Page 22 of Black Widow's Bite

Wyatt was at my side immediately and helped lift Piper off of me, slinging his arm over his shoulder so he could keep him on his feet. I helped Wyatt carry Piper out of the studio and back upstairs to his room, while Cain stayed to deal with the pool of drying blood that had come from god knows where.

Piper was already out cold by the time we got him into his room, and I tucked him in gently, leaving my hand on his face for a moment before I snuck back out of the room to let him sleep.

Chapter 23

Wyatt

Addy was worried about Piper. It was evident in the tension in her shoulders and the way she frowned whenever he left her sight. She was worried about all of us. In fact, I could feel it in her body every time my skin brushed against hers.

At her request, I’d driven her to the pharmacy this afternoon while Cain had been on a call, and she’d picked up a bunch of vitamins and five pill organizers. When we’d gotten home, she’d spent the next hour hunched over the table, separating all the vitamins into the days of the week segments of each pill organizer. Austin and I watched her with curiosity as she took a Sharpie and wrote our names on the top of the organizers, assigning one to each of us. Addy arranged them carefully on the counter in plain sight so they wouldn’t be missed.

“These have to be taken every day.” She warned us, and Austin advanced on his with interest, shaking the container to make the little pills rattle around.

“Aren’t these the things old people use?” I asked teasingly, wrapping my arms around her waist as she huffed at me.

“I wouldn’t have to use them if you guys could remember to consume something other than beer and go out in the sunlight every once in a while. I swear my nails are going to start falling out.” Addy grimaced, looking down at her hands, which were perfect in my opinion. “And Piper needs to take ironsupplements if he’s going to keep oozing blood,” she muttered, and I gave her a gentle squeeze, pulling some of the worry out of her until her shoulders relaxed and she leaned into my chest.

“Are you trying to make us more fertile, so we will give you strong offspring?” Austin hissed casually, and Addy’s head shot up so fast it hit me in the chin, making my teeth click together.

“What?!” she squeaked. “No! I’m not trying to make you more fertile. Good lord Austin! No, just healthy! I want you all healthy.” Her face was turning the prettiest shade of pink, and Austin grinned and stalked forward, his pupils dilating like he’d found prey.

“I would make you some very strong offspring. I’m in my prime, physically and sexually.” he rasped, puffing out his chest. I held in my laughter as Addy squirmed in my arms, turning an even darker shade of red.

“Austin, I’ve got an IUD. I’m not getting pregnant with anyone’s offspring anytime soon,” she replied gently, and I swear the snake boy actually pouted.

“Let’s maybe wait until Piper’s not having any more omens of our imminent deaths, and then we can talk about bringing a screaming newborn into the house with cranky Cain and the dozens of snakes living in your room.” I offered, smirking behind Addy’s hair. Austin immediately brightened back up, nodding contentedly. Addy elbowed me in the ribs, and I squeezed her tighter, laughing as Austin went back to shaking his container of vitamins.

Honestly, I couldn’t imagine any of us managing to father or help raise a baby. Cain would set fire to the nursery, Piper would forget the kid at the park one day and I... well, my genetic makeup wouldn’t be any good for a child. Austin, well... he meant well, but he was barely human himself, and I’m pretty sure baby-proofing 101, including removing live snakes from thehousehold. No, it would be better if we remained in a child-free zone, even after our lives were no longer in danger.

Austin eventually went upstairs, and I sat at the table and watched Addy make dinner. She’d described it as some fancy-sounding pasta dish with a bunch of vegetables in it, since it would seem that we didn’t eat enough produce for her liking. When I pointed out that now we had vitamins for that, she’d levelled such a nasty glare at me that I’d shut up quickly. Her temper was on a shorter fuse lately, and having two hotheads in the house was a little terrifying. I was looking for a chance to diffuse things a bit when a door slammed shut nearby, and I could see her shoulders clench under her thin shirt. Cain stalked into the kitchen, a cigarette between his lips as he looked around the kitchen.

