Page 58 of Judas (The Lito Duet #2)

Chapter twenty-nine

Havok

I am on a mission to find the girls right now. They’ve managed to stay out of the way and keep themselves occupied while I dealt with Lucien, not that much has been accomplished. It took my conversation, and trade off with Babel, to get me out of the damn apartment and track them down.

Things haven’t been quite as smooth with Nadia as I had hoped they would be, not surprising.

We’ve gone so long without one another—her grieving over me, me plotting rather than being there.

One track mind, in a way, what can I say?

It’s not excusable and I should have known better.

I want her to understand but this wound is so fresh, trying to field-dress it will only make it fester and spoil.

She needs time, and I have plenty of it now.

Lucien moans when Babel cracks him, but the door shuts before any more noise can escape.

Other than my heavy footfalls down the staircase to the shop, there’s not a whole lot to hear—worrisome.

When you lose a sense, your others sharpen and mine have.

One eye was enough to increase my hearing; I’m able to lock onto things that most people can’t really hear without sitting in silence and thinking about it.

For example, this morning I heard Nadia sniffling in the shower through a wall.

I’ve never seen her cry, sure as fuck don’t want to, because hearing it was enough.

Knowing my girl was in there alone, dealing with emotions she can’t contain, while I was getting ready to fuck Lucien up some more, put my mood in a black hole.

What’s worse is that she wouldn’t come to me so I could give her the comfort and support she should get—I know, I can’t expect her to pretend like everything is okay, either.

Sadie on the other hand, she’s so quiet.

Almost like she’s had a lot of practice keeping her movements smooth and lite—fearful that something would catch her doing things she shouldn’t be doing.

Like sneaking out of the bedroom while Nadia was asleep and raiding the fridge.

I don’t sleep a whole lot, so when she came through the living room that has started to smell more like a meat locker than a home, I zeroed in on her and watched her tiptoe through the mess.

We stayed there together, after I calmed her down from scaring the hell out of the poor girl.

Even made her a quick snack to tide her over until morning time.

She devoured it, licked her fingers, and if I would have let her I bet she would have licked the plate.

Xavier helped in keeping an eye on her while she was growing up, as well as a few other sentries.

So seeing her so starved was a revelation I wasn’t ready to fight.

Her adopted parents fed her regularly—which sounds so fucking strange.

Therefore, I’m going to put the blame where it’s owed—on Lucien.

Knowing damn well that he likely had nothing to do with how they treated her but everything to do with not making sure she was fed while he had her abducted.

When she went back to bed, I returned to my place on the sofa.

Keeping visual on the sack of shit that checked out once Naamah was done warping his brain.

Sadie passed out, full on fell-over-passed-out afterwards, too.

Babel and Nadia moved her away from Lucien and back into the room where she stayed until they woke up and left for some girl time earlier.

Despite Lucien being down, I know he will be back.

He’s like a hemorrhoid, hanging around for the right moment to be a nuisance.

He isn’t Babel's problem either, his job is done. Sadie has been retrieved but he’s still hanging around for whatever reason.

Guess he feels like the other shoe is about to drop, something I also get a sense of.

Whenever that time comes, I’ll manage it.

This isn’t his problem anymore. They’re my family and my responsibility.

Right now, I need to find them, to lessen the space between the most important people in my life and myself.

Rounding the bottom stair, I come into the coffee and ice cream duo at the base of the building.

One glance tells me they’re not in here, which is fine, other than not having a visual on them.

Something I’m not quite fond of, but I trust them.

I trust Nadia to keep the both of them safe while they’re getting a damn coffee and some sunlight.

I know they’re fragile right now and me storming through the shops like a raging bull will only set the both of them off. Careful is the key.

Marching up to the counter, I give the boy there a half wave and draw him over to me.

He’s spry for a young kid, attentive since it doesn’t take him very long to make it over to me.

Before he’s standing close enough to tend to me, I notice him sit down on what appears to be one of those hand-held gaming devices.

I’ve seen the kids carry them around a lot in the past several months.

Trying to learn what they are into nowadays, since there was a great possibility I would be bringing my own teenager home.

