Page 10 of The Red Rider
Everyone just started laughing. And I got the feeling they were laughingatme too. Dice slung his leg over the arm of the chair again and started swinging his knee.
“The Horseman of Conquest is scared shitless of that painting you did and probably won’t allow himself to be alone in the same room with you. He wants Aeron to drop you off in California before you even come to Florida because he doesn’t want me to get attached too. It’s the whole three against one thing.”
I felt my eyebrows rise to my hairline. What the fuck? Was Asher scared of me? If he was the same size as Aeron, Leif, and Asher, then he was probably massive. I looked tiny next to them.
“The Horseman of Conquest is scared of a girl?” I scoffed.
“No, he’s scared of intimacy,” Leif said. “He’s close with us, but he never lets anyone else in. He’ll have to get over it. We’ll take you back to California if you want to go, but I’d prefer to have you with us.”
I didn’t even have to think about it. The smarter thing would be to go back to Miss Mabel and wait this out. I just couldn’t. Ineededto be in D.C. I could feel it in my bones. Something was going to happen. I wasn’t feeling the urge to draw and grab my charcoal, but something was coming. I needed to be there with them, and it was more than just seeing my father die.
If there was any time for this Harbinger shit to kick in, now was it. Why couldn’t I get something I could control like the Horsemen? That would sure come in handy right now. It was like being constipated. It was precisely like eating peanut butter straight from the jar for dinner, then spending the next two days stopped up and miserable.
I ran my fingers through my hair.
“I need to be there. I just can’t see why.”
“Don’t force it or that vein in your forehead will pop,” Dice said.
See? Even Dice could see it was exactly like constipation. That nasty forehead vein showed up. I changed the subject.
“What are we doing today?”
“I’m coordinating with the other labs to get the serums up and running.”
“I’m killing things.”
“I’m therapizing your ass,” Dice said.
“Why does that sound way kinkier than it needs to?” I said.
All Dice did was wink at me.
Chapter 7
A
eron said he was going off to kill things again, but he was still hanging around, and he was getting possessive. Dice was still perched in his chair, and Aeron was to the point he was about to pee on my leg to claim me. Dice and I hadn’t even gotten the chance to start talking because Aeron kept glowering at him.
“Aeron, what’s your deal? Before Dice got here, you were acting like my painting was going to come true whether I wanted it to or not, and now you’re about to start alpha male humping my leg.”
“Dude, you’re totally about to start humping her leg.”
“Shut up, Dice!” Aeron barked.
I eased out from Aeron’s arm so I could look him in the eye.
“Seriously, what’s up?”
Aeron shrugged and deflated.
“I don’t know! I thought we could all be one happy family until Dice showed up early. I’m fine with you and Leif, but for some reason, Dice showing up because of that painting really pisses me off.”
I guess I was playing therapist today because Aeron and Dice needed to work through some shit. They both seemed convinced Dice was soon to be a part of this relationship, but there was just something about him that made me nervous. Probably because he had toy bombs and didn’t seem to be afraid of anything.
“Okay, so this would be a therapy session. Let’s be adults and talk about our feelings.”
Dice started laughing.
