Page 160 of Hell and High Water

Food. Drinks. Friends. Distractions.

Gavin’s cooking is practically gourmet, even if he shrugs it off like he just threw it together. I swear, Evan’s expensive taste in ingredients has rubbed off on him.

I sample a bit here and there, letting Tell pull me along after him.

“You’ve been playing hostess long enough. Let loose…”

I arch into him, rolling my hips. It feels tremendous to stretch my dance muscles, and better in a casual setting without any stakes. Even if Evan watches with half-lidded eyes from his spot at the bar, egging me on with his gaze.

Soon. I promise him with a wag of my eyebrows.

For now, I writhe in Tell's orbit, letting him spin me, moving naturally with the flow of the music. The words of the song play on my lips as Tell’s play along the side of my neck, sending goosebumps down my arms.

“You just can’t help torturing me like that, huh?” I mutter into his ear.

“You haven’t seen torture. And we haven’t had round two of what we started back at the safe house.”

The insinuation makes my toes curl. “We are overdue for another training session…”

His answering grin is all I need to know that I have something to look forward to later. Closing my eyes, I drift back into the music and the feel of his hands on my waist.

Ora joins us, resting her hands on my shoulders and swaying along in front of me.

The mood is right on point to have us coming out of our shells, letting some of the disastrous events of the last day fade for a few hours. Soon, we’re all winding down, sitting around the table and chatting.

Inevitably, our situation comes up, but we’ve had time to process. Some.

“You know? I don’t think I’ve told all of you how happy I am that you’re here, that I’m here…” Ora slurs, grinning across the table at me. “Nobody I’d rather spend the end of the world with, for sure!”

“Cheers!” Alaya chuckles, raising her glass from the couch.

“You think Devonde really has some ultimate-destruction plan in place?” Tell finally brings up after a piecemeal recap of all of our days.

“I don’t know. He seemed pretty serious. Hellbent, even. Totally out of his mind, too. But what could it be?” I shrug, sipping my chardonnay.

Gavin sighs, shaking his head. “The guy was a megalomaniac. I could see him making up some nonsense to keep us guessing. But he’s also vindictive from everything I’ve ever seen. If Marco crossed him, he would want to retaliate.”

“There’s just no way for us to know,” Evan murmurs, lost in thought. “I’ll put out feelers tomorrow just in case, see if anything flags on surveillance.”

Evan has been monitoring Tell’s network while he’s out in the field with his army of street kid informants. They’ve been an unbelievable source of reliable info.

“I already sent a message to Clarence and a few others to keep an eye out for anything strange.”

“Things have really gone full on to shit, haven’t they?” Ora puffs, stretching out her arms ahead of her and resting her chin on the table.

“Total shit.”

“Complete dumpster fire.”

“Absolute crap shoot!”

The antics dwindle down into terrible jokes, laughter, and jabs at one another. Mixed throughout are compliments, too. The way Evan took down one of Marco’s men with an aerial spin kick.

The way Alaya never missed a shot.

Tell narrowly ducking a knife throw and Gavin’s stone cold stare that sent two soldiers flat out running.

“I thought that guy was going to piss his pants.” Ora wipes a tear from her eye. “But seriously, I hope Grandaddy made them pay.”

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