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  “I do. Thanks.” I fished for a change of topic. “Any word from Mason yet?”

  “No. He’s not with you?”

  “Nope. And you know how you get anxious when you’re not with Mariang? I’m starting to get that same itch, being without one of my Reapers for this long.”

  I could hear the frown in Danny’s reply. “That’s troubling. I’ll touch base with Ezra about that. Then I’ll do an extra lap around the hotel to make sure security’s in place.”

  “Thanks. Can I go back to the mansion and see Von?”

  “No way. Undoing magic like this involved a fair amount of torture. He wouldn’t want you to see him like that. You’re best where you are. Maybe I can take you back tomorrow, yeah? They seem to’ve caught it early on, so it’s not in him terribly deep.”

  I ended the call with Danny while Finn paced the floor, casting me intermittent glances. “You sure you want to try sleeping?” I could tell by the creases in his forehead that he was worried I would get dream raped on his watch.

  I sat up against the headboard, weighing the pros and cons. “I guess I can hold off. Mainline some caffeine until Von’s himself again. Danny didn’t seem to think it would take more than a day or so. I can stay awake until then.”

  Finn exhaled with relief. “Good. I honestly wasn’t sure what to do if Sama got in your head while you were asleep. I mean, it’s not as if I can tell by looking at you.”

  “Well, how about we go visit Allie instead of hanging around in an empty room?”

  “Sure. Can I drive?” Finn asked hopefully.

  I cast him a withering look as I shoved on socks and shoes. “Not in this lifetime.”

  Finn caught my eye with a note of sincerity I wasn’t expecting. “Well, then how about the next one, or the one where you’re a dragon, and Ollie’s a firefighter? Think I’ll make it into your life then?”

  The corner of my mouth lifted with the levity I found absolutely precious. “You want to be in my next life with me?”

  “Whenever you’ll have me, I’ll be there.”

  I touched my heart, letting him know he brushed over my tender spots. “The next life, then. I think I played it a little safe this time around, so something with a little adventure.”

  Finn snorted. “Sure. Because this life is so dull.”

  “It’s settled. You can drive the getaway car if I decide to take up a career as a bank robber.”

  Finn’s hand rested on the small of my back. “It’s a date.”

  We caught Danny on the way out, where he surprised me by wrapping me in an awkward hug I could tell he wasn’t well-practiced in. He slipped the ring onto my finger, giving me a small smirk when it looked like he was the one proposing to me, instead of delivering his brother’s ring.

  Finn dried my hair with his hand while I drove the car. He kept his hand in the tresses long after the need had passed. When I pulled into the hospital parking garage that I’d been to what seemed like a million times by now, Finn kept a hand affixed to me still. He tucked me into his side like he was the boyfriend, and I was the lucky girl on his arm. It was the most I could give him, and for the moment, it was enough.

  Allie. Allie was my focus. She trumped the black eye, the Von drama, the Finn confusion and everything else.

  I was expecting her quiet room with Ezra’s staple yellow daisies in the vase on the table. I was not expecting Graham to stand suddenly when we interrupted the one-way conversation, nor had I anticipated the bouquet of pink and yellow roses clutched in his hands. “Oh, um, hallo, October. Captain Finn.”

  “Hey, Graham. I forgot I asked you to check in on her.”

  Graham nodded, relieved. “Yes, you did. You asked me to come here, so I did.”

  “And you brought Allie flowers? That’s thoughtful of you.”

  “Seemed appropriate.”

  I glanced to the book on the table. “You’re reading to her?”

  “Just a biography of Margaret Thatcher. I didn’t know what she’d like, so I brought along what I’ve been reading. You want I should give you two some space?”

  “Could you and Finn give me just a few minutes? I wanted to talk to Allie about some private stuff.” I cast my sweet brother a smile. “Thank you for reading to her. That’s above and beyond. You’re a good guy, Graham.”

  Graham looked like he wanted to debate me on my slice of alone time with my sister, but finally consented. “Of course. Captain Finn, perhaps you and I can find a coffee machine. I’m starting to nod off.”

