Twist (42 page)

Chapter 34

“What do you make of it?” Simon asked, running the chain through his fingers.

Justus knocked back a shot of tequila and the glass tapped against the coffee table. It was clear he had no answer.

An Enforcer collected our statements, and after an hour of signing paperwork, we had enough. Justus was right—Novis was too involved. It wasn’t required that he go, and instead of accompanying the Enforcers, he followed the other men, ready to fight. Maybe he wouldn’t admit it, but that’s what it came down to. His death could have led to severe consequences for everyone. Now he was taking in Ray and Cheri, and not just for questioning, either. They were displaced and in need of a safe house until the Council decided their fate.

“It doesn’t just neutralize our power,” Simon suggested. “It’s strong enough to prevent a Shifter from turning. Looks like it has to be circled around the skin,” he said, wrapping it around his wrist. “Holding it has little effect Feel like testing it out, Silver? Bind with me, for the sake of science.” He wiggled a brow.

I rolled my eyes and Justus cleared his throat. You couldn’t have paired two more opposite men. Simon was a chatterbox who talked a mile a minute, while Justus was a man of few words.

Simon freed his arm from the chain. “I bet those men were armed with a similar metal; that explains why Logan didn’t heal quickly. I’ve seen a lot of rubbish selling on the black market, but this takes the cake. HALO has no record of such metals?”

Justus shook his head.

“Why chain him?” I asked. “He didn’t have any power to fight back.”

Simon studied it with concentrated eyes. “They wanted to punish him without promise of healing. If Finny healed, he wouldn’t learn—he would
endure
. Nero wanted him to scar, to hurt, and to remember what he did. This,” he said, jingling the chain, “would break him of his disobedience. The elders see Shifters as nothing more than pets. This dates back to the era when men rode horses with steel at their side. Shifters served as guards for the villages—utilized for their abilities, but treated as animals. They’re weak in human form, except the alpha males. We’ve evolved since then, but Nero is playing by his own rules.” Simon threw up his hands and abandoned the subject. “Clearly!”

“No one else was in the building?”

Justus stroked his jaw. “Only the human you found.”

“Will they kill her?”

“No,” he sighed. “The Vampires will erase her memories.”

I strategically slid my feet further down the sofa. Justus was leaking body heat, and it was the next best thing to fuzzy slippers.

Midnight was approaching and the air held a frosty chill. Justus rarely used the fireplace anymore, and it wasn’t fair that he had his own internal thermostat. Some of us had cold feet.

“Why did Novis want Adam to keep his gift a secret? That’s a remarkable gift that could help a lot of people.”

Simon dropped the chain on the floor. “True, but you must think with a devious mind. His gift—like yours—is one many would find… useful.”

“I think it’s ridiculous that we have to live in fear of others finding out what we’re capable of. We should embrace our differences.”

Simon raised his hands like a conductor, as if I were an orchestra playing a sad song. I tossed a pillow at his head, but missed.

“I’m serious, Simon. The laws don’t offer enough protection.”

I slid my feet farther down.

Justus circled his fingers around his temple. Something vexed him. “Why did you risk yourself for a human? You could have burned alive.”

“How can you ask a question like that? I did it because it was the right thing to do.”

“It was foolish.”

“Sometimes smart and right aren’t always in the same zip code. How many times are we given a choice that matters? I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try.”

“You barely know him.”

I puffed out a breath, “I don’t have to love someone to value their life; he would have done it for me.”

“Are you so sure of that?”

“Why don’t you ask him?”

Simon chortled, “Do it, Justus.
Please?
I’d love to see the look on Gigantor’s face when you challenge his integrity.”

“I want tickets to that show, too,” I laughed, as Simon made a face.

A hand caught my ankle when I started to curl up my legs.

“Give them here,” Justus said.

He lifted my feet, covering them with his large, warm hands for a brief moment. My soul released a heavy sigh. Justus drove me crazy, challenged me, kept his distance physically, and yet one touch meant the world. I hid my smile because his affections came around as often as Santa Claus.

“You should have bought me slippers for my birthday.”

He lowered his brows, sharpening those blue eyes. “What?”

“My birthday was last month.”

“No it wasn’t,” Simon interjected. “Your human life is over. We don’t recognize
those
birthdays. Just a few more months before your first year as a Mage,” he said with a sly smile.

“What’s the tradition? Sparklers?”

Justus couldn’t mask his smile. “No fireworks for you. The house is liable to burn to the ground.”

I dropped my head on the sofa and groaned. “Why does everything have to happen to me?”

Simon arched a brow. “Are you
seriously
pulling the ‘woe is me’ card? For pity’s sake. Well, I’ll see your
barn
and raise you the gallows,” he sniffed. “Don’t even get me started on the firing squad.”

Simon acquired a sour expression as his thumbs were beating up his phone.

“Who are you texting?”

“He had a date tonight,” Justus revealed.

Dating would be a step up from the one-night stands he usually had. “With a real live girl, or do you mean the fruit?”

“Jealous, love?” Simon inquired, cocking an eyebrow without looking up.

“Not really. I just didn’t think you were dating anyone.”

“I
am
of the male persuasion. It’s what we do by nature: hunt, eat, kill things, and shag.”

“
Simon has a girlfriend
,” I sang.

“She’s not a girlfriend. Just a lovely lady with a lovely bum.”

“What’s this about a girlfriend?”

Levi didn’t just enter a room—he owned it. I guessed it was in the genes, because the Cross men knew how to make an entrance. The steady way his eyes soaked in everyone gave it a personal touch. His legs swept forward as if he were carrying something large between them. Stopping short of the sofa, he tucked his fingers in the slit of his jean pockets. Levi possessed a distinct look that was different from Logan. His face was fuller, frame wider, and his body hair thicker. Not much, but I noticed the details.

