Hyena Moon (4 page)

"It's actually pretty simple. I'm being nice to you because I can be." She took a beat. "If you'll let me." That was the big question.

Rafe made a disbelieving noise in the back of his throat, the unspoken teenage boy equivalent of
Yeah, right
.

Kess raised one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. "Believe what you like. I'm not doing this out of spite or pity or as an attempt to win you to my side. I'm not going pump you for information on your mother. I don't want anything from you."

He shifted his eyes to the side. "Then why?"

She blew a few stray hairs out of her face, and then turned to him, her chin resting lightly on her shoulder. "Not that long ago, I was in a bad situation and I met some people that accepted me and gave me a hand when I needed it. I didn't ask for it, for any of it, but I remember how good it felt to get it. Consider it me balancing my karmic debt."

Rafe cocked a brow at her. "So you're really just being totally selfish." That he seemed to understand. All too well.

She smiled at him. "If it helps to think of it that way, then sure. I am being completely and utterly selfish."

He still lay back, staring at the sky. "It kind of does help," he grudgingly admitted. Kess risked a glance at him. He closed his eyes.

She put the phone she'd been carrying in her pocket down on the dock beside him. It made a light thunk on the wood. He opened his eyes and turned his head to look at it. He sat up quickly, looking at the phone as if it might bite him. "What's this?"

And we’re back to guarded
. Kess refrained from the massive eyeroll she wanted to let loose at the suspicious tone in his voice. "I believe the technical term for it is a cell phone. And it's yours." When his eyes narrowed, she elaborated. "I figured you could call your friends back home. Or anyone else you may want to talk to."

"I don't get it. Aren't you worried I might be spying on you? That I'm going to call my mother and give away your secrets?"

Kess gave him look of mock incredulity. "What secrets? That I'm building a nuclear warhead in the sub-basement? Please." She straightened up, deciding she'd had enough of playing nice. Maybe hearing it bluntly would change Rafe's attitude. "Your mother has had spies all over the place since probably my father's time. You having a cell phone isn't going to tell her something she doesn't already know. And you might need it. In case you get in trouble or something." Her eyes skimmed over him and went back to the boats on the water. "It's your phone. You can call anyone you want, including your mother."

Rafe slid the keypad open, long fingers dancing over the letters. "I don't think I'll be calling my mother any time soon," he said softly. "Or anyone else in my family."

Kess took that for an opening. Maybe he was ready to talk, to begin to trust her a little. She might as well try. "That girl who was with you and your mother that night—was that your sister?"

"Yeah."

"So I'm going to assume you two aren't close."

"Close? With Teresa?" He laughed, the sound harsh to her ears. "It would be easier to be close with a great white shark. Probably safer too." Kess kept her expression carefully neutral. He continued, an almost bitter note in his voice now. "You probably don't know what I'm talking about."

"You'd be surprised. I have a pretty good idea." An edge had crept into her own voice, no matter how hard she tried to keep it out.

He blinked, clearly startled. He looked back up towards the house. "Sorry." He waved his arm and his gesture took in the boat and the house. "Somehow I doubt that."

She laughed, a sharp, staccato sound. "What, you think because I come from a nice house and have nice things that I don't know how bad things can get between brothers and sisters? Rafe, this is just
stuff
. It's appearance. A person can be sick and twisted whether they grow up in a trailer park or a mansion. Just because they come from a good home doesn't mean they aren't a monster."

"You and your brother?" His voice was curious.

Kess wasn't ready to share anything about her brother with anyone else. Too many people already knew about it. Rafe would probably find out soon enough living in the house. "Let's just say Sekhmet wasn't going to win brother of the year anytime soon and leave it at that."

She saw Rafe's bitter smile. "You could say the same about Teresa."

"Is that who you thought you saw in the mall today? Your sister? Is that why you ran out?" Kess had figured that might be the case, but Rafe had clearly not wanted to talk about it when they found him.

Rafe nodded. "I didn't catch her though. Obviously."

"So she was there. Was that other hyena someone you knew?" This was important information. And it would go a long way toward proving to Cormac that her brains hadn't suddenly leaked out of her ears.

