“No, I'm not hungry.” Susan turned onto her side, and he pulled the covers up over her the way that she liked. She shut her eyes as he ran his hand over her hair. He left the room a moment later; Susan opened her eyes and stared at the wall until she heard the sound of him returning. She closed her eyes then, faked being asleep as he got back under the covers. It was long after his breathing had gone deep and even that she finally was able to actually fall asleep.
CHAPTER TWO
They'd been back in Center City for almost twenty-four hours, and there was still no sign of Michael or The Grievers. Houdini was starting to think that the tension was going to break one of them or at the least cause some kind of bloodshed. Right now, his money was on Adelaide and Vera going at least one hair-pulling, kicking and biting round.
Deacon was pacing the length of the living room. Lina and Shepard had gone outside to check the perimeter, and Susan was in the kitchen making another pot of coffee. Adelaide and Vera were sitting across from one another, locked in an epic stare-down.
Adelaide had woken that morning and promptly bit the head off of anyone who asked how she was or mentioned Josiah. It was obvious that she wasn't in the best mental state and that no one knew what to do to help her. Deacon wasn't sure what had kicked off the animosity between her and Vera. He wasn't sure that he wanted to know
“We need to go to the pack.” Adelaide had voiced this opinion many times since she'd gotten up. “We need to make sure that they're alright, get them to help us for when Michael returns.”
“We can't do that. We're not welcome on pack lands, Adelaide. We're Strays. We're pushing it just being in town as it is.”
“It's the pack, Deke. How can we do nothing?”
“You'd have to go alone, Adelaide. That's not an option.” Vera spoke up and earned a look that would have killed if it were possible. “If they're loyal to Michael now, they'll tear you apart.”
“I don't really care if they do.” Adelaide replied. “It's my choice to make. Josiah was Leader. I am his mate. I owe it to his memory and honor to look into their well being.”
“He wouldn't want you getting dead,” Houdini was tired of listening to the same argument over and over again. It was doing his head in. “Look, we can sit here and debate this shit all day. Oh wait, we have been.”
“Piss off, Houdini.” Adelaide glared over at him. “You don't like the conversation, leave the damn room.”
“Adelaide!” Deacon stopped pacing. “That's enough. Despite what you think, I understand what you're feeling. It doesn't excuse you for being nasty to people who are just trying to help.”
“There's no excuse for you all disregarding what I need to do. I am not a child.” The tone of her voice as she made the protest was that of a pissed-off teenage girl. Houdini had to hold back a laugh, because he was sure it would just make the argument worse.
“You're grieving, Adelaide. You need to take the time to do that before you make any decisions. That's the end of it.”
“Fuck you, Deke. Fuck you.” Adelaide rose to her feet and stalked out the front door of the house. She slammed it with enough force to make the walls shake.
Deacon and Vera both got up and followed her out the door. It slammed again, and Houdini sighed. “Shit.” He ran his hands over his face. If they kept bickering like this, they were screwed, because they wouldn't be able to act as a unit when they needed to.
“Finally, a little quiet.” Susan came out of the kitchen with two oversized coffee mugs in hand. “Thought you'd like another cup.”
“I'm about to crawl out of my skin, but yeah, I need another cup. I don't like sitting around with my thumb up my ass.” Houdini had expected to find battle as soon as they returned to Center City. No one had expected that there would be no trace of the man who'd done their best to destroy the town.
“That's a real pleasant mental picture,” she handed him the cup and sat down next to him. He felt her jolt when he placed his hand on her leg, but she settled right back down, comfortable with the touch.
They sipped their coffee in silence for a few moments. Houdini kept his eyes on Susan as much as he could. She looked tired; fake sleep wasn't restful. There was something else off about her, her eyes were sad in a way he'd never seen before. “You good, Susan?”
“As good as I can be, considering the circumstances,” she replied.
“We need some air. Let's go for a walk.” Houdini reached out and took her cup, placed it onto the coffee table next to his own. “No excuses, no arguments. We both need the air.”
