Page 102 of Judas (The Lito Duet #2)

“Still have nine more to go, your dad will be in here rushing us soon,” I say, turning to hunt down a few more so we can leave.

Her next question draws me out of my focus and puts a new smile on my face again.

I love how she isn’t afraid to say something or ask for things, at least with me.

The truth about her adoptive parents will come out in the end.

I don’t see why Kate would have caused her to attack them if there wasn’t something wrong going on in that house.

I just pray to whoever is out there listening to us, that she wasn’t taken advantage of.

I think I may just resurrect them and dice them up myself if that is the case.

“Can I keep this one?”

“Anything you want, as long as it annoys your dad. What are you going to name it?” Asking, reaching out to stroke its wild little tail.

“Bruce.”

“Atta girl.” I chuckle.

She giggles and grins at me, giving the kitten a small kiss on the head and places it in the bag so we can go about trying to catch the others.

Fur missiles dart every which way with Sadie chasing after them.

Some jump up on chairs and run under adjacent furniture while others climb up the stacks of books.

Giving us one hell of a run for our money.

It’s hectic and chaotic with the small amount of time we have left but this moment?

Traipsing through a bookstore late at night after a bunch of cats is quickly turning into one of the best moments of my life.

Scooping up a hissing calico and placing her in my sack, Sadie belts out ‘ten’ from the back of the bookstore and I hear a kitten cry out.

The look on her face has me grinning. She is so damn proud of herself, having caught most of them.

Rushing to meet me at the door, my eyes rake over her.

Checking for any scratches she may have endured but don’t see any.

“We good?”

“Yes’m. Let’s dip.” She beams. The haunted and vacant look she wore prior to the hospital are long gone now.

While I doubt that was the last hospital stint she will experience, it’s good to see the turn around in her behavior and mood.

I’m sure she feels better, being seen as her own person and not someone who suffers with invisible illnesses that the rest of us may not ever comprehend.

We both shove through the door at the same time, the powerful and suffocating stench of fuel sucks the breath right out of my lungs with how powerful it is.

As if we were moving as a single unit, we both reach for the collar of our shirts and drag the cotton up and over our noses.

Hoping to ward off some of the intoxicating fumes, at least until we make it to the broken window.

Sadie begins to cough, which quickly turns into a bit of choking when she gets too deep of a breath.

Instinctively, I grab her by her upper arm, fingers digging into the soft fabric of her sweater and start to guide her back to the window.

It’s dangerous enough in here trying to breathe, staying around long enough to gasp for air will only make it worse.

Not allowing her to linger, though she continues to struggle with the cough, we move quickly through the few scattered tables and fixtures.

An assortment of coffee and ice cream themed nicknacks littering almost every shelf and bit of table space.

In a few more strides, we are back at the debris field right as Sadie sounds like she’s about to puke from hacking up a lung.

Kace, in all his glory, is waiting for us and I balk at him.

He has a hand braced against the brick and mortar while smoking…

is that a joint!? His salacious grin tells me all I need to know.

He, at minimum, could have waited to pour the fuel until we were nearly done with the kittens.

I’ll give him shit for that later. But this, when Sadie is almost blue in the face? Unacceptable.

Placing the end of the joint between his lips, he assists Sadie out of the window as she gasps for fresh air and I jump off the ledge right behind them. A crunching sound comes from the pavement as my boots press onto the shattered glass. The squabbling and writhing kittens adding to the madness.

With watering eyes, and a flushed face, Sadie finally gets a better gasp of air.

Her hands lift over her head to expand her lungs some, allowing more fresh air to flood her chest. When she’s ready, she takes both pillow cases and joins Babel at his SUV where he helps her pull out each of the kittens and looks each of them over to check for any injuries.

All while Sadie drags the one she claimed out to hold and cuddle.

He’s good for her, a complete stranger showing her that there are still people out there who will treat her with care and respect without asking for anything in return or having to have some sort of connection with her.

It’s funny seeing them though, he holds his own but I think she digs under his skin sometimes.

I see him cutting his eyes towards her like he’s ready to scold her for something.

If there is one thing I know about her, thus far, it’s that she’s probably giving him hell.

Like mother, like daughter.

Sadie was concerned with finding homes for the kittens when we concocted this entire plan.

Kace and I originally decided to deliver them to a no-kill shelter somewhere around the area where they could be assessed and adopted out.

Then Babel piped up, saying something about taking them back to Oregon with him and finding homes.

Apparently there are a lot of farms in the northern side, well out of the cities, that could use barn cats.

I’m sure there are shelters-a-plenty out that way but at this point Sadie could plot world domination and he’d support her.

He made a promise and I’m going to make sure he follows through with it. I won’t let anyone fail her again—ever.