Cain was going to run. I could sense it. He had this pained look on his face now, the frown permanently etched into his skin, and I had made a point to brush my hand against his one night as we were eating supper, under the guise of passing him a beer. Just as I’d thought, I’d felt guilt and hopelessness swirling through his veins, and I’d pulled out some of it - not too much, I couldn’t handle those as well as I could pain - and I replaced it with Addy. More precisely, I’d replaced it with the feelings I get whenever Addy enters the room, that hopeful buzz, that edge of excitement, the crackle of electricity when she touches my skin, the need I have to touch her whenever she’s nearby. If anything, that had just made him more frustrated.

His eyes narrowed at me briefly, and I watched his gaze shift to Addy, who was standing in front of the stove, pointedly ignoring him. She was busy fixing a plate for Piper, who’d been sleeping since his incident the day before, and I knew she was worried that he hadn’t eaten. Cain stormed towards her, and I looked towards the stairs, wondering if I should leave before thefirst shot was fired. I swear, they enjoyed riling each other up until one of them eventually snapped.

“Why did you leave the house without me?” he demanded, and she flipped her hair over her shoulder, rolling her eyes.

“I had to go to the pharmacy,” she replied tartly, and her cheeks flushed as the burner on the stove flared up, sending a blast of heat towards her.

“You shouldn’t have left the house! I’m trying to keep everyone alive and you just decide to go shopping. Consequences be damned!” I winced as he raised his voice and Addy turned, wooden spoon in hand, as she glared back at him.

“I’m not a fucking child!” she yelled back at him. “And I’m not stupid either. I had Wyatt come with me. I can’t wait around for you all the damn time!” Cain clenched his fists and Addy’s wooden spoon began to smoke, and she yelped and dropped it as the end burst into flames. She stomped out the flame quickly, and I jumped out of my chair and stepped between them so Addy couldn’t take a swing at Cain. I put my hand on his arm and tried to pull out some of the anger he had swirling around inside his head. The anger was all directed inward, which was harder for me to grab ahold of, and it felt like I was dipping my hand in hot oil. Cain snarled and shoved me, and I gripped him harder to avoid bowling down Addy. I drew out as much of the rage as I could and shoved some nicer things back down in its place before Cain managed to shake me off.

“Enough of this bullshit!” Addy snapped. “Get out of my kitchen if you’re going to wrestle like testosterone-filled apes!” She picked up her now blackened spoon and waved it at us threateningly. I watched Cain wearily as I felt his rage similar in my chest, making me itch for the fight he’d been trying to start. The fight seemed to have left him though, and he was combing his fingers through his hair, staring at Addy with an almostbemused expression on his face. I moved back to the table and grabbed my beer, finishing it quickly.

“What if we’re hungry?” Cain asked, still hovering close to Addy, ignoring the threat of the spoon.

“You should’ve thought of that before you stormed in here acting like a caveman.” she snapped back, slapping at his hand when he tried to steal a piece out of the pan. He slipped around behind her, his hands dropping to her waist as he pressed her into the front of the stove. At least this was better than the yelling, although, at this rate, none of us would be getting dinner.

I grabbed another beer out of the fridge, rubbing my temples as I tried to tune out their squabbling, which at least had taken on a more playful edge. I chugged the beer quickly, hoping to dull the edge of the rage that was simmering inside of me. Cain was a bottomless pit of horrible feelings. I don’t know how he managed it every single day.

Addy’s sudden laughter filled the air, and a wave of that euphoric feeling she seemed to create emanated through the room, bringing with it a blissful calm that took the sting out of Cain’s rolling anger. I sighed and closed my eyes, basking it in like a cat in the sunlight. Fuck vitamins. This is all I needed right here.

Chapter 24

Addison

The entire house was on edge for the rest of the week, like we were all waiting for the sky to fall. I made it a habit to check on Piper several times a day, no longer leaving him to his own devices. I also confiscated some of the sketchier-looking pills I found in his room, scared that he would hurt himself.

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