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

by Martina McAtee

  “We don’t need babysitters, Isa. We are just going to steal a few textbooks from an office on a stuffy college campus. We aren’t going to go get hammered in the quarter,” Tristin reasoned. Ember looked up then, smile playing at her lips, “Actually, you’re going to want Kai there.”

  Kai looked at Ember, betrayed. “Why’s that?”

  “Bait,” she said.

  “Huh?” Kai said, “Bait for what.”

  “Not what, who.”

  Rhys stiffened next to him. “Who, then?” the wolf asked, teeth clenched. It was Kai who rolled his eyes this time.

  “Eric.”

  “Who’s Eric?” Quinn asked, clearly amused by Rhys’ weird reaction.

  “My dad’s TA. He’s the gatekeeper. If you want in my dad’s office, you’re going to have to get past Eric and Eric has a type.”

  “What type is that?” Kai asked, not sure he wanted to know.

  “Pretty boys with pretty eyes,” Ember told him, still preoccupied with the dog.

  “Aw, you are pretty,” Donovan joked, winking at Kai.

  Kai’s face flushed under the pack’s scrutiny but Ember went on, “Even if there’s a new teacher, Eric will know where the books are. I just don’t know if it’s a good idea for you to ask him. Maybe you can just get him away from the office?”

  “Even if you find those books, you can’t bring them back here,” Wren pointed out. “Having those books is illegal. We are already skirting enough trouble. This would tip the scales safely into the gruesome-death-for-all category.”

  “That means Quinn has to be the one to get into the office,” Kai said. “He’s the only one who can memorize that much information.”

  “I can memorize what I can read but I can’t read an entire book in one sitting. I’m good but I’m not that good.”

  “Enough,” Isa said. “It’s settled. You will be home by tomorrow afternoon. Tristin and Rhys have shifts at the restaurant and I’m sure the others are tired of covering for you.”

  Neoma and Donovan nodded in agreement.

  “Who’s going to cover me tonight?” Quinn asked.

  “I’ve got that covered,” Isa said. “Mace is.”

  “What?” Mace choked, before regaining some composure. “I don’t think so. I don’t…do work. Do you really want me waiting on your patrons? I might get…hungry.”

  Isa stopped before the soul eater, using the claw on one hand to pick at another, “You’re currently living under my roof. You will work just like the rest of the pack. Is that a problem?”

  They all held their breath as Mace squared off against the alpha, “Put your claws away, wolf. You can’t kill me and I’m immune to any conceivable torture you could imagine.”

  Kai licked his bottom lip as the three other wolves shifted, flanking their alpha. Isa retracted her claws, halting her betas with a gesture. “I think you underestimate the levels of my imagination. Ember may need you, but you still answer to me. You will work at the restaurant but so as not to…tempt you, you can work in the back with me.”

  Mace’s gaze traveled to Ember who watched him with an intensity that made even Kai squirm. She arched a brow in his direction and Mace’s shoulders sagged, “Who is going to watch Ember? I can’t very well help keep her magic in check if I’m not with her.”

  Isa’s smile was all teeth, “Then you’re in luck, she’ll be about fifteen feet away, working the counter. Free rides over, people.”

  “But who’s going to watch Romero?” Ember asked, frowning as she scratched at the dog’s large floppy ear. Kai smiled at Ember’s easy acceptance of his naming her dog.

  Mace sighed and shook his head at Ember. “That dog won’t last the night, Luv.”

  “Nobody asked you,” Ember sang.

  “She’s right,” Isa agreed. “Tonight, Neoma can watch him.”

  The girl giggled and crawled across the floor to the dog. She laid on her belly and rested her chin on her folded hands, giggling again as the dog licked her nose. “You stink. Tonight you get a bath.”

  “I’ll help. He’s sort of a lot of dog for one person to handle,” Wren told her.

  “Perfect,” Tristin said. “Can we take the Suburban? The Toyota is too small for Rhys.”

  “Really?” Donovan asked, “He doesn’t seem to have any problems fitting into that vintage tin can he loves.”