  I waited until the two left and then started in on the nurse aspect of things. I checked her vitals, which hadn’t changed, and then tried a few non-traditional methods of waking her – i.e., shaking her, begging her to open her eyes, and poking her side in the way I knew she’d get annoyed by. “Allie, come on. I need you to open your eyes. I need you for so many things. I mean, what’s the point of having you back if you’re not actually back? Is Sama in your mind? If you could just let me know how to help you, I’ll do it!”

  Twenty minutes of desperation gave way to me laying in the bed beside her, cuddled up the way I always did when life got too confusing or harrowing to go through alone. She used to welcome me into her bed or into her sleeping bag, and hold me while I confessed the things I didn’t understand and couldn’t fix. Allie would comb her dainty fingers through my hair and help me puzzle through the parts that didn’t make sense. Either we found a solution together, or I’d fall asleep in the safety of her arms.

  Though she couldn’t brush her fingers through my hair anymore, I draped her arm across her body to rest on my ribs. It wasn’t perfect, but it was the best I would get. As much as she could be, Allie was there for me, and I was there for her. I told her all about the war inside of me I couldn’t make peace with – that Von was a great guy who occasionally did things I couldn’t reconcile. I told her about my black eye, and how much I hated Sama for turning something so beautiful against me. “I want to go down to Terraway myself and kill him with my bare hands, so I know the job’s good and done, but I know Ezra won’t let me down there again.”

  Allie’s skin was so fragile, her face too thin. “I don’t like you unguarded here. Graham’s with you now, but what about when he goes to sleep?” I wasn’t sure if Von’s paranoia had rubbed off on me, or if I’d been through too much to have an unjaded view of the world. I closed my eyes and rested my forehead to my sister’s temple, wondering if she’d even recognize me when she opened her eyes. I’d changed so much; some days I barely recognized myself. “You know I’d give anything to get you back, right? Anything in the world to keep you safe.” I sighed, knowing what I had to do. “I’ll even put aside my pride to make sure no one snatches at you ever again. I love you, Allie. I’ll take care of you.”

  I kissed my sister’s cheek before I sat up, knowing exactly where I needed to go tomorrow night.

  Thirty-Two.

  Red Paint

  La Luna was full the next night, but I knew there would be a private room that was held every week for Judge and his entourage. I scratched at the nape of my neck after I parked in the lot. Finn watched me hesitate, and spoke to me even after I’d explained the very firm “don’t speak at all” rule. “I get the feeling we shouldn’t be doing whatever it is you’re about to do.”

  “What are my rules?”

  Finn ticked them off on his fingers. “No talking. No stabbing anyone. I know, I know. It’s your show. Is Ezra going to be mad to find you here?”

  “Ezra won’t know about this. Mason and Von came with me here before, and it was all fine.” I didn’t tell Finn that Mason would in no way be cool with me meeting up with Judge ever again. But Mason wasn’t here, so I got to call the shots.

  We walked in together, Finn’s hand on the small of my back. I mentally repeated Ollie’s mantra of keep your chin up, take it slow. I clutched the package and kept my gaze forward, though my descending pride tempted my head to tilt downward. We were escorted to Judge’s table in the secluded back
room, and I was glad to see Darius all cleaned up from working with Ollie to help rebuild our home. He was nothing as impressive as Judge, but not many were. The two wore pressed collared shirts and dress pants, like the Kingpin and Junior they marketed themselves as. I was surprised I hadn’t interrupted a meeting with the assorted unnamed criminals they usually dined with. “Good evening, gentleman,” I greeted them, hoping I came off as confident.

  But I wasn’t confident, and I knew Judge could smell an easy takedown a mile away.

  Darius stood to greet me with a kiss to my cheek, and then snapped his fingers to the hostess to bring a chair for me. Finn stood behind me, as the sentries always did. He was a guard, and nothing more than that for this exchange. Big Mike moved toward Finn to pat him down, but I saved him the trouble. “He’s carrying a knife, and you’ll let him have it. He wouldn’t come in with nothing. I tried, believe me. He’s my security, Michael.”

  Big Mike frowned, but when Judge waved his hand to permit it, Mike stepped back behind Judge’s chair.