Levi’s gaze slid over to Simon, who crossed one leg over the other, feigning indifference. Didn’t matter. I could tell the Chitah made him nervous.

“Now
I’m
jealous,” Levi remarked with a secretive wink. I curled my hand over my smile.

Simon’s eyes narrowed, never missing a beat. “Mind cluing me in on the inside joke?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, honey,” Levi said, falling over the arm of the leather chair. He stroked his lower lip with a wide thumb.

“I’m going to go check on Finn,” I announced. “Is he doing any better?”

Levi laced his fingers behind his neck. “Messed up. He still thinks Nero owns him. No clue that owning a Shifter has been illegal for a century. You can’t find that on the Internet. That mark on his arm is better, but he’s always going to have a scar. It was too deep. He must have shifted at least once and started the healing before they chained him.”

I had heard enough and left the room.

It was so still inside of my bedroom that you would have thought the candles made a clamor. The air smelled of fresh citrus from a reed diffuser on a small table by the bed. My eyes adjusted to the low light and there, on top of Goliath, was a blanket of men. Logan draped himself over Finn’s legs. He helped a person he had no reason to trust—because of a promise. The circumstances of how I met Logan became irrelevant in those moments that I watched the way he offered a Shifter warmth and compassion. I found him to be a remarkable man.

Finn was awake. Logan, on the other hand, was passed out cold.

“Do you want some company?” I closed the door behind me.

“I think your friend likes me,” he said with embarrassment in his cheeks.

“Take it as a compliment; it’s just his way. How are you feeling?”

I brushed a strand of hair from his forehead. They cleaned him up nice and dressed him in a cotton shirt. It was about five sizes too big, but he looked great.

“Better.”

The silent stretched between us.

“Why did you come back?”

“I keep my word, Finn. We had a search warrant, but it looks like they were prepared to tear it all down. Maybe Nero got spooked; he knew we were looking for him. Lucky I found you when I did.”

“Yeah.” He nestled his face into the pillow. “Did you really carry me up those stairs? He told me,” Finn said, nodding his head towards Logan.

I squeezed his hand and smiled. “I’m just glad that you watch your figure. I don’t know what I would have done if you had one too many Happy Meals.”

A line of confusion etched in his forehead. “What’s a Happy Meal?”

I was angry that Finn had never had a taste of a normal life. Why wouldn’t his leaders have protected him? Was this type of violation of so little importance? Breed law focused on the big fish and didn’t seem to look out for the little guy.

“I made you something.” His eyes lit up, watching my reaction. “Look in the pocket on the lower left leg.”

I lifted the flap from his baggy cargo pants, reached inside, and pulled out a small piece of wood.

“It’s a little wolf!”

Finn had a natural born gift, and it showed in his art. The object fit in the palm of my hand—an intricate carving, down to the last details.

“Carving is my hobby, and I like to give them away. You left before I finished it. I had never carved a wolf before; it was hard getting the snout just right.”

I treasured it in my hand before showing him my gratitude with a kiss on the cheek. He turned red and shrank from my touch as a child might. By his reaction, affection was not something he was used to.

“Anyone ever tell you how special you are?”

Logan lifted his head, attempting to throw off a jealous gaze through a storm of blond hair. He peeled away from Finn, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and yawning wide.

Finn combed his hair over his ears. “They found the guard chained up, but he was—you know—naked. I’m sorry I left you, I should have found a way to get you the key—”

Logan flipped over and my heart skidded to a stop. Finn stared wide-eyed at his incisors, but avoided his gold rimmed eyes. The throaty growl was how I imagined a saber tooth tiger might sound.

“Finn, I haven’t really talked about all that,” I warned, flicking my eyes back to Logan. “It wasn’t as bad as you think.”

“But Diego is strong and—”

“
Diego
.”

Logan spoke as if summoning an enemy. The word rolled off his tongue, tasting each delicious syllable like blood from a fresh kill.

I shot Logan a nasty glare that filed him down like an emery board. Finn needed to feel safe, and I was not about to start this shit.

“Finn, you’re free now. You don’t belong to him. Do you understand?” I sat on the edge of the bed, signaling Logan with my hand to calm down.

“I’ll never go back to my father. What am I supposed to do?”

“Stay with me,” Logan replied as a fact, not a suggestion. “My home is yours and you are welcome to live there for as long as you want. We take you as a brother.”

Finn stretched his wide eyes to Logan.

“That’s right, little wolf. We’re not the same, but you’re family to us now. You cared for someone I…” He looked at me sideways, “…respect. You eased her pain and I thank you for that. You’re a free man. Paper is paper,” he said, leaning forward and placing his hand on Finn’s chest. “But they cannot chain you here… or here.” Logan touched his forehead. “As long as your mind and heart are free—no man owns you, no chains can hold you. The key to your freedom has always been in your own pocket.”

I squeezed Finn’s hand and left the room, allowing him the dignity to spill tears without an audience.

“Follow me,” Justus said, and led me to his bedroom from the hall. He shut the door behind him and I crossed my arms nervously as his room was always off limits.

“I want to speak with you. Sit.”

I took a few tentative steps towards the sofa and seated myself.

His voice was stern, and I wrung my hands together. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Certain things need to be said.”

He sat on his heels before me and found my eyes. “It’s my responsibility to see that you are taught to fight, educated in our history, and given the laws. I took a vow when I offered my services for this role. It’s not a position I can easily walk away from without it becoming a mark on my honor. Time and time again, you have disobeyed my orders.”