Page 5 of The Red Rider
“That’s the spirit! And yes, I’ve had her cooking. She cooks like she’s heaven touched.”
I wandered off to find Maria. I was going to remember if it killed me, damn it.
Chapter 3
D
ice was now shirtless and barefoot. He seemed to want to keep touching me with his feet. Angels must not have stinky, sweaty feet because it didn’t bother me all that much. He seemed to enjoy eating just as much as I did. He was leaned back against the arm of the sofa with a bowl of salsa resting on his naked chest and his feet touching my thigh.
“So, out with it. How are you handling all this shit?”
“Is there an option not to handle it?”
“Sure. You could have said no to all this at any time. You could have stayed with your Nephilim friend in California.”
I paused with a chip halfway to my mouth. It just kind of hit me right then.
“Do you and Asher know every little thing about me? I don’t know a damned thing about you.”
Dice just smiled at me.
“I only know what Aeron and Leif have told me. For instance, neither of them told me about the little noises you make when you eat. It’s pretty hot. So, why didn’t you stay with Mabel? You’ve known her longer, and you just had a steaming load of shit dumped in your lap.”
“Well, yeah, but I’m not selfish. I did flip out when I kept drawing horses, but Aeron kept saying my blood held the cure. I didn’t know about everything else then, but why would I doom humanity just because I had a little freak out?”
Dice narrowed his eyes at me.
“Plus, if word got out your blood had the cure, people would come for you.”
My chip felt like a rock in my throat. I swallowed it down with some water. That thought hadn’t even crossed my mind, despite how protective Aeron was with me. No, it wouldn’t have gone down like that. Aeron wouldn’t have.
“Aeron wouldn’t have sold me out like that. You’ve known him longer than me, but I think you know this.”
“No, he wouldn’t have, but he also wouldn’t have just left you in California. He would have stayed until he wore you down.”
“He didn’t have to, Dice. Where are you going with this conversation?”
Dice just shrugged.
“The truth. I know Leif and Aeron’s version of the story. I also know they are in love with you and maybe telling me this story with rose-colored glasses.”
“What do you want me to say, Dice? I lost my shit in Los Angeles, but I still came. Aeron didn’t have to threaten me or kidnap me. Did you ever stop and think for a minute that I love them too?”
Oh, shit, did I just say that? Did I actually say the L word about my online boyfriends? I’d never said that about any of my boyfriends before, even if we didn’t have some online thing going before we met. What were these angels doing to me?
Dice just winked at me and popped a tortilla chip in his mouth.
“And now we’ve reached the heart of the matter.”
“Excuse me?”
“Aeron and Leif might as well be my brothers. Angels don’t have siblings like humans do, but we were all created at the same time with one purpose. They are in love with you. Aeron was practically insane when I got called down here, and you’d already been missing for a few years. Leif wasn’t much better, but I’ve never seen Aeron like that before.”
I gaped at Dice.
“Are you having some angel version of thedon’t hurt my brothertalk with me? Seriously, with everything going on, you’re worried about me playing Aeron and Leif? There are fucking zombies out there, and we just got attacked by Nazis. Is this a wholemy dad is the Antichristthing? Because I’m nothing like him!”
Dice just laughed at me.He fucking laughed at me.If food wasn’t scarce and I wasn’t still hungry, he’d be wearing his guacamole I was eating. I was butt-ass pissed and offended. Did he seriously think I wasn’t capable of caring for Leif and Aeron because of my father? Like it was going to be in my DNA to hurt them. I think I was pretty much at the point that I’d go just as crazy as everyone kept telling me Aeron did when I was kidnapped if anything happened to them.