“My old place is a few blocks away from here.” Susan looked down at the floor. “Maybe you were right and they held on to some of my stuff.”
“Let's do it,” Houdini took her hand in his, pulled her up to her feet. Unable to resist, he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers lightly. She stiffened with what he thought was surprise.
He was the one surprised seconds later, when she rose up to her toes and kissed him. There was nothing light or casual about it. It was as intense as the other night, the taste of her enough to have him growing hard. Fuck, he wanted her.
Houdini watched the slight blush on her cheeks when she pulled back from him. Her already pouty lips were swollen, parted, and it took every ounce of control not to just grab her and kiss her again. “It's getting a little chilly out. Can I borrow your other sweatshirt?”
“Of course you can,” Houdini reached out and stroked the side of her face. “We should take the SUV, head over to the Walmart and pick up some shit since we packed light.”
“You're probably right. Maybe we should just go now.” She stepped back. “I'll grab the keys, grab my cash.”
“I've got cash, just grab the keys.” Houdini replied. There was a little pizza place close to the store, and she always had a weakness for his favorite food, especially if it was well made.
They needed some time, just them. As tempted as he was to say screw the little shopping trip and head straight back upstairs with her over his shoulder, he knew it wasn't the time. But soon, soon it would be, if that kiss was any indication. “What are you staring at me like that for? Do I have something on my face?” She demanded, her hand coming up to touch her face lightly.
“Nope, you're as beautiful as ever.” Houdini enjoyed watching her blush; it was deeper this time. She was also smiling. He really loved her smile, and she didn't do that enough. “Making it really hard for me not to just throw you over my shoulder, take you upstairs.”
Her blush deepened; the pulse point in her throat was beating hard enough for him to see it clearly. There was no way that he could resist reaching out. He traced his finger over her skin.
“Fucking bitch,” Adelaide's curse pulled them apart. “That's it. I am out of here. Out of here.” She slammed the door behind her, stormed around the living room gathering her things. “And if any of you think that you can stop me, you're wrong and crazy.”
Houdini bit back a sigh. Whatever moment they'd been brewing was gone. “We're going to head to Walmart, why don't you just come with us?”
“No, I'm heading out to the woods. The pack's gone to ground, I need to find them.”
“You sure that...”
“What did I just say, Houdini? I said that if you think you can stop me, you're either wrong or crazy. Which one do you want to be?” Adelaide all but snarled the words. “And since this is pack business, it's none of yours. None of any of yours.”
“And where was your pack when you were running scared with your husband bleeding out in the back of the truck? Where were they then? Where were they that you came to us? We're not crazy or wrong. We care about you, so stop treating us like the fucking enemy.” Susan snapped the words, moving between Houdini and Adelaide.
“They need me.” Some of the fight seemed to leave her. “I don't expect you to understand. Don't try to stop me.”
“Fine,” Houdini could understand where she was coming from. Her love was gone. Her reason for happiness erased and
for what? Nothing in her life would ever be the same. If she felt this was what she needed to do, he couldn't judge. He'd done worse. “Do what you have to, I get it.”
“Thank you.” Adelaide smiled at him. “I wish that you all could have gotten to know Josiah the way I did. He was everything.”
Houdini put his hand on Susan's shoulder to keep her from following Adelaide as she fled up the stairs. “Let her be. She's going to do this no matter what. Come on, let's get on the road. We're wasting valuable Walmart time.”
“Did you really just say valuable Walmart time?”
“Yup.” Houdini watched her smile again. “Got to keep you on your toes. Can't be predictable.”
“You're never predictable, Houdini. I love that about you.”
The word love coming out of her mouth, even with additional words, had Houdini's heart pumping. He realized that she didn't realize what she said when she just turned and went in search of the keys and a sweatshirt. Houdini knew that he was grinning like a fool; he didn't care. It was a step, a small one, but the past few days had been full of steps, and now they were closer than ever to something.
