“Know what? Know that the Denver Mafia is after you?”
Eve winced and stepped away. “Yeah,” she finally admitted. “Yeah.”
I kept my hand by my side even though, by God, I wanted to slap the shit out of her again. “You know Trigger is looking for all three of us now, right? We need to bring him back his drugs.”
She looked away, her teeth worrying away at her lower lip. “I…I didn’t mean to get you involved. That’s why I went north, you know, up here. Instead of back home.”
Well, that was something. She’d had enough sense to keep her big sister out of harm’s way, or try to at least. I just glared at her, though. “You fucked up. That man’s out for blood if he doesn’t get what he wants.”
Arms wrapped tightly around herself, she turned away from me, her fingers twisting the fabric of her white robes.
“His name’s Trigger,” I continued. “Trigger Thomas, and he’ll find us. Why’d you do it, Sis? Why’d you run off with those drugs? You didn’t sell them, you didn’t do them. Why?”
“I—I don’t know,” she slowly began, “I took them because I didn’t want Kevin involved in them. He was a sweet guy at first, but he was kind of an idiot. We were doing some stuff with a local biker club, making a little bit of money. But he got it into his head that he wanted to make more money. More, more, more. And, I guess, he thought it would make me happy if he made more cash. Like dealer cash.”
“You took it from him so he wouldn’t get deeper into it, didn’t you?”
Looking back to me now, Eve nodded. “That was the idea, yeah. I figured if I could take it out of his hands, if I could just remove him from it, I could somehow save him. Maybe, like, preserve him as that lovable doofus I’d first hooked up with. I mean, I wreck everything I touch, so I might as well have left something good in place. Right?”
“Didn’t work out that way, though, did it?”
“No. No, it didn’t. The bikers, they took the drugs from me. Payment, they said, for keeping me safe from Kevin, who was going ballistic now about everything. And then, payment for helping me get up here. Which, I guess, is better than the alternative. The way those guys looked at me, Elise…you have no idea.”
I frowned. I certainly did have some kind of idea. “Yeah, those guys were rough. Real pieces of shit.”
“I’d wanted to just take it from him,” Eve continued as she tried to brush a non-existent strand of hair behind her ear in a nervous tick, “to try and teach him a lesson. To, maybe, save him from getting into deeper shit.” She trailed off, leaving a weird pregnant silence in the air of the supply building, one that was barely disturbed by the murmurs and whispers of cultists outside as they slowly drifted back to work.
“Instead, you got him killed,” Jake said, finally breaking his silence. “We found him in the trunk of his car a couple days ago.”
Her lower lip began to tremble. She looked away again, for just a moment, but when she turned back to me, a finger was wiping away a tear. “He’s dead? Kevin’s dead?”
Jake and I both nodded. “Yeah,” Jake said. “He’s dead. Pretty sure the Denver Mafia were the ones who killed him, too. No proof, but they’re not going out of their way to deny anything.”
“Are you a cop or something?” she asked Jake warily.
Jake shook his head. “Just a friend. Used to be one, though, but not anymore.”
She turned back to me. “So what do we do now?”
“Well, we’ve got a couple options. We can either run or we can try and find some more. We’d try to buy them back from those bikers, but I don’t think they’d sell to me or Jake. Too much bad blood from the past.”
Eve let out another long breath. “I think I might know where we can get some more. But I don’t think either of you are going to like it.”
Chapter Forty-one – Jake
The gathering space for the Lupo Congregation was set a ways off the main compound, and was really nothing more than a large open space with a large stage set in the center. Stone-ringed fire pits dotted the landscape around the wooden structure like black heads in the damp, yellowing grass.
“This is where we perform our devotional every evening,” Sister Veronica sing-songed beside me as I took it all in.
It was just she and I wandering around this place now, with the two sisters having gone back to Eve’s room in the big house. Eve had played all the commotion at lunch off, saying that she was just helping Elise to come to terms with her devotion to the group. Really, they were packing and talking. The three of us were going to leave as soon as we could.
That was always the tricky part of robbing a place. You had to be prepared to make a quick and clean getaway.
I still couldn’t believe I was even considering doing this—robbing a cult to get the drugs they kept stashed away in their secret little building, and using those drugs to pay off the Denver Mafia. The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth.
“We’re only going to take enough to pay Trigger off,” Elise had pleaded as we stood there in the little storage building, her skin tinged yellow from the naked light bulb hanging over our heads like a sword of doom. “Do you really want to get stuck on the road with both me and Eve? Where would we go anyways, Jake? Thailand?”
“Actually, I kind of like a good Mai Thai. You and Eve could work on your tans, and I could just sit on the beach, maybe prop up a bar somewhere.”
“Look,” Eve had chimed in, “they’re not even going to miss it. All we’d have to do is rough up a few people after tonight’s gathering, then take off with it. You’re a tough looking guy, Jake, you can handle them.”
She was right, I could probably handle them. But that wasn’t what I disliked the idea of. I was committing a series of crimes just so I could pay back one of the biggest criminals I’d ever met.
Definitely not what I’d had planned when I started this crazy adventure.
