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“Your legs are too short,” I mention. “Which is probably why you’re so quick to use the talons–which is illegal, by the way.”

Archie sits across the room, tail flipping in annoyance. “Look,” I tell him, “I gave you the dry food Vinny says is perfectly acceptable. If you want to wait for Sy to feed you something more bougie, go for it, but don’t give me that pissy look.”

“Meow.”

The whir of the elevator echoes up the shaft and Archie perks up, back arching. The doors slide open, and Vinny and Mama B step out.

Archie trills, running over to his mama. Traitor.

“Remington,” Mama B’s using her scary tone as she surveys the loft through a pair of those flimsy but dark eye-doctor shades. “What the hell happened here?” Snapping off the TV, I stand and she takes in my wounds. “What the hell happened to you?”

Yeah, they got some licks in. The slash on my neck has stopped bleeding, but it’s red and vivid. The talon cut on my temple is deeper, but smaller.

“I just did what you asked me to,” I say, lifting my chin proudly. “Watch the bird.”

She glances at Vinny, and says, “The next time you talk to Verity, make sure she knows to never let Remy babysit.”

“Hey!” I squawk.

“Hey!” Effie also squawks. “Suck my balls! Cute little fucker.”

“Thank you,” I tell her, always grateful to have someone on my side. “We’ve had a very enriching time, actually.”

Vinny drags both hands down her cheeks as she inspects the toppled bookshelf. “How the fuck, Rem?”

Mama B adds, “Why isn’t she in the cage? You can’t just let a bird loose in a loft with a cat!”

“First of all, you’re underestimating this bird.” I gesture to where Effie is looking all innocent and very unlike a bird who brandished a knife at me twelve hours ago. “Secondly, I’m, like… building bridges between houses here.”

Mama B doesn’t seem to care about that much. She rolls her eyes and goes to get the cage. Most annoyingly, all she does is let out a sharp whistle, and suddenly Effie is fluttering into the goddamn thing, happy to have the door shut behind her. “Thanks for your help, Remy.”

She even sounds about halfway sincere.

It isn’t until she reaches the elevator, shutting the cage, that Effie leaves us with one parting jab.

“Meow!” she says, the elevator door sliding closed between us.

5

EXILE

“Say the word, brother, and he’s gone.” Nick holds the gun at arm’s length and squints, counting the bullets in the chamber. He and everyone else in the room are cloaked in a haze of red. “They probably haven’t even left the parking lot.”

“Jesus,” I hiss at the splash of rubbing alcohol and wince at the pain. That Prince pussy brought a knife to a fistfight. Ishouldlet Nick go after him, but not yet. If anyone is going to take him down, it’s going to be me and not with a bullet. “Fuck! What the hell, Pauly?”

“Put the gun down,” Sy says, forehead creased with worry. His eyes dart from the wound to our medic-slash-trainer. “You sure nothing internal got nicked?”

“Seems clean,” he says, poking around. Pauly’s a lot of things, but a gentle touch isn’t one of them. When he hits a tender spot, I fall back on the table and groan.

“Son of a bitch!”

“Here,” Vinny says, thrusting a bottle toward me. Her soft hand cups the back of my head and tilts it up, pouring the whiskey on my tongue. The burn feels nice as it goes downmy throat. She pushes my hair off my forehead, and I tug her down, wanting her lips on mine. Our tongues mingle, the taste of whiskey shared between us. Blue starts to mingle with the red, turning purple. Fuck yes.That, more than anything, makes the pain slip away.

“Better?” she asks after Pauly clears his throat, forcing her away.

I look up at her, at the glare of white coming off my girl, peaceful and true. “Hey, if I can survive being stabbed by you, I can take a little swipe by that prick.”

She grimaces, but I know she doesn’t regret sticking me in the gut. Imayhave had it coming. Things were complicated then.