Collector: City In Embers Part 15

With a need to compensate for his rudeness, I plastered a sweet, apologetic smile on my face. "Sorry, I'll be right back."

Ryker dragged me to a dark corner away from the family. "What are you doing?" he hissed.

"I am trying to get us a hot dinner. Can you curb the a.s.shole tendency for at least a night?"

He tilted his head.

"Never mind."

"We need to keep away from people. It's too dangerous."

"Seriously, Ryker? He's my professor at a college. Do you think he's going to turn us over to Garrett or DMG?"

"If they come searching, he can describe us."

"Yes, he can, but I don't think he would. What does it matter? We'll be long gone by then."

"What about him?" Ryker pointed at my bag. "If he starts talking or snoring, what are you going to tell them?"

"Sprig, you'll be good, right?" I whispered into my purse.

"What's the incentive?" he replied.

"I don't take Pam away from you."

"Yes. I'll be good."

A smug smile drew across my face. Ryker shifted his weight, and his head leaned back to glance at the ceiling. Ryker's fight was waning, so I struck harder. "Right now both those groups would be looking for two people who would keep to themselves. It's actually safer if we blend in with this family. DMG and Garrett would probably bypa.s.s us, thinking we wouldn't be a part of this party." I had him; I could see it.

"But they're human." He glanced over my head, part of his lip curving in disgust, his true reason for not wanting to sit with them.

"So am I. Get over it."

He snarled but didn't add another rebuff.

"Come on." I turned toward the others. "But if you can't be nice, then don't talk."

"And you." I poked at my bag. "You stay quiet. You utter a peep, and the goat is mine." Sprig squeaked in my bag then fell silent.

We rejoined the family. I took a seat on the ground next to Robert. His son rested across the fire barrel, his eyes watching me. Ryker sat beside and slightly behind me, trying to stay as far from the other humans as possible.

Robert scooped a ration of baked beans and slopped them on top of the green beans. It was gourmet fare compared to what I had been eating the last couple of nights, and I immediately dove into the warm sustenance, happy someone was nice enough to share with us.

Kettenburg gave Ryker his portion of beans. Ryker gave a curt nod, scooting farther away from everyone. Being this close to so many humans was not compelling him to be civil. I looked back at him. He stared at his plate, a frown etched across his forehead. He tried to pull the green beans to one side, the baked beans to the other, but the dish was so mixed it was futile. He sighed and set the dish aside.

"What's wrong?" I hissed.

The flames of the fire mirrored off his white eyes when he peered back at me. "Nothing."

"Why aren't you eating?" I peeked at the rest of the group. Their attention was on the conversation between them.

"Not hungry."

I stayed quiet, my expression pitched with irritation.

He grasped his bowl, the plastic fork in his hand dividing the contents. He stabbed at a baked bean and popped it into this mouth. "There. Are you happy?"

The way he tried to separate the items in his dish hit me. One of my foster siblings had done the same thing. "You don't like your food touching?"

His face lined with a frown.

My hand cupped my mouth, keeping back the spurt of laughter. "Seriously?" My brain could not wrap around this brute of a man being OCD about separating his food. "Haven't you eaten raw rabbits and stuff?"

"I've eaten a lot of things."

"b.l.o.o.d.y rabbit is fine as long as it doesn't touch the raw squirrel on your plate?"

His lids narrowed as he stood, shoving the plate to me. "I'm going to patrol." His six-three frame strutted for the opening, his back rigid and tense.

"Did we upset your friend?" Robert turned my attention to him.

I waved my hand. "No, it was me."

"Is your boyfriend always this charming?" Andrew slipped nearer.

"He's not my boyfriend." I shook my head frantically. "He's not even a friend."

"Oh." Andrew's brown eyes lit with interest. d.a.m.n. Stupid move on my part. "If he's not even a friend, why are you with him?" d.a.m.n. Two dumb slip-ups.

"Uhhhhh." I poked at a green bean with my fork, shoveling it into my mouth. "He's a... cousin." The answer came out before I realized it. "You know, you can't choose your family."

Andrew shifted closer, his hip b.u.mping mine. "Cousin, huh? Good to know." He turned and smiled, nudging my shoulder with his. "No boyfriend, then?"

"Not interested." Being back on the street seemed to bring forth my defenses. Sharp and callous.

He jerked back, air sucking through his teeth; rejection reflected on his furrowed brow.

"Sorry." I set my plate next to Ryker's disregarded one. "I recently lost someone."

"In the storm?"

Actually, Andrew, I lost my sister to the storm and the man I loved to a fae snapping his neck. I was certain he didn't want to know the real truth. My hair bobbed in affirmative.

"I'm sorry." He placed a hand on my back and rubbed in a circle. "We lost our dog."

I bit my lip, holding back the bitter response I felt stirring in my throat. I never had a pet growing up, not an animal I considered a pet anyway. One house had a pit bull they trained to be a guard dog. Not people friendly. Another house had several cats that were mean as h.e.l.l. They hissed and clawed at everyone. I liked animals, but I didn't have much experience with them. It seemed jarring for him to put his dog at the same sympathy level as Daniel. I understood people felt close to their pets like family, most preferring them to people. h.e.l.l, if I had one, I probably would, too.

He must have felt my haunches rising the longer he ma.s.saged my back. He pulled his arm away and let it drop. "Guess a dog isn't quite the same."

"No, but I get it."

"I grew up with him. My dad brought him home when I was five. He was a little ball of fur. He went everywhere with me." A sad longing permeated Andrew's expression. "I also lost some friends from school. No one I was close to, but still..."

Man, I was a b.i.t.c.h. "I am sorry." I touched his arm gently.

He twisted his head to look at me. A smile grew. Again, it hinted at flirtation and hope.

