by KT Strange
“I promise."
The cactus came home with me, and I sent another text message to Wolfe about it. I didn't mention that Max was with me. I figured that there was a bigger story going on with her, and I needed to sort that out before I said anything to him. He hadn't messaged me, so obviously he wasn't panicking that she wasn't with him or his people, or whatever. That thought made me more than a little angry with him. We were gonna have words.
“Holy shit," Max said, as we stepped out of the Uber and onto the sidewalk in front of the apartment building.
“Good evening," the doorman said as we approached, and Max turned her wide eyes on me. I had to hide a smile.
“Hey," I greeted him before Max followed me inside. She fidgeted a little in the elevator and I slipped my fingers through hers, squeezing gently.
“This place," she said with a shake of her head.
“There's a hot tub," I replied. She made a happy noise. “You're staying, right?"
“For the night," was all she would promise. I held out the hope the hot tub would win her over. As the doors opened on the suite, she exhaled, and muttered a curse under her breath.
“C'mon, shoes off," I said with a teasing grin.
“Yes ma'am." She toed her sneakers off and stood in the entry, taking in the soaring ceilings, the unending walls of windows that looked out over the city, before turning to me.
“Where are the guys?"
I tilted my head. The apartment was eerily silent, but there were a pile of shoes by the front door, so unless they'd gone out in bare feet, they were in the apartment. It dawned on me.
“Murder Room," I said and Max laughed.
“Murder Room?"
“Lemme show you." I padded down the hall. The door at the end of it was painted a bright red, further cementing in my mind what the room's original purpose was. I paused outside of it. Silence. Max hovered behind me. I turned the knob and pushed.
A wave of sound swamped us; the guys rocking out hard. As soon as the door swung open fully, they stopped turning to look at us.
Eli stood stock-still, eyes locked on Max. Ace was the first to break, a wide grin plastered on his face.
“Max!" He ran across the space, the patch cable on his bass dragging after him. She let out a nervous laugh and then melted into the one-armed hug that he gave her. “Shit, sorry, this thing isn't meant for hugging people with," he said, gesturing to his instrument. Her laugh turned real. Cash ditched his sticks and ducked out from behind the drum kit, speeding across the jam space, followed by Charlie and Finn. She hugged the three of them, before standing back awkwardly.
“Well, hey," she said, “I missed you guys too." Relief flooded through me at how much more relaxed she seemed to be in their presence. Whatever, whomever Creston had sent after her would never be able to get through me and the guys, and we could probably protect her better than even Wolfe could now that my powers were more under control.
Eli set his guitar down and took a few hesitant steps toward her before he crossed the rest of the space in three long paces. Her eyelashes fluttered as her eyes closed and he hugged her tight, a protective expression on his face. A tinge of envy bubbled up inside me and I did my best to ignore it. Max's relationship with the guys was totally different from mine, but it hurt to see that she could get along just fine with Eli when he and I clashed all the time.
Finn caught my eye, contrition on his face. I didn't really want to hear an apology from him right then. It was still too raw. I wasn't as angry as I had been, but everything had sort of faded into one big ache. He seemed to sense my mood, because his lips thinned and he sighed, running a hand through his hair.
“Well, since you girls are here, why don't we run through our set for you to watch?" he asked as Max finally unwound herself from Eli's embrace.
“Sure, then dinner," I said, glancing around the room. They'd dragged in a cough from the living room since this was the only room in the house that wasn't furnished. Their amps were set up, the backdrop of windows behind them, highlighting Cash as he sat down on his throne behind the drum kit. The kit itself was the prettiest thing I'd ever seen, dripped silver brushed over black. Max curled up on the couch, and I leaned in next to her. So much had happened, and all of me was just aching to be close to her and not let her out of my sight.
Whatever the fuck she'd been through? I wasn't going to let it happen to her again. That reminded me I needed to get her some arnica cream for her bruises before the guys saw them. They took her wellbeing more than personally, and not for the first time did I wonder about how close a pack was with their magical creature namesake. It seemed like, from what I could gather, a pretty symbiotic-sibling relationship.