Turning away from them, my eyes narrow at Kace as he puffs on the roach pinched between his fingers—still smirking at me like some loon concocting a devious plan.

He tilts his head up and blows out a plume of smoke before trying to hand the thing over to me, which I wave him off.

I’m a felon, if I ever get popped for a test I’ll be back in Bluitt before morning.

I rather not risk anything at this point, not after disappearing for weeks when I should have reached a halfway house already.

“Are you serious right now? You could have blown up the whole building with us still inside with that thing, or set it on fire at the least.”

“I’d walk through the flames to get to you, babygirl, wouldn’t be the hardest thing I’ve done.”

“That’s beside the point, you—“

Grabbing my jaw with his right hand, he drags me to him where he speaks against my lips with a low growl. My boots barely keep up with the abrupt movement and threaten to let me tumble against him. No complaints there, he feels good against me.

“I heard you, don’t get ahead of yourself with that sharp tongue, Nadia.”

He presses the faintest kiss to my lips then gives me a nod before letting me go. Don’t believe I’ve ever experienced butterflies before but if there’s any way of describing the feeling I just had, that would be it.

Steal my breath, why don’t you.

Kace nods to the flare I have stuffed in my front pocket, which I completely forgot about in the midst of catching the clowder then scolding him. This is the last time I’m doing anything like this, it takes me back too far and brings back too many terrible memories but… it’s needed.

They say not to burn bridges. And while that sentiment may make a lot of sense to people, not wanting to sever ties they may need later, this is one connection I will never return to.

This place, this time in my life, along with the shit beforehand.

Moving forward in all of our lives begins here, setting this entire building—hell the entire block if necessary—ablaze.

Ridding the apartment of evidence, snuffing out parts of ourselves that we will never get back, and finally chasing out the darkness with fire and flint.

“You sure everyone will be taken care of?” I ask, looking down at the flare I now hold in my hand, wrenching the cap off to expose the igniter under the protective plastic.

Aiming it to the open window, I look over at Kace.

The awe in his gaze makes my heart race, more than throwing the brick, more than lighting this whole damn place on fire.

His assessing eyes drag up and down my body as his own now leans against the ass end of the car. Appreciating, stricken, and yearning.

“K… Kace?” Murmuring his name, wishing I could see myself from his eyes.

“Yea, baby. They’re taken care of. Everyone’s insurance is up to date and if they don’t have it, there’s an emergency fund waiting for them to access. It will come from anonymous donators—won’t suspect a thing. Go ahead, light it up.”

That’s all I needed. Reassurance.

Sucking in a deep breath, and with a bit of force, I strike the flare and it erupts into a cloud of smoke and roaring fire.

Instead of hurling it through the window, I walk up to it, the red glow of the blaze casts light across every surface I can see.

Then, with a flick of my wrist, I send it into the center of the shop.

It lands in a clatter, rolling up to the edge of fuel splattered along the tile.

Fumes evaporating in the air the longer the gas lingers untouched, which I can see in a ghost-like movement above the fluid.

In a rush, the fire catches and it floods the building. Following the trail of liquid until everything glistens in the dancing light of oranges and yellows.

It’s beautiful.

Haunting.

Liberating.

Kace comes up behind me, sliding his tattooed hand along the small of my back and presses a kiss to the crown of my head. Stilling for a moment to run his nose into the silver streaked strands, drawing in a breath so deep I can feel his chest expand at my back.

Prior to the whole ordeal, he jammed the phone lines to give us a bit more time but it seems like that’s quickly dissipating as the screams of firetrucks start to ring out a few blocks away. It’s time to go. Feeling him squeeze my hip, we both turn and call out.

“Sadie!”

My chest fills with something akin to nirvana hearing both of our voices ring out for her. Something that always should have been and from now on will always be. She comes running over, clutching onto the kitten she’s dubbed as hers—leaving Babel behind to wrangle the rest into a carrier.

“What the fuck is that?” Kace grunts, seeing her with the four legged terror in her hand. “You take that thing right back to him.”

“Mom said I can have it.”

“Since when does your mom make all of the decisions?”

I listen in on the two of them going back and forth as he opens the door for the both of us to climb in. My door is shut first, hand moving instinctively to the seatbelt over my right shoulder, as the next words that come out of Sadie have me choking.

“Since we out number you.”

Takes every bit of my restraint to keep from laughing, her quick wit and how easy it is for her to put people in their place has me in stitches more often than not.

A keening cry comes out of Bruce and Kace shuts her door with a bit of a huff.

Leaving us alone for a moment, he gives Babel a firm hand shake and a goodbye.

“Where are we going now?” Sadie asks.

“Home, sugar. Home.”