  Judge sat back in his seat, his ankle crossed over his knee as he watched me set the package on the table. “What do we have here? You’re not returning another one of my gifts, are you?”

  “I am, though only because it’s a baby gift, and I’m not pregnant anymore. Didn’t seem right to keep it. If my daughter had made it, I would’ve sent you a thank you card and kept the gift. But she didn’t, so it’s not right of me to keep the presents. Thank you, though. I can’t actually picture you at a store picking out a breast pump.”

  “I had Sherita pick it out. You didn’t have to return it, though, and certainly not in person.” Judge’s jaw was tight as he took in the scope of me. “I see your new job isn’t any safer than your old one. What happened?”

  “Oh, you know, flying monkeys came in through my window and attacked me. Lost the baby. Just another day.”

  He pointed to his eye. “That shiner’s fresh. Who did it? I hope it’s not the clown who put that obnoxious ring on your finger.” Judge glowered disapprovingly at my engagement ring.

  “It’s no one you need to worry about.”

  Judge’s tone was firm. “You’ll answer me, October.”

  I stiffened in my chair, eyeing the red wine the waitress poured for me. I knew it would be my favorite kind. Judge didn’t bother with flaws, so his taste in wine was always spot on. “It was your drug dealers who blacked my eye. All of them, in fact. You should punish them by firing your entire organization.”

  Judge squinted one eye at my sass. “I want a name.”

  “Charles Manson. Wild in bed, that one. Sex maniacs have all the good drugs.”

  “Seriously, baby girl. Tell me who knocked you around.”

  “My pimp, actually. Johnny McHerpes-Penis. He’s got a thing for mouthy women. When he hits me, I know it’s true love. I call him ‘No! Johnny, please!’ and his pet name for me is ‘Shut up, skank’. Ah, young love.”

  Judge’s eyes flared with barely contained rage. “Tell me who was stupid enough to hit you, before I lose my temper.”

  “Get used to disappointment. I’m not here to talk about the problems I can handle. I’m here to talk about the one I can’t.”

  He folded his fingers over his stomach after he waved the waitress away. He waited until the door closed before he proceeded. “Tell me which problem is so big, you’d come here to talk about it.”

  I lowered my voice and scooted my chair in, though I could still feel Finn at my back. “It’s Allie,” I began, noting Darius’ intake of breath. “Allie didn’t leave for California a couple years ago, she was taken. We only just found her as a Jane Doe who’s been laid up in a hospital all this time.”

  Darius swore, leaning forward and forsaking his stoic cool guy demeanor. “Which hospital? Where is she now?”

  “She’s in a coma at St. Martin’s General just a little ways from here. Ollie got her transferred out of California as soon as we found her.”

  Darius leaned back in his chair, his hand over his mouth in shock. Once upon a better time, he’d been smitten with Allie. It had broken his jaded heart when she up and left us all. “Whatever you need, it’s done. Medical bills? Is that what you need help with? Give her some cash, Judge. I mean it. Whatever it takes. Can I visit her?”

  I chewed on my lower lip to keep it from quivering. “You loved her. I always suspected you did.”

  Darius didn’t answer, but I saw it there. That bold determination to bust through walls and tear down whole worlds if it would make Allie breathe a little easier. “What are the doctors saying?”

  I drew on what I knew from Philip’s confessions. “She was raped. I don’t know how often. She got pregnant, but lost the baby, like me. The guy who... he messed her up. She’s got brainwaves, but her mind can’t connect with her body. There’s hope, but not much.”

  Darius’ hand on his mouth stifled a noise of distress. “Who is this guy?” When I didn’t answer, he stood, towering over me with his knuckles on the table. “Don’t you dare play games with me, Bait. I want a name! I want an address, and I want his head on a platter!”

  I don’t recall Darius ever yelling at me before. It was a testament to how much he cared for Allie that he would raise his voice to me to get closer to her.

  Finn’s hand on my shoulder acted as a pillar for me to lean on if I needed it, but it also served as a beacon to Darius that nobody was allowed to yell at me.