Ace tossed us a pair of earplugs each, a necessity with the drum being so close in the small room. Charlie's guitar rang out as he quickly re-tuned it and Cash settled on his throne, kick drum creaking as he got into place. Only Eli was still, his hand loose on the neck of his guitar. Finn picked up his microphone and jerked his head forward.
The sound exploded all around us, a new song I'd never heard before. Max tensed beside me as the guitars soared, the low thrum of Ace's bass-line humming in the back of our skulls. I could feel the kick drum in my chest, like a physical pounding.
It was like having a bone snap back into place, painful and a relief all at once, to hear them play again. The magic woven into each note washed over me, and I felt woozy… not used to it even after being on tour with them.
When Finn lifted his microphone to his mouth, his eyes locked on me, and the agony poured out of him. Beside me, Max was tense, her fingers reaching out for mine. I gripped her hand tight, swamped with the feelings that Finn was unloading with each painful word.
His voice lifted into the pre-chorus and I held my breath.
“I built this fortress to keep you safe, but now I know that living a half a life is not a life, I’m done with being afraid…” His eyes never left my face, not once, not to look at any of the guys as the music faded out for a moment and then roared back in for the chorus, the drums slamming over and over in a build that made my heart pound, the guitars deafening me right through my earplugs.
“I don't care, I'll open up my mouth and show my teeth, sing about the things that I believe,” he took a shaking breath, eyes closing down tight. Max’s fingernails bit down hard into my skin and I gasped. Finn’s expression flickered, like he’d heard me over the music. His eyes opened, dropping down to where Max hung onto me for dear life.
“I don't care, I'll open up my mouth and show my teeth, maybe then we'll both be free…” his aching voice faded off, the guitars going from hard-edged to floaty and shimmery.
I couldn’t. It was too much.
I shoved off the couch and burst from the room, running down the hall, my face wet with tears.
Nineteen
Charlie
The music died seconds after Darcy ran from the room. Max's expression changed from upset to irritated, and she took one hard look at Finn before following Darcy down the hall.
We stood there for a full minute, the echo of Darcy at the other end of the apartment, crying, reaching us through the open door. Finn's face went granite-hard and he put his microphone down before stalking out of the room. One of the guest bedroom doors slammed shut.
"That went over well," Ace said, turning his amp off with a sigh. Cash turned to Eli, and I could tell that our drummer was done.
"This shit stops tonight. You go talk to Finn, you guys sort out whatever fucking your fucking damage is, and you apologize to her in the morning," Cash grated the words out as he stood. Eli stepped back in surprise, opening his mouth to retort, and Cash shook his head. "Oh fuck no. I'm not going to get into how you guys have decades on her, and she's handling this with more maturity and grace than either of you."
"He's right," I piped up, crossing my arms over my chest after setting my guitar down on its stand. "You're dumping all of your emotions on her like this is her fault, like she
asked for any of this, for Finn to get hurt, for us to fall in love with her and her with us."
Eli's eyes snapped over to me, brow furrowing.
"I'm going to say this once," Ace's voice was soft, almost tender, but with a hint of ice in it. "You're hurting her because you're afraid to get hurt. Think about that, and what kind of asshole that makes you."
Eli stared the longest at Ace and then parted his lips.
"I —”
Ace sliced his hand through the air.
"Pretty much done with hearing about you, bro," Ace said, squaring his shoulders. Cash's eyebrows kicked up high and I held in a whistle at the law Ace was laying down for Eli. That cheerful attitude Ace always carried with him was morphing into something more quiet, steady, and commanding. He wasn't a kid anymore, even if sometimes I caught myself thinking of him like that.
"And you're the expert here," Eli said after another long, tense moment. Ace glared at him.
"Don't be passive aggressive," he retorted, cutting off the older wolf. "I'm not the one treating the girl I love like an emotional kickball because I can't get my shit together. What happened in the woods, with Finn, it scared all of us, and I get that you’re fucking terrified right now, but you need to stop."