So here I was, killing time with Sister Veronica since I wasn’t allowed inside Fenris’ home. I kicked a stray rock at one of the fire pits. “Evening devotionals, huh?” I asked as the rock rolled smooth and true over the foot-trampled ground and settled against a ring of its siblings. “Devotion to what?”
“To the Great Alpha, of course. We gather to bring our positive emotions together, to compound them, and to release our negative energies, break free of the temporal shackles that bind us to this earth and plane of existence.”
“Oh. Figured you were talking about watching the big game or something.”
Sister Veronica didn’t smile. Quite the opposite, actually.
“Sorry,” I said sheepishly. “Bad joke. What are these devotionals like?”
“Singing, chanting, interpretive dance. We retell the story of how Reverend Fenris was saved by the Great Alpha, send our prayers into the ether that he may return someday soon to save us all, to carry us to the Happy Hunting Grounds.”
Jesus, this just got crazier the more I learned about it. “Happy Hunting Grounds?”
“Where the game is plentiful, where the hunt is never over. Where we can inhabit our wolf bodies, and can run over the fields and through the forests.”
“Right.”
I peered up at the stage as we stopped at its base. It stood off the ground at about head height. Anyone who was on top of it would definitely be seen by everyone in attendance.
“Everyone has to attend these things? Every night?”
“Not everyone, but most. Our people who secure the community rotate on the responsibility, so they miss one every so often. But protection of the pack is a great responsibility, and they understand this.”
As she spoke, the hamster wheel in my mind began to creak and turn. I couldn’t believe it, but I was actually planning the heist even as she spoke. If we hit it during the devotional meeting, rather than after, we’d be able to get away scot-free. The only real problem I could see was in them figuring out who’d busted up the place so quickly.
“Must be quite the show,” I said.<
br />
“Oh, it’s no show. It’s very, very serious. We bring signs of all our worldly trappings, the things and objects that have held us back in life both mentally and spiritually, and we place them as an offering for the Great Alpha. He needs to see that we’re truthful and forthright in our devotion to him, Brother Jake.”
I nodded. “Right.”
I still couldn’t believe I was considering this. These people might be delusional, but they seemed nice. I really didn’t want to hurt any of them, even the guards who had to skip out on their religious rites to watch the drug house.
Unfortunately, though, I didn’t see another way out of this thing, other than running.
Chapter Forty-two – Elise
“He’s super cute,” Eve said with a waggle of her eyebrows. “You guys…you know, do it yet?”
She was such a child sometimes. “Finish packing, Eve, and grow up!”
She laughed as she pulled more clothes out of her dresser drawer and stuffed them into her bag. “Best part of being here?” she asked over her shoulder. “I haven’t had to wash any of my clothes in weeks since all I get to wear are these stupid white robes.”
I sat there cross-legged on the bed, watching her work. The room they’d given her was about average-sized, with a double bed in the middle, a dresser off to one side, and a small writing desk with a chair tucked beneath it. She’d used Jasmine to get in close to the reverend right away, to convince him that she had insight on the world, and was willing to grow further in the community. On her word, she hadn’t slept with him or anything like that. In fact, he almost treated her like a daughter.
“I just can’t believe you’ve been able to fake being into this stuff for so long,” I said as she stuffed a handful of folded panties into her backpack.
“Hasn’t been too hard,” she said with a shrug. “Mom wasn’t exactly normal, or anything, and these guys aren’t the weirdest I’ve encountered I mean, at least they eat meat. Ever heard of Breatharians?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Is that as bad as it sounds?”
She grinned. “They believe they can survive on water and air alone. They all look anorexic.”
“Please don’t say you considered joining up with them.”
She laughed her good old Eve laugh, where she stuck the tip of her tongue out a little between her front teeth. Even with her hair gone, that sent me right back to us being teenagers together. “No! I’m not that crazy! Besides, these guys were closer; Breatharians are all the way in North Cali.” She went over to her nightstand and pulled a little journal out and stuffed it away in her backpack. “Hey, Elise, about me leaving and all. I’m really sorry. You know that, right?”
She was, and I could tell. Eve, for all her carefree, careless nature, was sensitive. More sensitive than me, I guess. I guess it was one more thing she took after Mom on. No way could she have stood being in that house with Pops. “I know.” I sighed. “I know you are, I know it better than anyone.”
“I just couldn’t handle seeing him that way anymore, Sis. I know that’s bad. And I’m sorry I wasn’t there when he passed.”
“Believe me, it was hard. But you know, he stayed Pops the whole time. Even when he was puking his guts out. Wouldn’t even let me get him weed or medication or anything to deal with the side effects of the treatments.”
“Straightedge to the end.”
“Yeah,” I said, smiling a little. “That was Pops, alright.”
“Did he say anything? About me?”
“Told me he wished you’d come back. And that he loved you even though you left. That you were just like Mom. Too empathic.”
She frowned a little and went back to her packing. “Yeah…I should have gone home.”
“Yeah, you should have. But he knew you loved him. He just couldn’t stand to see us fight, didn’t want me to go hunting after you while he was still alive. I think he liked that his last days were peaceful, even if they were just with me.”
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “Again. I’m so sorry.”
