“It’s fucking peachy, man.” I hadn’t told Zane about the kiss, or the silent treatment, but my level of fucks had about reached its limits.
“Want to talk about it?”
“Nope.” Yes, I did. But not until I get Avery to talk first. “How’s Midge?”
A rough sigh rumbled through the phone, either at the change of subject or from his next words. “No change. They say the same ol’ shit every day. She just needs time. I get it, Ryk. I do. But dammit, I need to see her open those eyes and smile at me again. I’d even take her bitching me out for letting Frank eat takeout crap.”
“At least he’s eating something that won’t kill him. You’re cooking skills suck, Zane. We don’t need him in the hospital for food poisoning.” The tiny chuckle that slipped past my lips echoed in the room. It sounded strained. Maybe even a little fake.
“Ass. I’m not that bad.”
“My stomach doesn’t agree.”
Visions of a more recent event with a burned sandwich filled my mind, replacing the old ones of Zane’s awful attempts at cooking food. Zane wasn’t the only terrible cook I knew. If only we were back to that day, when Avery had finally started opening up to me. I pinched the bridge of my nose to push back the frustration.
“Any other news?” I asked, shifting the subject again.
“Just the usual. Captain and the rest of the team scoured through all the security footage they could get their hands on. It didn’t turn up a single thing. This Emerret witch or whatever is damned good at the magic shit because we’re all stumped over here. It doesn’t help I can’t say a fucking thing about what I do know.”
Zane’s irritation came through in his voice. Not that I could blame him. Zane was much like me. A problem solver. Having to hold in what might be the key to solving a case, particularly the HT Killer serial murders case he’d been working for months, must be torture on him.
But how did one explain the true killer’s identity? A witch, a member of race that should be just as extinct as the dinosaurs. Extinct because humans wiped them off the planet. All their DNA, their bloodlines. Nothing remained. Or, that was what we were led to believe. After all that happened, I seriously questioned everything I’d been taught.
I sighed heavily, letting my eyes drift closed. Like everything else in my life, I couldn’t do a damn thing about it. I felt powerless, out of control. And that feeling drove me fucking crazy.
I didn’t like to be out of control. It screwed with my powers. The electrical energy sparking beneath my skin was like a constant live-wire, ready to explode at any second with the right trigger. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to contain it if it did. And then where would I be?
Probably locked up in some dark cage waiting a secret execution. Or cut open on a lab table and studied so the human government could figure out what the fuck went wrong with the extermination plan our ancestors supposedly went through with.
“Hey, you still there?” Zane interrupted my thoughts again..
“Yeah. I’m here. Just thinking.” I opened my eyes, hoping the familiarity of my surroundings, the furniture so lovingly handcrafted that held all the memories of the brief years I knew something akin to happiness and peace, might settle my runaway thoughts.
“Scary thing, man. Maybe you shouldn’t do it so hard, you keep grunting. Or did you turn into some kind of pig shifter while I wasn’t looking?”
“Shut up, Zane.”
His laugh was harsh, exhausted. I wasn’t the only one reaching my limits.
Zane retorted something in response, but a flash of movement near the stairs caught my attention. Avery paused briefly at the base. It shocked me to see him dressed in one of my old t-shirts and a pair of sweats that were a few sizes too big for his thinner frame. Avery wearing my clothes made my chest tingle with a smidge of hope. He doesn’t hate you completely at least.
But then his gaze meeting mine shot down the happy tingles. He narrowed his eyes like I was some kind of suspicious person, then broke the contact. I tracked his movement as he scurried off into the kitchen.
The same way it had been every single fucking day since that goddamned kiss. Okay, so the clothes are less he’s missing the connection between us, more a sign laundry needs done.
“You’re drifting into thought-land again,” Zane huffed loudly. “You sure you don’t want to talk about whatever’s going on between you two? Because obviously something is. I don’t hear him mouthing me in the background, which means you aren’t in the same room. And I haven’t all week long.”
The microwave pinged, followed by a cabinet door closing a little too hard. After a few minutes of muffled sound, Avery hurried back across the living room to the stairs, elephant mug in hand, and avoiding me completely.
The moment he disappeared, I grumbled, “Don’t worry about it. It’ll be fine.” Probably not. But I lied anyway. To Zane and myself.
“Well, I’m just a call away, Ryk, whenever you do want to get all the shit you’re stewing about out of your system. I better head back to Midge’s room. Any messages to pass along?”
“Just tell her I love her, and I need her to wake up. Everything’s a fucking mess without her. Add on we’re all hungry.”
Maybe hearing her boys were hungry—even if we weren’t—our beloved Midge would rouse out of her coma, demanding access to a kitchen so she could fix us something.
“Will do. She’ll wake up, Ryk. don’t lose hope.”
“She’s too damn stubborn not to.”
“I’ll call if something happens.”
“I know you will. Talk to you later, Zane.”
“Try not to lose your damn mind before I see you again. I prefer to do it without a padded room between us and some dude in white scrubs eyeballing me like I’m about to agree with your delusions.”
This time I laughed out loud, a real laugh. “I’ll try. Not promising a thing.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m out.”
Zane ended the call first. I tucked my phone in the pocket of my jeans and stood up.
I had to put a stop to this lack of communication. Avery and I needed to talk about what happened between us. If we didn’t, I had a bad feeling we’d pay for it in ways neither of us would expect.
Plus, we had to figure out what to do next with regards to our witch problem and the running-out-of-food situation. I had no one to trust to shop for us. Especially when part of that food was a supply of blood bags. Leaving Avery alone was a big fat fucking hell no. Which meant, he needed to talk to me, at least enough to agree to go out.
Please let him see reason...
2
Avery
What the fuck was it about kissing that people liked so damned much anyway? I tried it. It was okay.
It was more than okay, just admit it...
I growled at myself and threw the pillow in my lap at the wall. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I knew I should have never let myself delve into that absurd stuff. But I had, and now I was dealing with the consequences.
The very horrible consequences that the soul tether magic Ryker had unwittingly cast on us, solidified even more. Seeing those tendrils, the red strands of our souls, tightening their bond made me sick. My acceptance of the experiment had accomplished only one thing: I bound myself tighter to that stupid witchy human.