Eli's jaw ticked.
"Thanks," he said, voice clipped, and he stormed out, slamming the murder-room door shut.
"Do we put the dys or function into dysfunction?" Cash asked the ceiling.
"As Darcy would say, I can't even with those two," I said. "C'mon, let's go check on our girl."
Darcy slept hard, curled up in my arms. Max passed out at one end of the bed, the rest of us at the other clustered around Darcy. My only regret about having Max in with us was that I was obligated to wear more than a pair of boxers to bed. None of us wanted to make Max uncomfortable. Waves of trauma were radiating off of the phoenix-girl in a way we could almost see; in a way that demanded we take care of her. She was our 'girl' in a different way, belonging to our pack like Frank did.
All in all it made for a restless sleep, and I wasn't the only one bleary-eyed in the morning while we made coffee and the girls slept in. Finn had gone out for a run with Eli, the twins apparently determined on being identical idiots for another day. Darcy slipped off to the record label while they were out, and they only returned in the late morning for another rehearsal of our set. Max zoned out for most of the day, watching TV and only getting up to grab a snack or a drink when one of us asked her if she wanted anything. I'd sent a message to Wolfe, but he hadn't replied to me yet, and I had half a mind to just say Max could stay with us as long as she needed to. It was Wolfe's apartment anyway, and there wasn't any place safer for her. Darcy returned home with about as little fanfare as when she'd left, and Eli and Finn disappeared into one of the guest rooms to do twin things like braid each other's hair, or read each other's minds or whatever. Another day ended up with the rest of the pack piling into the master bedroom with Max and Darcy, this time Darcy curling up in Max's arms.
Maybe some people would find it unusual, but we were a pack, and sleeping arrangements were mostly with your immediate mating-pack, any offspring, and sometimes close friends who were unmated, especially vulnerable females. It felt right to have Max in with us, where we could keep her safe. Cash only bitched once under his breath that it was putting a damper on our sex life, and had shut up when Ace shot him a look that could've peeled paint.
Another sun rose and fell, with Wolfe's silence and Finn and Eli being dicks setting the tone for our days. Shadows grew under Darcy's eyes, even though the rest of the pack tried to make it better. We took her out shopping with Max, because they needed more clothes as much as e we did, and without Finn we were slightly less conspicuous. I made Cash wear a hat and sunglasses. It worked well enough, with no repeats of what we'll forever call The Macy's Incident.
The only other constant?
Willa had been sending me a flurry of emails each day, demands that Gem was making to 'prepare' us for our future career at the top of the charts. We were asked to delete a bunch of tweets from our Twitter accounts, as well as scrub any reference to Darcy from Instagram, because in Gem's opinion, "the girl is just an intern after all, and what happens when her internship is done and this little relationship fades, Charlie? Finn won't need those reminders when he moves on."
She'd said it with such authority, as if she knew exactly what would happen when Darcy completed her internship and graduated, that I'd nearly punched the wall. Nothing, nothing and no one could take Darcy away from us except Darcy herself. She was our mate, and wolves mate for life. It's not like I could tell the bitter old hag that though, although she of all people would probably find some way to turn us being werewolves into some marketing point. I imagined her, salivating and waving her hands in the air, "we could market you as if you're those Twilight books come to life!!" No, thank you. We were getting enough attention as it was, what with Finn and Eli's morning runs starting to attract local gossip blogs.
***
Gunner Twins: Twice The Beef!!
Watch out, rockstar fans! Lead singer and lead guitarist, Finn and Eli Gunner of the band Phoenixcry have been seen running around downtown Seattle with their shirts off. Even if you aren't into the indie rock scene, you’d have had to be living under an actual rock to not hear about their meteoric rise to fame in the last few weeks as their single wracked up millions of views in a matter of days. And lucky us, they call Seattle home, and seem to have a penchant for working up a sweat no matter the weather, something this writer is only too grateful for! Keep on rocking and running, Gunner twins, and also, if you ever need a running buddy, I'm happy to sweat it out with you in the steam room afterward too, towels optional!