  Rhys stared darkly, “I am not cramming into the Toyota.”

  Isa rolled her eyes, “Fine, take the Suburban but it better have a full tank of gas when you bring it back.”

  “Yes,” Quinn fist pumped the air. “I’m driving.”

  “Shotgun,” Kai said.

  “Actually, I’m driving,” Rhys said.

  Tristin smirked at her brother as they walked towards the door. “Still want shotgun, Bro?”

  It took an hour to pack and coordinate where they would stay overnight. Just as he closed the back of the Chevy, Ember opened the front door, rushing towards him, red hair flying behind her.

  “I need you to do something for me.”

  Kai hesitated, wondering if this was something Isa would kill him for. Rhys appeared from the driver’s side. “What’s the hold up?”

  Ember folded a piece of paper into his hand, looking at Kai with big eyes, “I need you to go to this address and tell Miller Hammond I’m okay.”

  “No way,” Rhys barked.

  If looks could kill, Rhys would be a puddle on the floor. As it was, Ember’s jaw tensed, hair practically crackling as static moved along her skin. Her chest heaved, “You have too. He took care of me for years, made sure I had food, gave me a job, let me do my homework in his office.” Sparks arched across her skin, “I just disappeared. He probably thinks I’m dead. Please, Kai. Please.”

  Mace appeared at the front door, probably feeling Ember’s impending meltdown. He didn’t approach, just hung back, waiting to see what would happen.

  “Okay,” Kai said, placing a hand on her shoulder, jumping back when she shocked him. “What the hell?” he asked to nobody really, shaking out his hand. “I will tell him but you know I can’t tell him where you are. He probably wouldn’t believe me anyway. He’ll probably try to have us arrested for kidnapping.”

  “He’ll recognize my handwriting, just show this too him or leave it with Alma at the front.”

  He couldn’t take the sad eyes anymore. “Yes, jeez, enough with the puppy eyes, I said I’ll do it.”

  Ember deflated, the storm of energy dissipating as quickly as it gathered. Tristin snickered from the passenger seat, where she’d apparently been eavesdropping, “Suckered by your own sad eyed stare.”

  “We need to get on the road,” Rhys grumbled, turning on his heel and getting in the vehicle.

  As Kai slid into the backseat next to Quinn, Mace gave him a jaunty wave from the doorway, ushering Ember back inside. A heavy feeling settled in his gut. He couldn’t shake the feeling something bad was coming. Rhys inhaled sharply, looking at him in confusion. “I’m fine,” he murmured. Rhys didn’t believe him but started the vehicle anyway. Kai was glad he didn’t ask. He had no idea what he’d say. Something wasn’t right. As they drove away, Kai fought the urge to tell Rhys to go back. He ran a hand along the back of his neck, as it hit him like a fist to his gut.

  There was really no going back from this thing he’d set in motion. For better or worse, they had to see it through, no matter the consequence.

  36

  TRISTIN

  As predicted, the car ride was excruciating. Kai insisted on sitting in the back with Quinn, which left her up front with a cranky pants pouting werewolf. Being in the front with Rhys wasn’t usually a problem. He didn’t insist on filling every minute with unnecessary conversation.

  Today, however, his bad mood was contagious; or maybe it was the non-stop running commentary between Kai and Quin
n the entire four hour drive. She tried to sleep but after the third time her brother woke her with a knee to the back of her seat she gave up opting to thumb through her phone instead.

  Once they reached the city, yet another argument erupted between Rhys and Kai about whether to honor Ember’s request to pass along her note.

  “I told her we would do it,” Kai reminded him.

  “That sounds a lot like your problem,” Rhys told him. “We shouldn’t even be in New Orleans. Her father could have had an entire coven working with him. This Eric guy may even be working for him and you want to dangle yourself in front of him like low hanging fruit.”

  Tristin rolled her eyes as her brother’s mouth fell open, “You can take me there now or I’ll just find a way to go later.”

  “What if this guy calls the cops or accuses us of kidnapping her or something…weirder?”

