Page 6

6

Thunder rumbling outside the RV is what wakes me up, but it’s only the first thing I notice and certainly the least important.

A hand is still curled on my thigh, fingers stroking along my skin sweetly and almost possessively. Finally, I realize Val and Kieran are talking, but I don’t move. I don’t open my eyes, wanting to listen to their conversation for as long as possible. Or at least until I can decide if it’s relevant to me or not.

“She’s not going to like that.” Val chuckled, soft amusement and tiredness in his voice. Outside I hear another roll of thunder, and at any other time I’d be sitting up with my nose pressed to the glass to watch the impending storm. But this is more important. “So I won’t help you. If you want her to go home, you can tell her.”

I can’t help it. I tense, and Val’s fingers stop moving on my hip just as he lets out a soft chuckle. “And look who’s awake. Just in time, aren’t you, princess? However…” His fingers splay over my hip and he leans close to nuzzle my shoulder. “We have got to work on your eavesdropping skills. This is the second time in a row you’re not as sneaky as you thought.”

My eyes open and I look up, finding Kieran still in front of me, though he’s sitting up and leaning back against the window. He’s also wearing pants, which is a real disappointment, and gazing down at me with his typical shrewd gaze.

“I’m not going home,” I tell him flatly, not responding to Val except to shiver under his light touch as it resumes. “I drove nine fucking hours to come and air out my complaints?—”

“Which you did, for the most part,” he replies, cutting me off smoothly. “We get it. We shouldn’t have left for so long, and I admit things got a little…difficult. Sometimes Nero asks us to do stupid shit, and we do. Sometimes, we’re stuck cleaning up other people’s messes, because we know how to make it go away.” He reaches out to stroke his fingers through my hair affectionately, eyes dropping to his phone.

“But you’re going home, Noa. And we’ll come find you once we’re?—”

“I swear on my favorite hanukiah, that’s all cats holding up the candles, I will glue myself to Val if you tell me to go home one more fucking time.” My words are sharper than I intend, but I mean them.

Both men are silent, with Kieran side-eyeing me while Val processes my words with his hand going still on my thigh. “What uh, what exactly is a hanukiah?” he asks at last. “You know, so I can properly grasp the gravity of the situation at hand?”

“You know. The thing everyone calls a menorah. Candle holder with nine candles? Miracle of oil lasting eight days?” I wave my hand dismissively in the air. “It’s basically a family heirloom, and I light it every year for Hanukkah. My grandma got it for my mom, who gave it to me when I moved out.”

“Importance on a scale of one to ten?” he asks hopefully, prompting me to roll my eyes up at Kieran.

“Eight point five. Final answer.”

“Understood.” He rests his chin on my arm and looks up at Kieran, batting his eyes. “She makes a pretty convincing argument.”

“Only because you don’t want to end up glued to her and we both know it’s a serious threat,” the sterner man replies with a sigh. But he looks at me, giving me the glare of almost disdain and definite disapproval. “You don’t even know what we’re doing.”

“Murder?” I assume automatically.

Val’s the one to reply, and he groans before burying his face against my shoulder. “Why do you always go right to murder, Noa?” he complains. “We aren’t that simple.”

“You’re right. What was I thinking? I mean, last night, that clearly wasn’t murder.” My words are as dry as the Sahara as I turn to look at him as much as I can, my face expressionless and incredibly unimpressed. “It was dancing, right?”

“Okay, all right. Don’t be a bitch, princess.” He nips my shoulder blade, pulling a yelp from me that’s more from surprise than pain. “Yeah, that was murder. But today…” he trails off, looking up at Kieran for help.

But he only sighs and shakes his head. “No, she’s right. You are that simple. And yes, what we’re doing does involve more murder. Eventually. Probably.” Then he shrugs his shoulders, as if the possibility of it doesn’t really matter that much to him.

Maybe it doesn’t.