<#<#<#
The trip to Walmart hadn't been the relaxing experience he'd hoped. Susan was ready to kill one of the other shoppers, or the person bagging their purchase with no regard for the loaves of bread, and Houdini couldn't blame her. He was on edge, too. A bunch of times he realized that she was about to say something, but she stopped herself. All Houdini wanted to know was what she really wanted to say.
When they were outside and the bags stowed away in the truck, he reached out and took her hand. She let out a surprised gasp when he pulled her to him. “I'm hungry. We should go and get some food.”
“We should get back,” she protested but didn't pull away from him.
“They can wait for the toilet paper. There were a couple rolls left. Everything's pretty tense back there, I think that we could both use a breather from that. There's a great pizza place close to here. We should go and grab a bite.”
Houdini was sure that she was going to say no, he saw it in her eyes, and then he saw something else. It was the sadness again; he'd noticed it earlier. “I guess that I could eat.”
“That's my girl.” He leaned in, kissed her lightly. Kept it light even when she went to deepen it. He didn't want to end up making out like horny teenagers in a parking lot. She let him take her hand; he brought it up to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her knuckles.
“Do you think that Adelaide is alright?”
“I hope she is,” Houdini replied honestly. “Even if she's not, she needed to do this.”
“You told her you got her, what does that mean?”
“It means that I understand she needed to do something, that she can't just sit around with her thumb up her ass when the people that mean the most are dead.” Houdini kept his eyes straight ahead. He wouldn't look at her, he couldn't. He could feel her gaze. “Anyway, the pizza is really good. Come on, I'll drive.”
It was a short ride to the pizza place, a silent ride during which she never looked away from him. Each time he tried to sneak a glance at her, she met his eyes and smiled. It was a sad smile. He parked in front of the restaurant. “You ready?”
She placed her hand on his leg, looked up at him. “You don't have to tell me anything, Houdini, but you can.” She squeezed down and then released. “I want pepperoni and extra cheese. Oh, garlic knots. We should definitely get garlic knots.”
Houdini watched as she ran her hands over her hair, checked her reflection in the mirror. “You'll just drop it if I don't say anything?”
“I'm not going to force you to talk about anything. I get leaving the past in the past. So, yeah I'll drop it. We eating or what?”
Houdini knew that she was true to her word. She'd drop the conversation and they would go on like nothing ever happened. They were good like that together, maybe too good. Maybe it was time to stop that, to face the things that they didn't want to deal with. “Yeah, we're good to eat.”
He didn't recognize the woman behind the counter when they went inside. She told them to sit anywhere, and Houdini chose the booth all the way in the back. The place was all but empty, only two other occupied tables, so they'd have their privacy.
Houdini waited until the woman behind the counter had come to take their order and returned with a pitcher of ice water for them. “There's something I want to tell you.” He cleared his throat, unsure of where to even start. “I'm not telling you for your pity. I'm telling you because I care about you, and you should know.”
She reached across the table, covered his hands with hers. “Alright, I'm listening.”
“I don't know where to start.” Houdini admitted, his eyes on their joined hands. “I grew up in Florida with my parents and my brother, my twin brother.” He looked up, waited for her to say something but she just kept her eyes on his. “You figured out my name was Jason when you saw my identification. His name is James. Anyway, we were pretty poor, but we got by. Our neighbors had a daughter about our age, her name was Willow.”
Memories swirled over him, threatened to suck him down. He wasn't only feeling the sadness that came with the thought of all he lost; he was feeling the anger that had gone along with it. The anger that had nearly consumed his soul. His grip tightened on Susan's hand until she kicked him hard underneath the table.
“Shit,” Houdini pulled his hand back, reached for his water. “I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking.”
“I'm fine,” she assured him. “You can keep going if you want, or stop, it's up to you.”