  “You mean weirder than abducting her and carting her off to a supernatural town where her secret powers are a very threat to her existence. Weirder than that?” Tristin added drily. Rhys gave her his surliest eyebrows.

  “Listen, I’m in charge and I say no. No way. That’s final.”

  “Fine.” Kai told the wolf.

  Tristin knew by his tone of voice it was definitely not fine.

  Kai proved her right when he said, “I’ll just call Isa.”

  A strangled noise escaped Rhys, “You are such a…child.” He fisted the steering wheel until his knuckles were white, “Fine.”

  Tristin laughed at the smug look on her brother’s face earning her a glare from Rhys.

  The address belonged to a two-story building three blocks from the cemetery where they’d first found Ember. It was old but well cared for. A hearse sat parked to the side of the building next to a vintage Mercedes. An old beat up Buick was the only other car in the lot.

  Once inside, Tristin almost gagged on the bizarre energy in the room. She could tell by the way her brother fidgeted he could feel it too. There was no immediate threat, other than the tacky décor, but the place made her skin crawl.

  “Do you feel that?” she asked. Kai nodded.

  “What? What is it? No supernatural senses here, remember?” Quinn asked.

  Kai shrugged, “I don’t actually know. Maybe it’s all the death?”

  “I told you this was a bad idea,” Rhys muttered.

  An older woman rounded the corner. She had a soft face and half glasses that made Tristin think of Mrs. Claus. She was tiny and plump. Tristin couldn’t help but notice how her floral dress matched the carpeting and the table clothes. It was like she’d been there so long the building had accepted her as one of its own.

  She looked startled, probably not used to seeing four teenagers standing in a funeral parlor. “May I help y’all?”

  They all stared until Rhys shoved Kai forward with a grunt.

  “I-I’m looking for Miller Hammond, is he here?”

  “No, he’s off for the day.” She tilted her head, “How may I help you children?”

  “Are you Alma?”

  She smiled, hand fluttering to her chest, “Why yes I am, do I know you, sweetheart?”

  “No, but I think you know my c-” her brother was cut off by another quick elbow to the back, “my friend, Ember. She asked that we leave this with you for Mr. Hammond.”

  Her smile faltered, eyes going watery, “So she’s okay, then? Alive?”

  Kai nodded a bit too enthusiastically. Tristin rolled her eyes. He looked like a bobble head. “Yes, she’s fine. Happy.”

  Alma didn’t say anything for a bit, as if absorbing the fact her worst fears hadn’t come true. She nodded once, “Well, okay then. I’ll be happy to pass that on. He will be so relieved. Please, please tell her to come see us. We miss her so much.”

  Tristin fought another epic eye roll. Everybody loved Ember.

  “Well, if that’s all, I have a family…” she trailed off, gesturing towards the back.

  Rhys looked horrified at the notion of disturbing some grieving family, shuffling them towards the wooden double doors. As they made their way out the door, she noticed the two small portraits on the wall. One was of the woman they’d just met. Underneath it said ‘Alma Mayweather, Office Manager’. The other was of an older black man with large kind eyes and greying hair captioned ‘Miller Hammond, Owner’.

  Kai caught her looking, “He has a nice face. At least Ember had one person who was nice to her.”

  Tristin’s cheek twitched. She didn’t want to feel sorry for the girl.

  Once they piled back in the car, they drove towards their hotel where they had one hotel room with two beds. Tristin dreaded the fight she knew was about to ensue. It took approximately six minutes for things to fall apart once they entered the room.

  “I’m not sharing a bed with Quinn,” Rhys said, arms crossed and jaw set. “No way.”

  “Wow, man. Rude.”

  “You sleep like you walk, dangerously. I’m not going to be hit in the face all night by your flailing limbs.”

  “I don’t want to share with you either,” Quinn said, but still looked hurt by the wolf’s rejection.

  “Well, I’m not sleeping with Rhys,” Kai said, trying to look disgusted but mostly just looking terrified. She didn’t have to be a werewolf to know his heart was probably pounding out of his chest.

  “Oh, I’m devastated,” Rhys snarked back.