I took my hand back and shifted my look to Robert. "Thank you for the food." I got up, slinging my bag across my shoulder.

"You are more than welcome to stay here by the fire and sleep." Robert motioned to the warm flames.

My head responded in refusal. "Thank you, but no. I need to go find my... cousin."

Kettenburg looked like he wanted to say something else, but he shut his mouth and gave me a nod. I provided everyone a final goodbye nod. Andrew's eyes looked like a puppy dog's, hurt and disappointed.

Ryker was where I expected him to be-high on the roof of the garage. His back was to me, his arms folded as he stared into the murky night. The moon played peekaboo with us behind the clouds. Mist hung thick along the pier, concealing the lapping water like a magician. Ryker's head gave a little jerk, recognizing my presence, although he never turned around. I walked up, standing next to him.

"Here." I reached into my bag, my fingers grazing the soft fur of Sprig's sleeping head and grabbed a granola bar, wiggling it at Ryker.

He looked at the item b.u.mping his chest and grumbled.

"Hey, b.i.t.c.h all you want. It's your only choice." I continued to hold the package impatiently. "Be happy it's plain granola. No fruit or fun goodies are touching each other."

He swiped it from my hold and removed the wrapper, stuffing it in his mouth.

"A guy like you doesn't seem like he would have issues with food. Don't you eat gruel and bats?"

"Are you trying extra hard to annoy me tonight, human?"

"It's the only thing I have left."

"You are tenacious, aren't you?"

I smirked. "Tenacious... I like it. I usually get b.i.t.c.h."

"You're that too."

"And you're a f.u.c.king ray of sunshine."

His lips quirked with amus.e.m.e.nt.

"Holy s.h.i.t. A smile?" Disbelief laced my words.

Ryker's mouth flattened. "Go get some sleep. We need to leave early tomorrow."

My legs shifted under my weight. "You don't need to sleep?" What the h.e.l.l? What did I care if he slept or not?

His powerful arms fell from their fold, and he swiveled to face me. "Don't tell me you are concerned for my well-being?"

"Not at all," I said.

He watched me for a breath before he leaned above, his form overshadowing me, his forehead almost smacking mine. His eyes glinted with hate and fury. "Let's keep this clear, human. The only reason I am here is because you have something of mine. The moment it comes back to me, I am gone."

Heat rose along my neck, drifting to my cheeks.

"Yeah," I fumed. "Same here." I spun on my heels and jogged for the stairs. Anger rumbled in my stomach, burning up my spine.

"Screw him. I was only being polite," I mumbled to myself, pounding the steps on my way down.

"Are you and yourself in a fight again?" a squeaky voice came from my satchel.

I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and opened the flap. Sprig was snuggled deep in the corner with his adoptive stuffed goat wrapped in his arms. He was freaking adorable.

"No." My teeth ground together. "Man, the fae p.i.s.ses me off."

"Faes are good at infuriating people, but he is exceptional at it."

"Yeah, got that." I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling the knots rolling under my palm like a ballpoint pen.

"You did give him a granola bar and were all concerned about him not sleeping."

"So? Is common courtesy frowned upon in the fae world?"

"Showing any signs of caring is saved for those in your own clan. Dark fae especially do not display feelings to other fae. It is a sign of weakness," Sprig said. "What's funny is even though you are human, I would say you really are no different."

Leaning back, I pressed against the wall, taking in this notion. He was right. Those terms did fit me. Or what I used to be. Daniel was the one who brought out the more sensitive Zoey, the one who cared about people beyond the two people in her clan. She was here now, and I wasn't sure the caring part of me would go into hiding again. Whatever Daniel did, he made me soft.

Sprig adjusted in my bag, pulling my strap harder on my shoulder. "Here." My hand slid in the front pouch and removed another candy bar. "Sorry it's not more, but I couldn't pocket the beans I had for dinner."

Sprig's eyes lit up, his hand reaching greedily for the package as I unwrapped it. "Granola shrouded in sweet honey and sugar?" He yanked it from my grip and put a chunk in his mouth. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he sank deeper into the corner. "Oh, sweet honey."

When I got back to Robert and his family, they had settled down to sleep. I could see Andrew was still awake, talking to his aunt. I felt like I was staring from the outside at a perfect family. I didn't belong here with them. I didn't belong anywhere anymore.

I veered off in the opposite direction, finding solitude in a dark corner of the warehouse. The light from several group fires reached me, but the heat did not. I tucked deeper into my coat as I snuggled on a flattened cardboard box. Sprig's soft snores echoed from my bag, already fast asleep. I moved him closer to my chest, cradling him. His heat penetrated through the bag and soaked into my shirt. Slowly my lids lowered, and I drifted off to sleep.

FIFTEEN.

Rain tapped gently on the roof. Gla.s.s bricks keeping the parking structure enclosed were tinted with a faint light, informing me it was only a little past dawn. Scattered fires still burned in the barrels throughout the garage. Only a soft murmur of voices hummed in the large area. Most were sound asleep. Robert and his family all cuddled around the fire and each other. It left a strange ache in my heart to see their family unit. They were so close and would do anything for each other. They had losses, but they still had each other, and this seemed most important to them. I felt more like an outsider. They knew family in a way I never did. No one had loved me unconditionally. Lexie was the closest, but I never had parents or grandparents, not even an uncle or aunt who loved me. The feeling was foreign to me.

The only relationship I had now was an unstable alliance with a scary-a.s.s fae, who didn't like me, nor I him. And as soon as the need for the other ran out, the partnership would probably turn ugly fast. My chances weren't good if he wanted to kill me. With a sigh, I got to my feet and went to find my hostile a.s.sociate.