“Saying it over and over isn’t going to fix anything. I mean, I haven’t necessarily forgiven you for it, but repeating yourself won’t make that happen any faster.”
“Still mad?”
“The fuck I am. I’m pissed, Eve. I mean, you left me high and dry with a dying man—our dad. How can I not be?”
“Happy to see me?” she asked hopefully.
I sighed. “Yeah, I mean, of course I’m happy to see you. I still love you, even if you are the world’s biggest flake.”
“That’s the sister I missed.”
“Bullshit,” I replied, grinning. “You didn’t miss me.”
She laughed again. “Well, no, not really. I did think of you a couple times, at least.”
“I know, I heard about the gift shop and your sticky fingers. Still haven’t gotten past the whole shoplifting thing, have you?”
“Yeah,” she said slowly, “about that. At least it was for you, right?”
“And Pops. Heard you were over by the belt buckles.”
She shrugged. “Wanted to get him something nice for Christmas.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Oh, Eve. It’s not getting someone something nice when you’re trying to steal it. It’s just stealing.”
“Whatever, Elise. You’re just a buzz kill.”
“Right.”
She pulled a couple shirts from her dresser and began to fold them. “You know, you still haven’t told me if you’ve screwed Jake yet.”
I rolled my eyes. “No, I haven’t screwed him yet. I just barely met the guy.”
“Really?” she asked, making a face. “Seemed like you guys have known each other for a while.”
I shook my head and began to recount the story of how I met Jake.
“Whoa!” Eve said. “And you’ve always given me shit for hooking up with guys too quickly. You really care about him that much?”
“You know what?” I asked, cocking my head to the side a little. “I think so. I don’t know what it is, but he’s just perfect.”
She laughed. “You sound all lovesick.”
I grinned. “Maybe. He’s got his flaws and all, that’s for sure, but I don’t know, I like him.”
“Uh-huh. I think you more than like him.”
“Oh, shut–”
“You looooooooooove him.”
“Dammit, Eve!”
Worst part? I think she might have been right. Everything from his hands, to the way his eyes seemed to sparkle in the sun. To how he nervously scratched his beard, or could take down any man who tried to pick a fight with him. No, there was no might. She was right. I did love him.
Not that loving him was bad. No, it was just the part where I was being teased by my baby sister about it.
She gave me a wicked grin, her eyes filled with delight at my torture. She flopped down next to me, wrapped her arms around me in an unexpected hug, and pressed her face right against mine. “You know, Sis, I just wanted to say thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I replied, hugging her back. I turned and kissed her on the cheek. “You know, I still can’t get past this hair thing. Maybe we need to buy you a wig when we leave. Make me feel like I actually have my sister back and not some random club girl?”
“Yeah, no,” she replied as she got up from the bed. “I kind of like the look.”
“It’s not always going to be like that, you know. It’s going to grow back, it’s going to get curly again, and it’ll be black just like mine.”
“Well, I’ll just cut and straighten it again.”
I rolled my eyes as I let her return to her work.
“So I was wondering,” I started as she was zipping up the last of her items in her backpack. “Do you have a plan for doing this? For, you know, getting the drugs?” I asked, dropping my voice on the last sentence.
She shrugged as she pulled the chair over from her small writing desk. “Well, there’s more than just drugs in there, you kn
ow? It’s all the things people felt were holding them back in there. Like pornography, money, real estate deeds. Things people think were destroying their lives, filling them with negative energy.”
“Okay.”
“Well, we have to go after the devotional, because that’s one of the only times it gets cleaned out. All the small things, the papers and drugs and alcohol and stuff, get taken to the center stage, so the reverend and all of us can offer them up to the Great Alpha.”
“Seriously? You offer drugs to a wolf? That doesn’t strike you as ludicrous?”
She sighed. “Look, Elise, I don’t believe this shit any more than you do. But what was I going to do? Trigger was coming for me, and what better place to hide than with a bunch of nutjobs on their compound? Besides, it’s not that we’re offering drugs, it’s that we’re offering negative things from our lives.”
“What did you give them?”
She held back a little grin. “My hair.”
I laughed, clapping my hands. “Your hair?”
“Proof of my vanity,” Eve continued, still grinning from ear to ear. “Said it was my greatest weakness, then flopped down a Ziploc full of it.”
“Oh, my God, that’s too perfect.”
“Jasmine told me I’d need to offer up something, and it was really the only thing I could spare.”
“Should’ve offered up your little black book full of guys’ numbers. Slut.”
“Oh, shut up,” she squealed, sending us both into a fit of laughter.
With our peels of laughter still ringing in the air, though, footsteps sounded on the stairs leading up to the second floor. A knock on the door followed soon after.
“Who is it?” Eve called, still a little breathless from laughing so hard.
“Sister Veronica. Just letting you know that both Jake and I are downstairs.”
I nodded to Eve.
“We’ll be down in just a moment, Sister Veronica. Thank you for coming up in person!”
As I wiped a laughter-induced tear from my eye, though, I began to put together an idea of how we could pull this off without hurting anyone.
Maybe we wouldn’t have to rob them, after all. Instead, maybe we could convince them to just give it to us.
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