“I’m not going home.” I try to put conviction in the words as I sit up, shaking off Val, who groans in disgust and flops back down on the bed. He’s still just as naked as he was last night, and he’s the only one, since I somehow retained custody of my t-shirt. Not that I mind, since it’s one I’ve slept in multiple times, anyway.

Getting to my feet, I move to the main living space of the RV, peeking out the window to look at the wooded campground outside. There’s absolutely no one around to see me pants-less, so I take my time going through my backpack to find the comfiest pair of sweatpants that I own and luckily washed before I left to come here.

Sliding them on provides me with comfort and warmth, and makes me feel better about going back to have the argument I put off by coming out to get dressed. I even find my shoes, though instead of putting them on, I carefully set them next to the two pairs of boots by the RV door.

They look so…normal compared to Ravage’s combat boots that look a lot like the ones he’d made me kiss. Even Val’s black boots, though less intimidating, look so strange against my sad, muddy sneakers, which have seen better days and are hanging on by a whisper of a prayer.

You can do this , I remind myself as I stare at my transparent reflection in one of the large windows.

You have to do this , I add in a soft, silent whisper while I walk back toward the bed that takes up most of the back end of the RV.

I don’t sit back down, because that could get me into trouble real quick. By this point, I have to assume they know how to distract me better than any shiny object or catchy song ever could, so it’s much safer for me to lean against the doorframe and just study the two of them.

They’re so different, I think to myself as Val rolls around the bed with a few broken groans of frustration at having to get up. He’s the loud, boisterous one. With golden, sun-kissed skin and permanently tousled hair. While Kieran is the calmer one. The nocturnal professional with an inner quiet that makes the world fade away whenever he grabs me and pins me under him.

They’re both so perfect, so different, I think it’s what adds to their appeal.

That, or I just have problematic taste for murderous men in masks and now I’m looking for any kind of justification to not seem so desperately pathetic.

“I don’t want to go home.” I keep the words level, hoping not to start a fight. Kieran is the difficult one, and definitely the one who’s harder to convince, so I stare him down with what I hope isn’t some creepy, too awkward glare.

Judging by Val giving me a subtle nod, I have to assume I’m doing the right thing.

At last, Kieran sighs and drags his gaze up to mine. His expression makes him impossible to read, and when he narrows his eyes at me with that shrewd, thoughtful look, it definitely doesn’t help. “So you want to stay…” It isn’t a question, but I suspect he’s just revving up. “You want to stay with us in an RV while we take care of stupid shit that definitely involves murder. Or do you think the murder will stop because you’re here?”

The question, and more importantly, the way he dives right to the heart of the issue, catches me off guard. I have to remind myself that it’s his intention to throw me off balance, so I take my time before answering him, and I refuse to let him see more than the flicker of surprise I couldn’t hide when he asked.

“I can’t change you. I know that. And I certainly wouldn’t have come all the way here if that was my intention.” With a frown, I try to convey that I’m completely serious about this. “Last night, I told myself that if I couldn’t follow Val, if I couldn’t stand there and watch what the two of you did to that man, there was no point in me being here and I might as well go home.” I suck in a breath, trying to find more ways to convince him I’m serious. “I told myself?—”

“So you’ve convinced yourself you can stand behind Val and be our cheerleader? That you can root for us when we wear our masks and hand out punishments to anyone we deem deserves it?” I remind myself he’s doing this for a reason, so if I show him a reaction other than calm rationality and poise during this conversation, he’ll be winning the argument. “But what happens when that isn’t all it is, huh? What happens when the guy gets away from us and runs toward you, begging you for help?”

He sets his phone down, grabbing Val before the latter can get up. Dragging him back down to the bed while ignoring his yelp of protest. “Tell me, Noa,” Kieran prompts. “What happens when Val here says your name, your real name, and suddenly you have a guy telling you all the reasons you should spare him while he bleeds out on your shoes? What happens when?—”

“I don’t know.” I don’t mean to cut him off, exactly. But his words make me nervous and uncertain. I bite my lip and link my hands behind my back, scuffing my foot on the faux wood laminate under me. “I can’t answer that part, but you know that, or you wouldn’t ask.” My tone is sullen, and Kieran’s mouth quirks into something like a smirk of almost approval.

