Page 165 of Patching Over

“I appreciate that, I don’t think I can move,” she says, patting her belly and moaning while glancing at the remnants of her dinner.

“Then just relax, I’ve got this,” I reply, chuckling at her starfish pose on the mattress.

She shyly smiles at me, her food coma grin has me biting my bottom lip to keep from laughing out loud. “Yeah, I could do with a shower, but I need to wait until my clothes are dry, I guess.”

“Got a clean pair of sweats in my bag. You can use them until your stuff is done if you’d like. Although, they’ll probably swallow you whole, but at least you’ll be able to get the road grime washed off of you.”

“Then that’s what I’ll do,” she says, her body movements lazy as she rolls over and onto her side.

I grab our trash and toss it, then pick up the room key I got from the clerk when we went and picked up the supplies to wash and dry her clothes and slide it in my pocket. She’s already in the bathroom and I can hear the water running, so I pull out the sweats from my duffel bag and knock on the door. When she cracks it open, I hand her the clothes, and say, “Be back in a few, babe.”

“Thanks, Kracken.”

Leaving the room, I head back down to the guest laundry facility, and swap out the clothes, then decide to run back downstairs and pick up a couple of sodas for us for the room. The hotel lobby has one of those small incidental areas, so I also pick up some chips, a few candy bars, and a magazine for her to flipthrough during our drive tomorrow. There’s so much I want to learn about her, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.

CHAPTER

THIRTEEN

Moira

Hearing a thunderous knock at the door, I shut the shower off before ever getting into it, and walk over, swinging it open saying with a humorous giggle, “I can’t believe you forgot the key.” Apparently, the virtual card Hawg sent him didn’t open after the first time, so we picked a physical one up when we went to the check-in desk.

My face drops when it triggers in my brain who’s on the other side. As my father and mother push their way through, slamming the door shut behind them, I can’t stop the tremors that begin coursing through my body. Never in my life did I ever expect to see either of them again. In fact, it wasn’t even on my radar to do so.

Kracken, where are you?I silently plea for him to hear me and come rescue me from my life’s tormentors, again.

Panic claws at my throat, making me momentarily mute until I remember I’m not that scared rabbit anymore. My voice and what I have to say matters. I matter. I may still have brokenpieces that need to be repaired, but Iwill notallow them to take me.

My father grabs me, his fingers firm and his face mottled with undiluted fury, through a tight jaw says, “You little bitch, you’ve caused enough trouble for me. It’s time for you to take your place and do what you were born for. Now, let’s go.” My body begins to tremble, not only from fear but from anger as well.

He starts dragging me toward the door as I claw at his arm while my mother shoves me forward from behind. My feet stumble but I manage to keep myself upright. If we were in a no-tell motel, I’d be screaming as loud as my lungs permit, but Hawg put us in a nicer hotel, one with doors that are on the inside of the building. I want to scream, kick at the walls, yell at the top of my lungs, but every time I open my mouth, there’s an invisible but almost visceral barrier keeping me from doing so and I know where it’s coming from. My father. There’s no way I can cause a scene; even in college while living with Belle, I was only able to go so far against the invisible boundaries built since my childhood.

I’m still trying to figure out what to do when I hear Hannah’s sweet voice echo in my mind.

“It’s okay, Moira. Uncle Wrecker and Uncle Dragon are here. You’re going to be just fine,”she says.

I can see her in my head as if she’s literally standing beside me, and suddenly, she’s nestled in my arms, her hands touching my face in wonder.

“Faye and Amelia told Mama what was going to happen,”she whispers, her forehead now resting against mine.“Mama told Daddy Butcher who let Uncle Dragon and Uncle Wrecker know. Since we have to go to Virginia, they decided we were going on a road trip to help you and Mr. Kracken.”

There’s so much to unpack there, I can’t even begin to figure it out. The one thing Idoknow is I’m saved beforehand, so if Hannah’s little sisters are like Hannah, right now, they saved my life. Everything else can wait until later.

We open the exit to take the stairs and I’m suddenly grateful that we’re only on the second floor. I’ve only had a few good meals since being rescued, plus I was living on the streets, so I haven’t even begun to rebuild my strength. With my father tightly gripping my arm, we start down the stairs, each step sounding loud through the cavernous stairwell. When we reach the bottom and step onto the platform, Hannah grins at me in a satisfactory manner inside of my head, as if we just fell into the guy's trap, and I brace for whatever’s about to happen. Father pushes through the door only to stop so suddenly, my mother slams into his back, jostling me to the point I’m able to break free.

“Going somewhere?” Wrecker asks, Dragon at his side. Their voices startle my captors, but I was somewhat expecting it thanks to Hannah, so I don’t react.

Both are glaring at my parents. It’s then I realize their smile was for me, and something switched inside of them when they turned toward the man who sired me and the woman who was my incubator for nine months. Their stances are identical, feet widely braced and powerfully built, muscular arms, crossed over their chests.

“W-who the… get out of our way,” my father snarls, attempting to grab me again, only, I dance out of his path. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop him from trying again.

Wrecker foils his attempts, quickly placing his body in front of mine as Dragon moves closer. The rage pouring off of him has me shivering slightly, although it’s not totally in fear. No, there’s something else emanating from him and I recognize it as what I felt back when he and Wrecker tried to help me. Hannahhas a bit of both of them inside of her, which has me pondering if she’ll be stronger than they are as she learns and begins understanding her gifts further. Somehow, Dragon is messing with either my father’s mind or my mother’s. Or both.

Hopefully, both if I’m being truthful. Because even with the small kindnesses my mother showed me while growing up, she still didn’t protect me against him, so that puts her in the same category as him. Useless.

As I watch the scene unfold, Kracken comes through the exit door, the look on his face one of controlled rage with a little bit of fear. When he sees me stationed behind Wrecker, I watch relief wash over him as he moves to stand behind my parents, his arms now crossed over his chest.

“Guess you were right, roisin,” he says, his eyes never leaving mine. “But what I wanna know is, what were you two fucks thinking of doing with my woman? Because whatever plot you had in mind, it’s not happening.”

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