlook this Neanderthal instinct to mark me as your property. I can even overlook how you jump to defend me even when you know I am fully capable of defending myself.” Kai took a breath to calm himself. “But I can’t overlook you lying to me, especially when you make it look so easy. You will constantly have the advantage of knowing everything I feel for you. You can smell when I want you, you can hear when I’m lying. The only thing I have is what you give me. If you won’t talk to me about your feelings I have to guess. If you tell me something I have to just trust that you wouldn’t lie. If we’re together, there can’t be any lies between us. You just proved you have no problems lying to me, especially if you think it’s for my own good. You would have lied to me forever.”

“That’s not true,” Rhys told him, but the color rising in his cheeks gave him away.

“Are you sure?”

Rhys looked away, frustration etched across his face.

“That’s what I thought. I’m going to go shower. Don’t be here when I come back.”

He didn’t look behind him as he grabbed his clothes and left.

In the shower, he leaned his head against the tiles, letting the water cascade over him, not really even trying to wash.

The house had become their prison. Nobody went anywhere alone. Tristin was spiraling now that there was no hope of getting Quinn back. She rarely got out of bed, she wouldn’t eat. She barely spoke. She hadn’t been to school since everybody made their confessions. Kai didn’t know if she was avoiding Astrid or if the reality of knowing Quinn wouldn’t be there was more than she could take. Losing this chance to bring Quinn back broke her in a way he hadn’t seen when it first happened.

He was worried…and not just about Tristin.

Ember seemed to have lost her mind. She barely spoke to anybody except Mace. You would think finding out Mace hand delivered a weapon designed to kill her would make her hate him, instead it seemed to only drive her further into his arms. She was even still feeding him; a thought that skeeved him out to no end. Kai kept apologizing to Ember and each time she smiled and said it was fine but he knew it wasn’t. He knew something was really wrong. He could feel it.

He was hardly one to judge, he supposed. Every day he missed Quinn more, not less. Quinn always knew what to do. He could tell him how to fix things with Ember and whether he should forgive Rhys. He would rationalize why Isa wasn’t really trying to hurt him and make everything seem okay. He wished he’d never known of his sister’s plan because then he wouldn’t constantly wonder…what if. What if Ember had been able to bring him back? What if it could’ve worked and they’d stopped it?

He swiped at his eyes feeling like an idiot, crying in the shower. He turned off the water and toweled off quickly throwing on his clothes. It was a school day but it was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. Nobody even thought to celebrate the holiday. Instead, Isa had closed the diner and focused on Quinn’s funeral.

Even if they’d had school, it wasn’t unusual for the wolves to skip it the night of the full moon. Full moons for the wolves meant heightened senses, increased aggression and, for the bitten wolves like Donovan, the inability to control his shift. Donovan usually did okay when he ran with the pack but Isa worried about him being around so many other shifters, given his past.

Tonight, the town would be crawling with shifters from packs all over the state. Seven packs confirmed they were sending members to pay their respects. Quinn would be thrilled to be remembered as pack but it added an unknown threat level to their already contentious situation. It made everybody nervous, Kai could tell. Not that they’d ever admit it.

Downstairs, everybody congregated in the kitchen. There was food everywhere. The restaurant closed every full moon, a novelty that even the non-in-the-supernatural-know customers found amusing; an idiosyncratic quirk of the Howl at the Moon Café.

Isa was already on a tear. “Everybody listen up. Today is going to be insane so you have one option and one option only. You help. If you don’t pick a job I’ll assign you one so everybody start calling ‘em out.”

“Firewood,” Rhys barked. “I need to hack something to pieces.”

Kai rolled his eyes but said nothing.

“Food,” Donovan called, flipping the knife in his hand, already prepping trays.

“I’ll do whatever you want me to do,” Ember told her with a shrug.

“You’ll stay with Mace and Mace will help Rhys with the bonfire,” Isa told her. “Wren’s already at the sight getting everything ready for the grill. Nobody goes anywhere alone and nobody loses eyes on Ember.” Ember flushed. “Are we clear?”

“Crystal,” Mace said, walking in and snagging a tomato from the platter. Donovan slapped his hand with the flat edge of the blade. Mace glowered popping the tomato in his mouth and chewing loudly. Donovan flashed his eyes, growling.

“Enough,” Isa sighed. “Tristin, you’ll stay here with me. I’m going to need some help getting the house ready.”

Tristin looked wrecked. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair greasy beneath Quinn’s hat. She even wore his glasses. Isa didn’t need Tristin, Kai knew, she just needed to keep an eye on her. She looked docile enough, but given her state, she was more unpredictable than the wolves right now. And tonight, they couldn’t handle anymore unpredictability. All of their lives may depend on it.