It was too much but he wasn't going to stop. It was time that she knew the truth about his past. The whole truth. He'd kept her in the dark even while wanting more from her than she was comfortable to give. Now that it seemed she might be coming around, lowering her guard enough to let him in, he needed her to know the truth. She needed to know who he was and what he'd done.
“Willow and I started dating when we were fourteen. We were sixteen when she found out she was pregnant. Seventeen when we got married. I loved her so much, and then our son was born and I didn't know I could love that much. We both managed to graduate high school. I got a job with a company that took tourists out for dives. It was good money. Willow stayed home with Junior. We were still pretty fucking poor, but it worked. It really worked, until James got himself in some trouble. Guys were looking for him. They found us instead.”
Houdini sat back and stopped speaking as the waitress approached with their food. She set it down on the table and walked away. He took another sip of water, looked at Susan. “You okay?”
“I'm okay. And I'm sorry, Houdini. So sorry.”
“Don't pity me.” Houdini leaned forward, lowered his voice. “I don't want that. That's not why I'm telling you, I'm telling you because you matter, and I need you to know.” She nodded and he pressed on. “It was about a week before school was about to start. Junior was going into second grade, he loved school. Loved it. We were out getting some things for him and were going to head to dinner. One of they guys after James saw us in the store, thought I was James. There were four more waiting in the parking lot.”
Houdini spared her the gory details, the seemingly neverending stream of shots and screams. He'd been hit in the arm, somehow managing to drag his dying family along with him to the cover of a car. As soon as it had started, it was over. Willow bled out before the ambulance got there. Junior died two days later, when they'd turned off his life support because there was no brain activity.
“Frak,” Susan ran her hand over his.
“I buried them both four days later,” Houdini drew in a deep breath. He couldn't shield her from the next part, no matter how badly he wanted to. “I found my brother and made him tell me who was after him.” He pulled his hand back from hers. “I found them,” he couldn't look at Susan, didn't want to see judgment in her eyes. “I found them and I killed them, all of them.”
“Good,” she said without even
a pause.
“That's all you have to say?” Houdini finally looked at her. Her eyes were the same as they had been, slightly sad but there was no disgust to be seen.
“I think that's all you want to tell right now. I meant what I said, I won't put any pressure on you. When you want to tell me more, I'll be here. I appreciate this couldn't be easy to tell me.”
“No, it wasn't.” Relieved that they seemed to have gotten through it without incident, he reached out and took her hand again. She squeezed his fingers hard with her own
“Thank you for telling me. You want to get out of here?”
“This pizza isn't going to eat itself,” he pointed out. Honestly, he wasn't ready to head back to Rose's house yet. Sitting around waiting held no appeal for him. He'd rather pass the time eating excellent pizza with the woman that he loved, even if he wasn't ready to tell her that just yet.
Chapter Three.
Susan was ready to climb the walls of the house. She'd thought that things had gotten as tense as they could; she was wrong. Deacon and Vera had both been furious that she and Houdini hadn't tried to stop Adelaide from going to the pack.
They'd been blindsided by the argument the moment that they got back from the Walmart and lunch trip the day before. Doors had been slammed, walls punched and things spoken that couldn't be taken back. There was no doubt in her mind that things might have even come to blows if not for the presence of Shepard and Lina.
“Whatever spat the four of you are having, we need to focus. The Council agreed to us all coming here because it seemed a logical place to find more information about The Hunters. We've been here for three days without any sign of the pack, The Grievers or Michael. Time is not something we have the luxury of wasting.” Shepard spoke bluntly, as was his way.
“Without any new information, we won't be here more than another twenty-four hours.” Lina spoke up, though she didn't quite sound like herself. Gone was the tone of authority; she hadn't said anything about her loss, but they all felt it. It was still hard for him to believe that Josiah had been her brother, they'd never really given any hint of it. Still, she had to be hurting even if she was hiding it very well. Houdini also realized that she was about as pissed as Deacon and Vera over Adelaide being gone.
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