Page 16 of Providence

Cain looked between the two of them, his brow creased. “Aren’t you guys cousins? Do you turn into a ferret too?”

The little thing in Stevie’s hands let out a weird squawk, and Stevie grimaced. “Mongoose. We aren’t really related. We are from the same Sleuth. I, uh, turn into a bear.”

“Holy shit,” a tiny voice said, and my head whipped toward Cara. Shit, I thought she was still playing with her Barbies. Obviously unrealistic considering the tone in the room, but hey, kids were fucking weird creatures.

Marco signed something and she rolled her eyes. I bit the inside of my lip so I didn’t laugh at her five year old antics. “Shit isn’t a swear word, Marco.”

“Shit is too a swear word,” Sammie added, and they started bickering back and forth. Every single set of eyes was watching them, and I wondered if they were all thinking the same thing as me: How the fuck did we get here?

Judas looked over at the kids. “No more swearing.” He didn’t raise his voice, his tone wasn’t angry, but they both snapped their mouths shut instantly. He gave them a small smile to show them he wasn’t mad, and they went back to staring at each other. I caught small hand gestures. The little shitheads were sign-fighting.

This time I couldn’t help the grin on my face. Fuck me, they were going to keep Marco on his toes. He rolled his eyes, and it looked a lot like the kid’s expression, and everyone turned back to Stevie.

Cain waved a hand. “You are going to have to spell this out for us, guys.”

I swear to fucking Lucifer himself, the fucking little ferret mongoose thing sat on its hind legs, crossed its tiny little arms, and attempted to look fucking tough.

Laughter bubbled up in my chest, and a noise I hadn’t heard in fucking decades poured past my lips. Every head in the room snapped toward me, like me laughing was weirder than a fucking marsupial acting like an MC Enforcer.

“What? That shit is funny?” Judas, Sol and Cain were all staring at me, and I swallowed down the laughter. I refused to acknowledge the painful look of hope on Judas’ face.

Stevie still looked freaked as fuck, but he sucked in a deep breath. “Look, it's not a fu-” he cleared his throat. “Uh, flipping big deal. Paulie’s mom had an affair with some dude, so instead of turning into a bear, Paulie turns into a mongoose. I got sick of everyone kicking the shit out of him, so we fucked off out of there when we turned fourteen. We lived on the streets til Cain picked us up and brought us here. We prospected in, end of the story.”

“You lived on the streets for six years before I picked you up?” Cain asked softly, his fucking bleeding heart there on his sleeve.

Stevie’s face was closed down tight. “It’s fine. Paulie was big for his age and I turned into a damn bear. We were okay.”

Even I knew that was a fucking lie, but I wasn’t going to push them for their damn life stories.

Cara came over and rested her elbows on the table. “Can I see you turn into a bear? Are you like Winnie the Pooh? Or like Yogi? Or like the scary bear at the museum that stands on two legs and does this?” She clawed her hands like a roaring bear. “Is your fur soft? Can you talk like Yogi Bear? Sammie says bears sleep during the winter and eat berries and sticks to make a butt plug so they don’t poop. Do you have a butt plug so you don’t poop?”

Stevie looked like he was going to pass out again. I just grinned. This kid was kind of growing on me, when she wasn’t focusing her attention on me anyway.

Serendipity was trying her hardest not to laugh. “Cara, sweetheart, do you want to come and entertain Madoc?”

Cara’s face lit up, and I didn’t blame her. Even I liked holding the baby, not that I would tell a single soul that, even under pain of death. She skipped around the table, and Sera laid the baby down on top of Cain’s leather jacket on the floor.

Judas was shaking his head. “Okay. Now we have all that settled. I assume that in your bear form, you are no threat to anyone in this room?” he asked Stevie, who nodded solemnly. “Good. Serendipity and the baby will need guards. Most of the time, it will be one or two of the four of us and Marco, but I’d like for you two and Trigger to be her back ups. We are buying Serendipity a house around the corner from here as soon as we can push the paperwork through. Will either of you have a problem with that?”

Stevie shook his head. Tiny fucking mongoose Paulie shook his head too. “Goddamn that is fucking adorable,” Solomon whispered, and the mongoose bared tiny pointed teeth. I sucked back my laughter.

“I personally think a mongoose is going to be an asset to the Club,” I said gruffly. I’d already laughed. If I sounded fucking pleasant, they’ll think I’ve been body snatched. “For breaking and entering and recon, he’d be unparalleled. Can you change back to a man that quickly?”

To answer my question, Paulie the Mongoose leapt from the table, then with a pop of magic, he was Paulie the Man again. And he was naked.

“Cover your dick, asshole,” Cain growled, covering Serendipity’s eyes. She was basically fucking ancient. She’s probably seen more dick than all seven of us combined.

She was laughing, and Stevie shrugged. “Sorry. The whole shifter thing means nudity isn’t a big deal where we are from.”

Paulie had pants on again, and honestly, it was weird as hell trying to reconcile the two versions of Paulie.

Judas pinched the bridge of his nose, the way he used to when he was beginning to get a headache. In the old days when he started to pinch his nose like that, I’d take him back to our place, rub his shoulders until he was all nice and relaxed and then fuck the ever-lovin’ hell out of him.

The yawning chasm in my chest where my heart used to be constricted, and I rubbed absently at my sternum.

Fuck this. No. I refused to feel shit. I couldn’t do it again. I swallowed hard and clenched my back teeth together.

Judas sighed. “Well, now we have that fucking figured out, let me just say, your secret is safe with me. We all have fucking secrets here, and we will keep yours if you keep ours.” He dropped his hands to the table top. “If you don’t keep our secrets, I will fucking track you down and slice you apart, one tiny piece at a time. Are we clear?” The Prospects nodded solemnly, going from pale to goddamn ashen. “Good. As I was saying, I’m moving Serendipity and the baby to their own place as soon as possible. The Clubhouse isn’t safe, and the members will need to come back eventually. I am trusting you two to keep them safe when we aren’t there. I don’t need to explain to you the gravity of that duty. Anything happens to them, it will happen to you ten-fold. Marco and the kids will move in there too. The kids fall under your protection as well. That asshole can take care of himself.” He tilted his head toward Marco, who flipped him the bird. The corner of Judas’ lips tilted up. The Killer was growing on him. Hell, he was growing on me too, and I hated every motherfucker alive.

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