Page 26 of Vows & Violence
I shift my stance just slightly, keeping my voice calm. “You don’t want to die in this shithole. Walk away from the kid. Put your hands up.”
The man’s hands twitch, almost like he’s considering it. Then he slams both phones together. A flash of static screams through my earpiece.
Wendigo fires one clean shot to the shoulder. The man drops and the phones clatter to the floor. I’m already moving, grabbing the kid and pulling him free as Wendigo covers us. The boy’s shaking but alive. I tear the tape from his mouth. He coughs once, then clings to me like a lifeline.
“It’s okay,” I whisper, voice flat but steady. “You’re safe now.” But as I carry him out, my eyes fall on the wall again. A second spiral. This one is carved deep beneath the first. And under it, in red:
Not the Key. The Lock.
Chapter Thirteen
Ghost
Iroll onto my side and stretch my arm out, looking for Phoenix. Instead, my fingers brush against something metal and cold. Opening my eyes, I see one of her dog tags. I sit up, and the emptiness of the room wraps around me like a noose. Her side of the bed is still warm. Phoenix is gone, but not for long. Or so I want to believe.
I flip the tag over and over between my fingers, the silence pressing in hard. The tag is cold in my hand, but it burns like a brand. She left this on purpose. She had to. Phoenix doesn’t forget things, not unless she wants you to find them. Why did she leave this behind? Did she do it on purpose? Is this her way of saying goodbye? Or is this spiral shit finally getting to her?
I drag myself to the bathroom, take a piss, then stand at the sink, staring into the mirror. The man looking back at me looks older. Eyes sunken, skin sallow, stress lines etched like cracks in broken glass. I’ve seen bodies strung up, people gutted for less than a hundred bucks. But this? This is different. This is something I can’t cuff or shoot.
How do you stop something as supernatural as what’s happening to me? How do you defeat someone who’s dead?
I walk out of the bathroom and slide my boxers and jeans on. I check for my Glock and knives. They’re still where I left them last night before making love to Phoenix. I finish getting dressed and open the bedroom door.
I’m pissed. Not just because Phoenix left without a word, but because she didn’t trust me enough to take me with her. What if she gets hurt while trying to be a lone wolf? I’d never know if Vale got his slimy, dead hands on her until I saw her face next to his in the hell that plays behind my eyelids.
I wander down the hallway and into the kitchen where Kitty, Poison’s Ol’ man, and Sissy, Scissors Ol’ lady, are sitting at the old wobbly kitchen table.
They don’t say anything at first. Just sip their coffee like the world’s not on fire. Kitty’s feet are kicked up on the table, calm as ever. When he spots me, he casually hands over a mug like nothing’s wrong. I take it and lean against the counter.
He drops his boots to the floor, fixing me with those dark eyes, gold-flecked and unreadable. He isn’t big and muscular like me, but he is athletic.
His dark eyes with gold flecks bore into mine. “Look, I know you’re pissed Phoenix took off.” I scoff, but Kitty ignores me and continues. “The Non Cras ride into storms with no guarantee they’ll come back. Leaving you behind? Thatisthe guarantee.”
Sissy chimes in quietly. “Being a Knightmare isn’t a pet name, it’s avow. Loving a Non Cras member is hard. But in the end, once you have their heart, you have their loyalty.”
I take a sip of coffee, bitter and strong, and finally ask the question that’s been clawing at me since I woke up. “How do you handle it? Them putting themselves in danger and not asking for help?”
Kitty stands and looks me square in the eyes. “I don’t try to leash the storm. I make damn sure I’m the ground she hits first when she falls.”
“I don’t know if I can be that for her. But damn it, I want to try.” I have nothing else to say, so I take my coffee and head out the back door, thinking over everything Kitty has said. The sun’s just coming up, streaking the treetops gold and orange. The bayou stirs, bugs clicking and hissing, some already tucking themselves in for the heat of the day. It’s gonna be another sticky one.
Am I Phoenix’s ground? Can I be the man she needs me to be?
Can I take the backseat without feeling like I’m losing her?
Or maybe… maybe being her Knightmare doesn’t mean standing in front of her. Maybe it means standing with her until she lets me catch her.
I sit on the creaky porch steps, boots planted in the dirt, coffee cooling in my hands. Kitty’s words still echo in my skull, crawling under my skin.
I stare out at the trees. Spanish moss hangs like ghosts from the branches. Birds chirp, bugs hum. Everything feels too damn normal.
Just as I start to think maybe silence is the answer, my phone buzzes.
Unknown Number.No one calls me anymore. Not unless it’s trouble.
I swipe to answer. “Yeah?”
Silence for a beat. “Mercer.”