“You’re asking me hypotheticals about situations I’ve never been in. And you want me to say something stupid so you can jump on it,” I work out, speaking into the open air to get my thoughts out there. It’s a little easier this way. Especially since Val is great at giving me tiny visual cues, like a smile or a frown, to keep me on the right track.

I guess I can always be grateful that he, at least, is on my side.

“You think I’ll promise you the moon when I can’t even guarantee the stars. But I won’t. I’m not that stupid,” I say reprovingly, still keeping my fingers clasped behind my back as I puzzle through my thoughts and words. “All I can say is that I want to try. I don’t want to be left at home like the wife whose husband goes to the store for milk and may or may not return home. I don’t want to only accept you when you can be who I’m comfortable with, rather than who you really are.” My confidence leaves me, and I gaze at both of them with more nervousness than I’d like to admit.

“Unless you don’t want that.” I can’t help admitting that part. “It’s not like I force you to want that. I don’t want to force you to do anything, actually. But if that’s the case, I really need you to tell me now, before?—”

A heavy knock on the RV door cuts me off and sends me levitating almost to the ceiling. Val groans and buries his face in his pillow, but Kieran rolls to his feet like he’s not surprised.

“Are you expecting someone?” I can’t help but ask, a touch of nerves in my voice as he gives me a rueful smile.

“Yeah. I just thought he’d be a bit later.” As I watch, he pulls on the same t-shirt from last night, which is now creased and wrinkled, before he moves to stand in front of me and stares down at me with that look again. “You need to move for me, pretty girl.” Kieran chuckles quietly, then reaches out to tuck my hair behind my ear, which I realize really needs to be brushed, I’m sure. Not that he seems to mind. Especially judging by how he cups my cheek sweetly and trails his thumb over my lower lip.

“You are going to make today so complicated, aren’t you?” he muses, not seeming very put out by it. Another knock sounds, and he rolls his eyes, only to forcibly but gently move me to the side. He moves past me easily, and in seconds his boots are on before he opens the door to greet whoever is there.

“Sam,” I hear him sigh, just as Val wraps his arms around me. “You’re early.” Whatever else he says is lost when he closes the door with a look back in my direction, and when I’m spun around to face Val, my attention falters.

“Hi there, princess,” he murmurs, bumping his nose against mine. “Did you sleep well? It’s surprisingly cozy in here, right?”

My fingers trail along his bare upper body, stopping at the hem of his jeans that are still unbuttoned. “Do you live in an RV?” I ask, more curious than judging. After all, who am I to judge? I think it’s pretty cool if they do.

“Sometimes,” Val admits after a few moments of thought. “It depends on where we’re going. We usually bring it to a new destination first, and we’ve used it to, uh…store things.” He skirts around what he really means, but I don’t exactly need him to elaborate. “But Kieran and I also have a place other than the one we brought you to. Not that it feels like we’re there much.”

Gently but with insistence, he pulls me back to the bed where he can sit. Then, surprising me, he drags me down onto his lap until I’m straddling his thighs and pressed against his warmth.

When he kisses me, his mouth sweet against mine, it dawns on me exactly what he’s doing. “I thought you were on my side,” I murmur accusingly against his mouth. “You acted like it this morning. Until now, anyway.”

He chuckles, and when he pulls back with a mischievous smile, I’m a bit relieved to realize he’s not going to lie to me or deny it. “Yeah,” Val agrees, his hands stroking up my back under my shirt. “Yeah, Noa. I’m distracting you while Kieran deals with Sam.”

“Why? Does he not like me?” something goes through me, like unease, but Val is quick to kiss me breathless until the feeling goes away again.

“Babe, I think you amuse the hell out of him. But Kieran wants you to stay out of it, remember? He wants to protect you, to not put you in a bad position.” He’s not really keeping me trapped by anything other than his words and his touch, but I feel almost riveted in place all the same.