  “Shut up,” Tristin told them. “I’ll sleep with Rhys but you two better go to sleep. I’m not going to be kept up all night because you two are giggling like twelve year old girls at their first slumber party.”

  Rhys snickered.

  Kai glared at her, “We don’t do that.”

  They proceeded to do just that. Tristin had erected a huge pillow barrier between her and the wolf but it didn’t stop him from tossing and turning next to her, causing the pillows to topple on top of her. She finally flung them to the floor, staring at him in exasperation. He grunted at her in the dark, thrusting a finger towards the other bed.

  “Go to sleep. It’s after midnight,” Tristin told them. The sound quieted down and she raised her eyebrows in what she hoped was a ‘happy, now?’ look.

  Their peace lasted only about ten minutes before they were laughing again. The wolf huffed air out of his nose like an angry bull but said nothing, instead flopping on his stomach dramatically.

  At around two in the morning, Rhys threatened to claw out somebody’s vocal cords letting them know he didn’t care which of them it was. The room finally fell silent for good.

  The bed was big and comfortable but Tristin felt like she was sleeping next to a space heater as two hundred pounds of werewolf dozed restlessly beside her. Morning couldn’t come fast enough.

  She drifted into a restless sleep. She dreamed of Ember and Kai, of their parents on the beach, laughing. Just flashes really. Her dad tossing a small plastic ball to her and Ember. Kai sitting with their Aunt looking at the names of her collected. Tristin and Ember burying their Barbie’s in the sand. Tristin crying when hers was carried out to sea. Ember giving up her most favorite Barbie with the dark hair to Tristin because Tristin was sad and Ember said the dark haired Barbie looked more like her anyway.

  Tristin woke with her heart feeling heavy behind her ribs. She was laying with her head on Rhys’ chest. His heartbeat thumping rhythmically in her ear. This wasn’t okay.

  She’d never dreamed of Ember before this. She’d never dreamed of her parents either. Her breath hitched, tears pricking behind her eyelids. She felt Rhys tense beneath her as tears spilt against his skin. She heard his subtle intake of breath and knew he was awake. She knew without looking, he was listening for any sounds of impending danger. When he realized they were safe, he relaxed.

  He didn’t ask questions. The arm that curled around her shoulders flexed and his hand stroked down her ba
ck lazily. She normally wouldn’t allow it. She didn’t need comforting. She didn’t cry, especially over things she couldn’t change. It was a waste of her time and energy. Her brother was the emotional one.

  Her parents were dead, her aunt and uncle were dead, and whatever friendship happened between her and Ember twelve years ago was dead. Nothing would change that. She could have gone the rest of her life without remembering these things. She didn’t want to know. She didn’t want to feel like this, it was like losing them all over again.

  She pressed her fist against her teeth, keeping her sobs to herself, skin too hot. Rhys kissed the top of her head once but otherwise didn’t acknowledge her distress. She hated this feeling; she hated it.

  She didn’t know how long she lay there before her tears finally stopped or even if they did. At some point she drifted to sleep and if she dreamed at least this time she didn’t remember.

  37

  EMBER

  It was late, or maybe it was early. The others had long since dragged themselves to bed but Ember couldn’t seem to settle. The night hadn’t been a total disaster. She’d sacrificed one plate of French toast to the floor. She almost wore a customer’s meatloaf when she went in the out door of the kitchen. Donovan managed to save the dish, kissing her cheek as he slipped past. For once, she wasn’t mad, gravy wasn’t her color. She slapped his butt as he walked past and the wolf howled. It was hard to be mad at Donovan.

  Mace, didn’t seem to agree. He was most definitely mad. Every time the door swung open or she glanced through the pass-thru he leveled his glare at her, at least until Isa barked another order at him.

  It was weird having a job where she interacted with the living. At least the majority of the customers were human thanks to the restaurant sitting just over the border of town. It cut down on the weird looks and hostility she received at school. The humans here didn’t react to her the way they had in New Orleans. Maybe the overwhelming supernatural population dulled the humans to anything unusual.