“Too. Damn. Long,” I whispered.
I didn’t think I’d ever surprised him into silence before.
Maybe because I rarely told him the truth. Maybe because he could feel my pain.
“Okay,” he finally said. “It’s okay.”
“So, are we good here?” Cody asked. “Because I am starving.” He motioned for us to follow him out of the room.
“Why are we at the Den?” Terric asked.
“Well, there was a madman killing innocent people we needed to stop,” Cody said.
I knew he wasn’t talking about Eli; he was talking about me. I would have flipped him off, but he was right. I had been out of control, out of my mind.
But now that Terric was alive, the Death magic that twisted and turned inside me was easier to control.
“Madman,” Terric said. “He means you, doesn’t he?”
“Shut up,” I said, then, “Yes.”
“Who did you kill?” Terric asked.
“A lot of people,” I said. “But that isn’t what matters.”
We left the bunk room and made our way out into the main area.
Dash leaned against the back of one of the couches, arms crossed over his chest, looking our way.
Jack and Bea were on the other side of the room, also on their feet, Jack’s arm around Bea’s shoulders.
“It matters,” Dash said. “Tell us, Shame. If we’re going to deal with the fallout, we need to know where it’s coming from.”
“Food?” Cody said to Terric.
Terric looked at me, then at Cody and Dash. “I’m good.” Then: “This won’t be the first time I’ve heard Shame catch hell for some idiot thing he’s done. Go ahead.”
“Standing right here,” I said.
“All right,” Dash said. “Tell us.”
All eyes on me. “I killed the people in the warehouse, gunmen,” I said, “the six drones at the door.” I took a breath, then, “I killed Mina and Sunny.”
“Sunny?” Terric said. “Shit, Shame.”
“Was it an accident?” Dash asked. He sounded hopeful.
“Not really. Death wanted them dead.” I could tell them I’d tried to stop it, tried not to hurt them, but nothing I would say could excuse what I’d done.
“And where were you while Death was getting what it wanted?” Terric asked.
I looked over at him. Didn’t know how to say I was there, but broken. Didn’t know how to tell him that his death had been more than I could shoulder, and I had fucked everything up without him. Didn’t know how to say coming back to life might have been the worst thing that had ever happened to me.
I didn’t have to tell him any of that. Damaged memory or not, he knew me. Knew the guilt and other crap that crowded all my corners.
Jack, who lingered with Bea near the windows, whistled low. “Always knew you’d go Hannibal Lecter one of these days, Flynn. Sorry I’m here to see it.”
“Then don’t be here,” I suggested.
He easily had a decade on me but was smoked down to a tough, leathery finish. Not the kind of man any sane person would pick a fight with. He gave me a steady look, sizing up a target he’d be shooting at soon.
Yeah, good luck with that.
“Is there anything else we need to know?” Terric asked.
“Eli’s in town,” I said. “Eli Collins. He wants us dead. Zay and Allie too.”
“Zay and . . . who?” Terric said.
“Wow,” Cody muttered. “You really did get your noggin scrambled.”
“First,” Dash said, “the current emergency. That’s you, Shame. How out of control are you?”
“As compared to what?”
“Full-tilt serial killer.”
“Pretty sure I can keep a lid on that.”
“Pretty sure?” Jack said.
“I’m good right now. Better,” I said. “It’s all you’re going to get from me, Dash. I’ll do what I can.”
“We can’t just take your word for it,” he said. “I’m sorry, but our friends died while you were doing what you could to stay in control.”
“I’ll watch him,” a new voice said.
Davy Silvers paced into the room. He wore clean jeans and a T-shirt, his hair cut short and damp from a shower. The blue light that had been leaking out of him back at the house was gone. From how the T-shirt caught at his ribs and stomach, he was wrapped in a lot of cotton and gauze.
There used to be a time I’d describe him as a laid-back surfer dude. Not now. The words that better fit him were simmering violence and maybe psychotic break.
“I don’t think that’s a working solution,” Dash said.
“I’ll be working.” Davy’s gaze was locked on me even though he was talking to Dash. “Watching him. I’ll stop him if he kills. Or anything.”
“We’re all on the same side here,” Dash said in a calm tone.
“Right,” Davy said. “Sunny’s dead. How did that happen, Shame?”
“Davy,” Dash said.
“It’s okay,” I said to Dash. “He’s right. You watch me, Davy. You take your shot anytime you think you have it.”
“Shame,” Terric said. “This isn’t how we handle this.”
“There’s a way we handle this?” I said. “We’ve never even dealt with this before. I’m walking death. You’ve been half Closed and killed. And Davy here, he’s . . .”
“He’s what?” Davy asked quietly.
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “But you’ve been under Eli’s knife, just like Terric. That worries me. What do you think he did to you for his gain? What loopholes do you think he carved into you? It should worry you.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Davy said. “I’m the problem here.”
“No,” I said.
“The problem,” Cody interrupted, “is we’re standing around talking when we should be getting lunch. Or breakfast.”
“Our problems are Eli,” I said, “and Krogher and his drones.”
Davy swallowed hard, his hands curling up into fists. He gave me a very short nod.
Well, at least the guy who wanted to kill me agreed we both wanted to kill other people first.
I saw what Sunny saw in the guy.
Chapter 22
SHAME
Cody clapped his hands. “Now that that’s not settled, let’s eat. Bea, Jack, is there any food in this place?”
“Aw,” Bea said, “just when things were getting interesting.” She ducked out from under Jack’s arm, then caught his hand and made him walk with her into the kitchen. “Don’t you boys kill each other while we’re gone, okay?”
Cody chuckled and followed them.
“So, why don’t we deal with the real problem?” Terric said as he strolled over to a recliner near the window. He sat with the kind of ease of someone who had Life magic in his bones, and was therefore fully healed. “Eli and Krogher. What do we know?”
Born leader, that man.
I glanced at Dash, who had pulled off his glasses and was rubbing at the corners of his eyes. He was exhausted, pale from pain, and painkillers, and too damn much death and shooting and killing in the last twenty-four hours.
When he pushed away from the back of the couch, he limped, that thigh wound still giving him hell.
“What we know,” he said as he sat on the couch, “is that Shame said Eli’s heartbeat was in Portland. Near St. Johns.”
“You can tell that?” Terric asked.
I nodded.
“We don’t think Eli knows we’re in town,” Dash said. “But he knows where Allie and Zay live.”
I paced over to a window to one side of Terric, pushed the blind aside with my finger. Morning now, all sunlight and happy skies.
“Every Hound in town has their ear to the ground,” Dash said. “Jack and Bea were very careful to leave trails away from this place. If Eli is hunting for you, Shame—he’s taking his time.”