He shook his head. "No. She's just one of Teresa's friends."

Kess didn't say anything, and she didn't look at him. She could tell that Rafe found it easier to talk when people weren't looking at him. She didn't want him to freeze up if he thought she was staring at him.

He continued, his voice distant, almost as if talking to himself. "I thought maybe I could talk to her, you know? If I could catch her. Find out what was going on. Maybe find out why...." He broke off.

Kess spoke softly, for his ears alone, although there wasn't anyone else to hear. "Why your mother left you behind?"

Rafe snapped straight, like she had just reminded him she was there. He pulled his knees up and rested his arms on them.

She waited a few more minutes, to see if he wanted to say anything else. When he was quiet, Kess got up, brushing off her shorts as she stood. "You asked me why before--why I was being nice to you. There's another answer, just as simple as the first. You're not your mother. Just like I'm not my brother." She poked at him with her foot. "The instructions for the phone are on your bed. I'll see you inside."

She left him to his thoughts and so she could be alone with hers.

Chapter Six

Finn stumbled into the kitchen, his stomach screeching protest at its emptiness a few minutes prior. He was enjoying the time away in Miami, but one thing he missed was being able to forage at his dad's restaurant for food. Here, he had to fend for himself more than he ever had to at home, and he had to say that he wasn't a fan of it. Cooking for himself was spotty at best. He hadn't quite figured out how to hit that sweet spot of mid-rare the way the cooks at the Barn had. He kept overshooting it.

Today it smelled like he wouldn't have to worry about that though. Kess was already at the stove, pans sizzling away. Cormac sat at the island, sipping from an enormous mug of coffee. Finn smelled spicy sausage and felt his stomach grumble at being ignored. He took the chair at the other end of the island after he snagged his own mug of the thick, black stuff his cousin brewed.

Kess set a plate full of some kind of eggy thing in front of Cormac and turned back to the stove. "Yours will be ready in a sec," she said, her back to him.

Finn grinned at his cousin who was tucking into the eggs with gusto. "How come he gets the first plate? Do you like him more than me?"

"Yes." Kess didn't bother to turn around.

"Well, just don't spit in my food, okay?"

She did turn around then, her nose wrinkled in disgust. "I have never spit in any of my guests' food." Kess had waited tables at the Barn and Finn took a kind of weird delight in teasing her about it. "Although if I ever were to do it, you'd have the honor." She smiled at him. "You are a nightmare to wait on."

"It was only that one time," he protested, thinking of the first time he'd seen Kess at the restaurant. He hadn't exactly won points with her that day.

"Dude, once is enough with you." Cormac handed Finn silverware.

"You're just lucky the girl has low standards."

Kess put a full plate in front of Finn. "Yeah, Cormac. Just think--if I had no standards I'd be dating him." Finn saw the two of them share a private smile. He grinned to himself.

He took a bite of whatever it was Kess had fixed for their breakfast. He swallowed and immediately took another huge piece. Around it, he said, "My God, woman. You might have to fight Laila for me if you say you'll cook like this all the time."

Kess had turned back to the cooktop, working on fixing her own breakfast. "She can have you."

He was readying a witty retort, but then noticed Rafe lurking in the doorway. The kid's hair was sticking up wildly and it was pretty obvious that he'd just woken up. He stayed there, half-in and half-out of the kitchen, as if he wasn't sure whether to come in or go back to bed. He eyed the young werehyena, waiting to see what he would do.

Cormac was staring at the kid as well, but his look was less than welcoming. Finn knew his cousin didn't trust Rafe; he'd assigned Finn the task of keeping an eye on the werehyena while the kid was staying with them. Finn wasn't thrilled about being put on babysitting duty, but understood the need for it. And besides, he wasn't going to turn down directions from his Alpha. The two of them were functioning as a mini-pack while they were in Miami.

Kess must have noticed the silence because she turned around, spatula in hand. She spotted Rafe standing by the door and greeted him with, "Hey, Rafe. Breakfast?"