  I swallowed, patting Finn’s hand on my shoulder. “I only just found my sister, Darius. Don’t you think if I knew who or where this guy was, he wouldn’t already be six feet under? Everything I know is from the medical reports.” Yes, that was a lie, but I couldn’t very well tell Darius about Sama without him checking me into the Loony Bin. “Allie’s the only one who can tell us who did this, but she’s stuck in her coma.”

  Darius sunk back down, his hands shaking with rage and heartbreak. “All this time?”

  I nodded, my face stony. “All this time.”

  Judge was still sitting back in his chair, watching me with feigned stoicism. “Why did you come here?” he asked quietly, and with no trace of anger. He knew that the only thing that could make me toss my rules and my pride out the window was my family.

  I didn’t think I could feel any lower, but as I sat at the table with the brothers, I felt a whole other layer of degradation weighing me down. “I’m here because I need a favor. The flying monkeys who messed me up? Well, they’re pretty ruthless. I’m not the safest person to be around, but I can’t sleep knowing Allie’s alone in the hospital. To be honest, it’s only a matter of time before the people who are after me start gunning for her.” I closed my eyes to stave off the mental image of the miscellaneous residents of Terraway who operate on Sama’s orders coming for Allie. What would they do to her body? I swallowed down my anxiety. “Ollie and I are doing our best, but we were doing our best to keep my daughter safe, and we f-failed.” I froze, horrified that I might cry in front of Judge. I waited until I could stuff my emotions back down before opening my mouth again. I balled my toes inside my shoes until I felt the avalanche of tears recede. “If you could spare a couple guys to watch her room for us, that would be a tremendous help. You don’t have to, of course. I just didn’t know who else to turn to. I’m sort of running out of people who I know can get the job done.”

  I shook my head, my chin still pointing toward the ground in defeat. I couldn’t believe it had come to this – that I was here, asking Judge for help. The sudden stripping of my pride made me feel bereft of dignity. I felt as if the people outside our private backroom, clinking their water goblets and shuffling their truffle-laden, rich people food with gold forks, could see that I’d lost everything. I felt naked, and very much aware of my imperfections.

  My voice was small, and I felt diminished along with it. “I can’t fail this time. I already lost my daughter to these guys. I can’t lose Allie, Judge. Whatever you want, I’ll do it. I can deliver messages to your guys on th
e inside, if that’s what you need. I don’t care anymore. I just need my sister to be safe.”

  Darius waved off my offer and pulled out his phone. “It’s done. You don’t owe us anything.” His eyes turned threatening as he cut over to his older brother. “Not a thing. You shouldn’t hesitate to come to us with this stuff. You’ve got enough to worry about. You’ll stay with one of us.” He held up his hand to stave off my protest. “I don’t want to hear it. You were attacked, lost your daughter, and now Allie’s in a coma? No.” When I started to speak, Darius barked at me. “I saw your house, Bait! I saw your bedroom, and the massacre that happened there. There was blood everywhere! I can’t believe you survived!”

  My head darted to the side, hoping the red walls were decently soundproofed. “Will you stop shouting ‘blood’? I get that I’m in deep, but it’s too late for me. I’m in it.” I was an Omen now; Terraway had me until my body decided I couldn’t keep up with this life anymore. Then I’d move onto the next life, where I could be a high-stakes bank robber, with Bruce Campbell as my sidekick. Good old Bruce wouldn’t mind that I’d been super damaged. He’d have faith in me. He’d look into my soul and call me “sweetheart”, and somehow the blackness that had set in deep would remember the sweetness I’d long given up on.

  “What is ‘it’? What game are you in that we don’t know about?” Darius’ eyes drifted up to Finn with a silent threat.

  I hung my head. “I need help watching Allie. That’s all. I came here because I know you won’t take chances with her safety.”

  Judge was silent. Too silent. He watched me debase myself, offering up my services and what was left of my pride to save my sister. He watched me while I wrote down Allie’s hospital room number and slid it over to Darius, who didn’t waste a second. He made a single phone call that absconded with thirty percent of the stress in my life. “Thank you, Darius. Truly. I didn’t know where else to go.”

  “You should always come to me with this stuff. I’ll go see Allie tomorrow first thing, and in the next half hour, there’ll be guys posted there around the clock until she wakes up. I don’t care how long it takes.”