***
None of it seemed to be helping with Finn's foul moods, or the dark looks Eli was giving everyone except Max. A few more days of tense silence in the apartment was only broken by a single message from Wolfe:
I'm fine. Frank's fine. My petunias are ruined, but don't tell Darcy, poor pet. We'll be returning to the city in a number of days. P.S. I heard you've been having some sort of miracle career success? Congratulations.
Who the fuck puts a postscript on a text message? Apparently, Wolfe. Hearing that he'd be down soon perked up Darcy a bit. She'd been cagey about what she wanted to talk to him about, mumbling that it was magic stuff before changing the subject.
"So he's coming back soon? Is he gonna stay here with us?" she asked, sitting on the edge of the counter as Max and Cash cleaned up after dinner.
"Who's coming back?" Finn had just entered the room in time to catch what Darcy said, his face a mess of storm clouds. It was like his shitty mood just wouldn't break. I'd had more than one daytime fantasy about rearranging his face until he'd smile again, at least for Darcy's sake.
"Wolfe," I said. Finn scowled, before giving a hard shake of his head. The hope on Darcy's face died. Max banged the wooden spatula she held on the side of the wok, hard, after scraping out leftovers from the stir fry we'd eaten.
"Alright, that's fucking it," she said, tossing her red hair over her shoulder. "Family meeting, or pack meeting, or whatever you guys wanna call it. Now." She lifted the wok onto the drying rack before pointing a finger at Finn. "And it is not optional. Get your brother out here."
Finn's mouth opened and closed, but he didn't argue, and instead went back out into the hall, calling softly for Eli.
"Max," Darcy whispered, urgently.
"Nope," Max said, fire in her eyes that had nothing to do with her other form, and color high in her cheeks. "They're not talking, you're not talking, everyone is being shitty to each other, and this place is one bad rerun of Storage Wars away from exploding. We're talking, now."
Cash, Ace and I exchanged covert looks of amusement. Eli had a soft spot for Max, and if anyone was going to get him to smarten up, she was. Max had no idea either, but one of the roles of a phoenix with our pack originally had been as a sort of peacekeeper, or mediator, when
things got heated between the mate-packs. She was unknowingly falling right into her magical calling. I'd have to mention it at some point after she stopped looking so haunted every time someone hinted at what she really was.
I sat down in the living room, Darcy glued to my side. The constant negativity had to be draining her, cause our girl? Our girl wasn't weak. She was a fighter. She'd taken down a witch who had years of experience compared to her. I knew she had it in her to see this through.
Finn eventually came out, Eli a few steps behind him. They stood by the couches, not quite comfortable enough to take a seat.
Cash leaned back against the couch cushions as he sat on the other side of Darcy, giving Finn a look before glancing at Eli. Ace sat on the floor by Darcy's feet. Max stared down the two oldest wolves.
"Everybody in this room needs a counselor," she started, "but since I'm pretty sure they don't teach how to provide therapy to magical creatures and witches, we're on our own. Shit went down with you guys, and you're not talking it out. That doesn't work for me."
Eli's gaze was flat, unresponsive, but his shoulders were tense. Finn shifted his weight from foot to foot, looking so close to breaking.
Finally, he did,, "I just don't know what to say."
Darcy, curled up against my side, flinched like he'd hit her. I felt her chest expand against mine as she took a deep breath.
"I'll start then," she said. Cash wrapped an arm around her lower waist, and she straightened her shoulders. "You guys are killing me," her voice was ragged. "First with you fighting with each other, and then lashing out at me like it's my fault." She swallowed hard, and Finn closed his eyes.
"That's not what I wanted for us," he said, his words just as raw as hers. He took a breath, and then another, looking more vulnerable than I'd ever seen him. Darcy rose to her feet and rushed to him. He met her halfway, wrapping his arms around her tight, and burying his face in her wild, curling hair. Her whole body hitched as she hiccuped, her hands fisting in the front of his shirt as she clung to him.