Rafe craned his neck to see what Kess was doing. Finn saw his nostrils flare at the scent of cooking meat and could tell that he wanted to join them. He watched to see what the kid would do.

"Open face omelet," she said, gesturing at him with the plate.

"No thanks. I'll just grab cereal." He paused, looking at the plate again. "That one's yours."

She set it down in the space between Finn and Cormac. "I can make myself another. Besides, I know Finn is going to ask for his second one any minute." She gestured to the half-empty plate in front of him.

"Are you calling me a pig?" He had to say this around a huge mouthful of egg.

"If the oink fits." Kess grinned and turned back to fix her another omelet for herself.

Finn watched as Rafe went to the refrigerator and pulled out the milk and poured himself a glass, then returned to the island. Finn could tell the kid was uncomfortable sitting between the two of them, but he did so anyway. Finn dug back into the food with relish, wolfing it down as if the plate might be jerked away from him at any moment.

He polished off his omelet, feeling out the dynamic between Rafe and Kess. She was trying to draw the kid out, making a point to include him in the group, trying to bring him into conversation. Finn hadn't gotten much chance to watch them together, but he knew his cousin wasn't thrilled with how Kess was treating the hyena. Finn wanted to see what was really going on. It was his ass on the line as much as anyone else's if Rafe turned out to be more than he appeared.

There was a pile of toast in front of them along with some jam and butter and Rafe helped himself to a couple of slices, slathering them with butter. Kess finished futzing with something on the burner and shoved the skillet containing her omelet back into the oven. She leaned against the other side of the island and waited for the kid to take a bite.

Rafe cut into the weird looking omelet, shoveling a forkful into his mouth. And closed his eyes, almost as if he were savoring it. Finn looked from the kid to Kess, seeing the pleased expression on her face. Mac noticed it too, if the frown that crossed his face was any indication. Interesting.

Rafe washed it down with a swig of milk, oblivious to the undercurrents of tension swirling around him. He asked, "Where did you learn to cook like this?"

Kess shrugged like it was no big deal. "I work in restaurants. You pick up a few things when you get stuck with the brunch shift all the time. You like?"

He answered her by shoving another huge bite in his mouth and nodding enthusiastically. "What's in it?"

"This version has cheese, chorizo, onions, peppers, tomatoes, spinach and mushrooms. It's really more of using whatever you've got on hand." Kess retrieved her own omelet and plated it, bringing it over to the island so she could eat with everyone. Mac began to offer her his chair, but she waved him to sit back down. "We're going to need to go on another food run."

Finn leaned over so that he was half-draped across the island. Mac did the same. They faced each other with Rafe staring nervously between them. They began swinging their fists and counting out loud. He and Mac had determined long ago that the best way to figure out who had to do anything was through the time-honored, ancient ritual of rock, paper, scissors. Finn stopped with his hand in a fist, while Mac's hand was flat. Paper beat rock. Finn saw Kess grin at them.

He frowned. "I went to the grocery store last time!"

Mac sat back with a superior look on his face. "Then quit throwing rock, dumbass."

Finn acted mock-affronted. "You're a dumbass."

"Nice comeback.
Dumbass
."

"Rafe," Kess broke in before another dumbass could fly, "you want to go to the store with Finn? You can pick out some stuff you'd like to have on hand."

Finn slewed his head around, glancing between Kess and Rafe. The hell? Now she was making Rafe
his
pet project? He felt bad for the kid, sure, especially since he and Laila were witness to the kind of beating Rafe took at the hands of his sister, but Finn wasn't a social worker and had no interest in being one. He was a short-timer here—they all were—and Rafe was a long term problem.

Mac gave him a significant glance, one Finn took to mean that he should go along with this proposed outing. He supposed he might be able to glean some information off the kid, or at least get a better handle on where Rafe stood in relation to his, well, relations. It couldn't hurt.

Finn shrugged, carefully watching Rafe. The kid's expression was hard to read. He seemed a big blank most of the time when he wasn't exuding seething anger. Finn said, "I'm going for a run on the beach first, so you'd better grab something to run in."