Page 47 of Her Brother's Keeper

I nodded and pulled from his embrace, even though I didn't want to.

“We okay?” He asked, carefully neutral.

“Yeah! I just need to check on Sage, make sure he’s off his game and actually gone to bed.”

“Okay.”

“Be here when I come back down?”

“You want me to be?”

“Yes.” From me, an unequivocal, one word answer; full of all the certainty I could muster and put behind it.

“Okay, I’ll be here,” he said softly, and I knew that he would. It was nice to have someone solid, someone that I could depend on and believe in when he said something. Even if he could do frightening things.

“Hey Maren,” he called gently, as I was halfway up the stairs.

“Yes?”

It was as if he pulled the thoughts from my mind, saying “I got no problem doing bad things for you, but never in a million years would I do bad thingstoyou. You know that right?”

I smiled, “I do now.”

Nox nodded, “Good.”

I took a half step forward and paused, “Hey Nox?”

“Yes?”

“What if I asked? Would you do bad things to me then?”

He laughed, and the mood lightened considerably, “I’d do anything for you, Angel.”

“Good to know,” I said and finished my temporary retreat up the stairs.

Chapter 17

Nox

I hadn't heard from Maren. It was odd, we texted and talked daily, sometimes sneaking texts between my clients and her classes, but today she’d been eerily silent. Only one or two word responses and not at all like herself. It bothered me, even though our heaviest talk to date, about the club, about the label of property, had been well over three weeks, maybe even a month ago now. Valentine's Day was coming up quick, then, after a couple more weeks, it would be her birthday. I couldn't wait forthatday, let me tell you.

I’d been spending a lot of time with Sage on Sundays and had become a regular fixture at Taco Tuesday which had only been a few nights ago. Maren had been just fine, then. Now, it was radio silence and it was freaking me out. I kept watching the clock, the time dragging; my agitation at the situation growing as I worked on a groaning Mrs. Robinson type. You’d like to think I was giving her the best sex she’d ever had, rather than just a massage, but I guess for some people it could be as good. I didn't want to think about that too hard, I really didn't.

I finished up, and did my usual routine; forcing myself to deal with the necessities of stripping the table of its linens, remaking it, and washing my hands before I went for my phone.

Me: Are u okay?

Maren: I’m fine.

My last text asking her if she was alright had been sent an hour and fifteen minutes ago. Her response, short, clipped and to the point, had come in fifteen minutes ago. I frowned. The more comfortable Maren became with me, the more animated, the more open, and the more expressive she had become. These one and two word short clipped answers weren't her style. My Angel wasn't prone to the short version.

I checked my client schedule to see if there was any chance of me getting out of here early or on time. No fucking dice. Well shit. I typed out a fast text.

Me: Ur not fine. I’m coming over.

I kept checking obsessively and got nothing back by way of reply before my next client came in. Dammit. She would be out of school inside the next hour. Best I could hope for was kicking my ass into high gear between clients and that everyone would show up early so I could get them in earlier. I would not, under any circumstances, gyp them of their time on my table but if I got lucky, I could get out of here up to a half hour early. We’d have to see.

I checked my phone after all three clients, no answer from Maren. That straight up cemented my belief that something was clearly wrong, so I skipped remaking my table after my last client and took off. I could do it in the morning. When I got to Maren and Sage’s, Sage was the one to answer the door.

---