God, I’ve never had someone—or two someones—able to make me react like this in my life. I lean into him with a sigh, nipping at Val’s lower lip and reaching up to card my fingers through his messy hair. “Do you really love me?” I ask, unable to help myself.

“Just as much as I love tall, dark, and frustrating out there,” Val replies easily. The idea of him loving Kieran is a momentary shock, though really I should’ve realized that. After all, it’s pretty clear they’re closer than just coworkers or murder buddies.

I’ve seen the way Val looks at Kieran with excitement and raw attraction.

And I’ve definitely noticed how Kieran glances at Val with warmth and affection. At least until Val looks back at him and the look fades to fond frustration or downright irritation at whatever is coming out of the brunette’s mouth.

“So…” I kiss him again, forming a plan in my head. “I’m going out there.” I need to prove that I can be a part of this. That I want to be a part of this and that I’m not satisfied with Val keeping me company.

I don’t need to be entertained.

“I could stop you,” Val points out. “You wouldn’t even mind it, I swear. I could pin you down and eat you out. You’d come so hard with my fingers and tongue in that pretty pussy, Noa.” His eyes dance as he promises me what I know he can deliver, and warmth pools in my lower body, prompting me to groan.

“Yeah, as tempting as that is, I’m still going out there. Are you going to stop me?” I lift my chin to look at him, trying not to look like a pleading little girl. “I mean, really stop me?”

For a few tense seconds Val holds my gaze, searching for something I’m not sure he’ll find. After all, I don’t even know what he’s looking for. “Nah, I won’t stop you. I don’t like being the bad guy for you.” His fingers smooth up my thighs before he leans back on his hands, looking tempting and sinful as hell in just a pair of unbuttoned jeans.

As I move to get up, though, he reaches out to grip my wrist gently, pulling me to a stop. “He’ll try to make you back down,” Val tells me kindly. “He’ll try to make you nervous. To make you second guess yourself. He thinks it’ll protect you from the worst sides of us.”

“So I shouldn’t let him?” I ask, a wry grin on my lips.

But Val just shrugs his lean, muscled shoulders. “I guess that’s up to you and how much you want to see of us.” Then he drops his hand and flops back onto the bed with a groan. “Go out there and tell him you beat me up or something. I’ll be out when I’m dressed.”

With one last smile in his direction, I shove my feet into my sneakers and open the door, having to push a little more than I expect to when it sticks. The noise attracts the attention of both men, though they remain seated at the rusted picnic table a few feet away.

Sam looks just like he did a month ago, though it’s not like I should be surprised. Still, to me, he’ll always be Nero , and his smile when he sees me somehow reminds me of the regality of his demeanor back at the haunt.

“Good morning, Noa,” he greets as another, closer roll of thunder sounds. “Kieran was just telling me you were here. Bit of a long drive to do in the cold, isn’t it?”

“My super power is long distance driving. My true calling is being a trucker, actually,” I admit, shivering in the chilly air and wishing I grabbed my hoodie off of the floor.

“I thought Val was keeping you entertained.” Kieran’s words are cool and neutral, so I turn my bright grin on him and march right over to sit beside him on the picnic table, though it takes all of my mental fortitude to do so. Especially when he shifts against me, though it’s only to wrap an arm over my shoulders and pull me in against his warmth.

“This seemed more interesting, so I knocked him out and came out here,” I lie, trying to look and sound like neither of them intimidate me in the least. Which unfortunately for me, isn’t true at all.

“It’s not that interesting,” Sam informs me almost kindly. “It’s just work.”

“Well, I have nothing better to do,” I reply with faux cheerfulness and a conversational tone. I won’t be pushed into going back inside. At least, not that easily.

Sam stares at me, studying my features, until Kieran shifts beside me and gives a soft sound of displeasure in his throat. Though it only makes Sam’s grin widen and he sits back, hands raised in surrender. “Relax, Kier. I’m not about to steal your prize. She’s not my type. No offense, Noa,” he adds, glancing in my direction.