“How can I help you, sir?”

Manners, too; someone raised him better than my parents raised me, for sure.

“Have you seen a dark headed woman about yay tall walking around here with a girl a little younger than you, looks like me?” I ask, holding my hand up to Nadia’s general height.

“Oh, yeah. They came down here from the condo up the stairs a bit ago. I stopped to get a hot chocolate then went outside. If you take a right outside the door and walk down a bit, you’ll see a patio set up with tables and umbrellas.”

“Thank you.”

My response comes quickly as I push away, but find myself stopping and turning back to him.

“Do girls like those things?”

“What things, sir?”

“The little hand held game you have over there, what’s it called?”

“Oh, don’t tell my grandma you saw me on it, she will be upset. It’s a PlayStation Portable though.”

“What all does it do? Is it like your basic computer with games attached?”

“Uhm, no. All it does is play games. You can connect it to the Internet and download directly onto the device itself so you don’t have to carry around gaming cartridges or disks,” he answers.

“Hmm. Pretty snazzy. Can I buy them anywhere?”

“No, you’ll have to get it at an electronic store or a supermarket. Unless you find someone selling them online somewhere for a cheaper price. They are usually damaged or used to capacity, so it’s better to find a refurbished one if money is an issue.”

“Appreciate the advice, kid. One more thing, the dark headed woman. She didn’t stop in that kitten-bookstore, did she?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Good deal. Last thing we need is a fucking cat. See you around.”

I tap my hand on the countertop and finally step away, ready to see my girls—get some fresh air too.

Making my way out of the shop, I follow his directions and come up to a wrought iron fence that surrounds the patio area.

It reaches my waist, which is nice; helps keep more people out than the fences that barely come up to your knees.

Looking over, I see them. My heart does that weird hiccup thing, you know what I’m talking about?

Where it stutters like some dumbass then tries to make up for being stupid by racing?

They’re so damn beautiful. I made one hell of a kid.

Hell, I bagged one stunning woman too. Whole package, they are.

Fuck off, I know Nadia did all the work.

The other half of me, in her feisty glory, is talking while Sadie leans back in a metal chair that matches the gates.

Her knees are crushed against her chest, arms bound around them in a firm hug.

Choosing to stand here a bit longer, there are large trees lining the sidewalk every twenty feet or so.

I step over to the closest one and lean against it, avoiding the sunlight.

It’s pouring out of the sky between heavy snow clouds that are itching to dump powder on us.

Feeling my phone vibrate in my pocket, I slide it out and swipe my finger across my screen.

It’s always on silent; I can't have it interrupting any of my jobs but occasionally one comes through and it’s normally one of two people.

Xavier or Matias—well, today can make three because it’s Matias’s hellion of a son who’s managed to commandeer his phone and is texting me.

Matias Cell

Uncle, H, when you comin’ back?

H

Etera, why do you have your dad’s phone?

Matias Cell

He’s being an asshole, why else?

H

What do you need, big guy?

Matias Cell

An escape. Can I go snag your Firebird, the girls like when I roll up in it.

H

No.

Matias Cell

Oh come onnnnnnnnnn.

You’re supposed to be the cool uncle.

H

I’m your only uncle, go ask your other dad for his car if you want to get out.

Matias Cell

Fine. Get me yelled at by all three parents today, why don’t you.

H

Want to make it four?

Matias Cell

You’re not my parent.

H

Nope, but I raised you like you’re mine.

Now get lost. I’m busy.

Matias Cell

Bros for life?

H

And death.

Matias about shit a whole house when his ol’ lady tried to name their son Puta.

That was a fight I sat back and watched with a whole buffet of snacks—everything from popcorn to Jolly Ranchers, even those nasty ass Taki things kids love.

Oh, the Reeds cinnamon disks too, I still fuck those up.

Apparently in Māori, it means ‘mythological person.’ Yeah, as in a son named Puta doesn’t exist for Matias.

They settled on Etera Coatl Ayala. He’s cool as shit.

Got his mom’s fight, Matias’s protectiveness, and Fuego’s intelligence.

Maybe I’ll introduce him to Sadie one day.