Andros glanced down at me and I couldn't help but marvel again at how huge he was. My head only came to his elbow. He took up three quarters of the sidewalk. That suburban housewife we'd passed had turned to admire his ass until I flipped her off and yelled, "Taken."
Andros swiveled his head to see what was going on and chuckled. "Gray's probably gonna kill you for drawing attention to yourself."
I shrugged. "Meh. We can buy a Forgetfulness Amulet and toss it through her window. I'm pretty sure Tia has an uncle or someone who makes them."
"I'd like one of those." Andros' tone turned black as midnight.
I wanted to ask, but I resisted. Asking for people to summon up their demons was heartless. It was different if they needed to cast them out by talking, expel them with words. But asking? Nope.
I slid my hand into his and we walked in silence again until we came to an overgrown little alleyway between some houses. I glanced down and realized that at the base was an old, abandoned railroad track. Weeds had sprouted up around it, and the houses had been built way too close for the line to ever be used again. The alley looked like it led to a park or a forest.
I glanced up at Andros. "Wanna?" I asked in invitation.
He simply stepped off the sidewalk and started to follow the track, pulling my trapped hand along with him.
I smiled.
Whatever was eating at him hadn't completely corroded his sense of adventure. When we made it through the alley, he held down a wire fence for me so I could step over it. And then we started down a twisted path through shadowy tree trunks, the smell of earth and wet leaves overtaking the smell of exhaust and perfume that clouded the city behind us.
"When this is over, we should all go somewhere else. Somewhere warm and tropical for a little bit. And then maybe just somewhere remote." I glanced sideways with a little grin. "I'd love to watch you chop wood."
Andros didn't crack a smile at my joke. He stopped walking instead, dropping my hand. He stared down at me, grinding his teeth for a second. "They don't want me to say this. Z would be pissed. But I think it's important."
I furrowed my brow. "What?"
"I think you need to have a plan in case we get caught."
He was right. The guys wouldn't like that. I didn't like hearing it. At the same time, I'd spent so much of my life contingency planning that it made sense. I needed to have something figured out in case I ended up in prison.
"Muller's not a normal cop." Andros didn't expand on his statement. "And we listened to the news on the way back. The Pinnacle's up in arms after a Council member was found dead, spouting all kinds of shit about vamps. It's been labeled a public accident. But you know that behind the scenes ... they want answers. Muller's gonna give them answers."
I stared down at the leaves for a second, wondering if somehow the second half of this plan was even crazier and possibly more dangerous than the first.
"You need to know ahead of time where you're likely to go. You need to have a couple of bargaining chips in mind. You need to be prepared for what they'll try to do to you there." Andros looked away from me then. "I don't want it to happen. But if it does ... "
I reached out and squeezed his hand. It was so huge that I could only get about half of my hand around his. "I'm in."
Relief made his shoulders sag a bit. I grinned up at him. "Did you expect me to fight you on this?"
The huge gangster gave a shrug. "I at least expected you to yell at me."
I shook my head. "I thought about prison before you know. I knew what I was getting into."
"See... I don't think you do. Whatever you're thinking prison is ... it's worse."
I tried not to let his haunted tone send a chill down my spine. I tried to change the tone to lighthearted instead. I stepped closer and put my hand on his forearm. "How about I agree to plan for the worst in exchange for secrets."
He gave me a skeptical look. "Secrets can't be traded for non-secrets. That's the secret law."
I laughed. "You sound just like Z."
"You mean he sounds like me," Andros jutted out his lush lower lip. "I'm the older one."
"True. The original gangsta."
He chuckled.
"How about this, we talk out the worst-case scenarios, and contingency plan ... And then have a secret exchange at the end?" I proposed. "Something to look forward to."
He ran a finger across his lower lip as he narrowed his eyes at me. "What kind of secrets? You want to know all the dirt on Z?"
I hitched up a brow. "Hell no. That's not nearly exciting enough. Everyone's got dirt on Z. He's as dirty as they get."
Andros laughed again and my chest lifted at the fact that he could laugh easily with me when he was typically so quiet and reserved. Something about that made me feel special. And I liked it.
"Okay, then what?" he repeated.
I leaned forward a little, drunk on the low soft sound of his laughter. "I want to know your secrets."
His face grew serious and his eyes studied me closely. "You sure? I got dropped on my heart a lot as a kid. I don't think you want to know the messed-up secrets I've got."
That confession alone ripped me up inside. My chest ached with longing and, for whatever reason, I wanted him to pour that pain into me so I could absorb it. I wanted to share it. I couldn't have explained why, because it wasn't really logical for me to feel that way. But I did. I wanted to wade into Andros’ pain and dive down deep until I was surrounded by it. I wanted to drink it up.
My eyes seared his and I think he saw my longing.
I didn't say any of that aloud. I felt crazy as shit for even thinking it. But his hand came up and his huge palm cupped my cheek.
"We practice for the worst and after each time, I'll give you a secret of mine in exchange for one of yours."
I nodded slowly, enjoying the rasp of his skin against my cheek. "You'll have better ones."
His fingertips traveled down to trace the side of my neck and he lingered on the scars that Claude had left there. He lightly touched one. "I doubt it."
Then he stepped back, leaving me feeling breathless and vulnerable, and utterly filled with anticipation as he walked away.
22
I woke up the next day full of nervous energy, so I got dressed and—like the crazy idiot Coach Lundy had turned me into—I decided to go for a run. To my surprise, most of the guys said they wanted to join. We were all feeling the pressure. Things weren't theoretical anymore. We were officially criminals and fugitives. And we still had another job to pull off, one that I'd made infinitely more difficult.
"I can't go. I'm expecting a delivery," Gray explained, when he tossed me a water bottle as he padded through the kitchen in bare feet. "But have fun. And be safe, kids." His eyes roamed the rest of the group.
I gave him a one finger salute. "Yes, Dad."
“You can call me Daddy, not Dad,” he retorted.
“Ew,” I uncapped my water and flicked a little at him. “Gross.”
He just laughed as he followed the rest of us down the stairs to the front door.