“What’s your type?” I’m only a little interested, but from the way Kieran stiffens beside me, I wonder if it’s something I shouldn’t have asked. Especially when he lets out an audible breath with his attention fixed firmly on Sam.

“I don’t think he wants me to tell you,” Sam chuckles, resting his head on his hand. His eyes go back to Kieran’s just as the RV door opens again, revealing Val dressed and my hoodie in his hand. Gratefully, I take it when he tosses it to me, and I sit up enough to pull it on before letting Kieran pull me against his side once more.

Instead of sitting like us, Val chooses instead to perch on the tabletop itself. He seems unruffled by Sam’s presence and greets him with a quick clasp of his arm. “We’re ahead of your schedule, and you’d better be taking that body with you.” He chuckles, prompting me to look around until I see a large truck parked just behind my car. The tailgate is down, like he’s ready to load something, but I have no idea where the body from last night is.

“I’ll finish your cleanup,” Sam agrees. “But do I need to ask Erika to, uh, come out here and give someone a ride home?” His eyes drift to me, and I wonder if he knows Erika is the one who told me where to go.

Well, either way, I’m not about to tell him. "I don’t need a ride home,” I tell him cheerfully instead. “I’m right where I want to be.”

Sam doesn’t answer, but his gaze goes to Kieran and he lifts his brows as if to ask, really ?

“You could really do me a favor and go back inside,” Kieran murmurs against my jaw. “Why are you so interested in what you already know is a crime?”

“Because I’m being a supportive—” The word girlfriend almost leaves my lips, but I find I’m not confident enough to label myself as that. No matter that they’ve told me they love me.

“Cheerleader,” I say instead. “And I need to know what I’m cheering for to do so effectively.” My blithe tone is enough to make him narrow his eyes, and Kieran scoffs under his breath.

“Here.” Sam pulls out his phone and seconds later, I feel the vibration of Kieran’s cell against my hip where it’s trapped in his pocket. “Address and photo. Just be careful. He already thinks he has some sort of story, and I’d rather you not scare him into going to the police.” Sam grimaces and sits back, gazing up at the sky. “I’m not spending another fortune to bail us out of shit by buying off some redneck sheriff. Again .”

The idea of that seems…impossible. But I keep my mouth shut.

“We’ll take care of it. Just make sure he disappears after. We’re not dumping that one for you, either,” Kieran warns. Sam sighs and gets to his feet, though I wonder if this is a premature end to their little talk due to either the storm or me.

"You sure you don’t want me to call Erika?” he asks, hesitating and glancing at me once more. “No offense, Noa. But this isn’t something we can afford to have fucked up.” His smile is rueful and apologetic, prompting me to grin back at him.

“I’m not looking to fuck anything up,” I promise, remaining visibly casual. “I’m just here, existing.”

I’m not sure if it’s good enough for him, but the man dips his head in a nod, his blue eyes bright. With one last look at Kieran and a grin traded with Val, he heads for his truck with purpose.

“Go throw that body in there before he conveniently forgets, Val.” Kieran sighs, getting to his feet as well.

“You know he’d forget on purpose,” Val replies, though he jumps to his feet without protest and walks quickly over to Sam, stopping him with words I can’t hear as he points toward the other end of the campsite, on the fart side of the RV I haven’t seen in the daylight.

Not that I’ll get to anytime soon, judging by the way Kieran is suddenly blocking my path to keep me from joining them. “No. Not you.” He reaches out to grip the front of my hoodie, his eyes narrowed and his fingers tight in the fabric under my throat. “You and I are going to have a chat. Though I doubt it’s the one you want.”

“Wait—” Fear bubbles to life in my chest as he drags me toward the RV, marching me there like a problematic child before he yanks open the door and shoves me inside for whatever chat I’m suddenly really not looking forward to.

But I made my bed.

And I’m ready to lie in it and face the consequences.