Page 36 of Heartless
“We heard about the Steel Demons all the way up in Nevada,” Finn said as he began setting plates in front of us. “I always knew my boy loved his motorcycles, but never thought he’d become this mythical vigilante figure.”
“Admit it. You’re proud.” Reaper smirked.
His father sat down, holding his thumb and forefinger close to each other in front of his face. “Just a tiny bit.”
“So Mari, if you don’t mind me asking,” Lis said once everyone was seated with a plate of food. “How strange did you feel about taking multiple husbands? Or was it not strange at all?”
Reaper’s hand came to rest on my knee under the table, squeezing encouragingly. “It took some getting used to,” I answered. “But Re—uh, Rory, was really patient with me and talked me through it. I think what surprised me most was how normal andrightit felt.”
“That’s what I hear the most from others.” She smiled across the table at me before sliding a glance to her daughter next to me. “Nellie never really saw the perks, and still doesn’t, from what I hear.”
Noelle huffed, swallowing down her crepe with a slurp of her drink. “Larkan’s still just a prospect,” she glared daggers at her brother, “and it already scares me to death, all the crazy shit they make him do. I can’t imagine being in Mari’s position and worrying aboutfourof these dicks. I’ll drop dead from a heart attack tomorrow.”
“Regardless, I’m glad you’re happy, dear. I’m excited to meet him.” Lis’ gaze returned to me. “And the rest of yours, Mari? How long have you been with that man from the market?”
“Oh, Shadow and I are still newly seeing each other,” I said, a light fluttering traveling up my body at the reminder of him. “We’re taking things a bit slowly, getting to know each other.”
“Jandro found him.” Reaper cocked his head at his best friend on the other side of him. “The guy was in much worse shape back then. He’s a different person now.”
“Yeah.” Jandro finished chewing his food and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I did a little bit, got him into the club and all that, but it was Mari that made him come out of his shell by leaps and bounds.”
Reaper’s parents listened with fascination to the story of Shadow, the heavily censored one that Jandro knew anyway. He didn’t betray any personal details like his nightmares or offer speculation on his scars. Everything he said was warm and respectful, as if talking about any other absent friend who’d overcome hardships. Reaper nodded with agreement at certain points in the story and added in his own anecdotes. I was proud and moved by my men, loving their camaraderie and complete lack of jealousy.
“He sounds lucky to have found all of you,” Finn observed. “I met a lot of traumatized guys in the Air Force, and the camp where we were held.” He looked at his wife, reaching for her hand. “It would be weeks, sometimes months where we couldn’t see each other in that place, but I held on knowing Lis was nearby. I feel for everyone who had to suffer alone.”
“That kid you brought to the meeting yesterday,” Reaper piped up. “He must have a hell of a story. I didn’t expect you to bring a new recruit to discuss tactics.”
“Eduardo.” His father nodded. “Yeah he’s a runaway from Blakeworth. Said his family was going to be publicly executed for stealing winter coats, can you believe it? Their police force came to collect the family members, and they shoved him out the back door and told him to run. He got out of the city and was able to hide on a produce truck heading south. Four Corners was a speck in the distance when he hopped off, but he made a break for it and couldn’t have ended up in a better place.”
“Execution for stealing coats?” Lis repeated, aghast. “I bet they already have a foot of snow up there. Are they really so cruel to people in need?”
“Probably worse than you’re imagining,” I said. “The people in power up there are awful. Anyone considered lower class is just treated so horribly. I saw it firsthand.”
“Ah yes, the daring rescue mission.” Finn smiled at me. “You’ll have Governor Vance in your debt forever now. The poor man was going nuts at the thought of losing Kyrie. That was the one time he begged me to invade, but the mere whiff of a neighboring army would send Blakeworth into full retaliation mode. I’m glad it was successful as a covert mission.”
“Can you blame him though?” Lis asked. “That’s hisonlychild. If I had known about Daren—” Tears immediately filled her eyes, a shaking hand flying to her mouth. “I’m sorry, I—”
Finn scooted his chair directly next to hers, wrapped a muscular arm around his wife’s shoulders and pressed kisses into her temple. “It’s okay, hon. My fault for bringing it up.” He rubbed soothingly up and down her arms as she cried softly into his shoulder. “We all miss him.”
Reaper lowered his gaze to the table, leaning into me slightly as I rubbed his back. “I wish I’d been able to meet him,” I offered softly to the grieving family. “And your other husbands too, Lis. I wish I could’ve…”
Been there to prevent their deaths,were the words I chose not to speak. I could have given Daren the correct antiviral. I could have set Carter’s leg and given him antibiotics. Because their deaths were preventable with the right medical care, it was more than tragic. It was criminal that people lost family members to issues that were so easily treatable.
Reaper’s fingers clasped around mine,and he brushed a kiss along my forehead much like his father was doing to his mother. “I know you would’ve saved them, sugar. And I love you for it. Just knowing that gives me so much peace.”
“Still.” I leaned my forehead on his cheek. “I hate that you lost them. Hate that your family’s been hurt so much.”
“There’s nothing we can do.” Lis sniffed and wiped her eyes, leaning away from her husband as she regained composure. “But continue living, honoring and remembering them.”
“Cheers to that.” Noelle too had shed a few silent tears and wiped her eyes as she raised her glass.
“To Carter, Daren, and Nolan, who we lost too soon to cancer,” Finn toasted with his coffee cup. “But at least he passed before seeing how crazy and shitty this world turned out to be.”
Lis nodded in agreement, then we all toasted and took a drink silently for their dead loved ones. I thought briefly of my parents again, but dismissed the idea of toasting to them too.
Who knew if my mom and dad had ever reunited, but if they’d died, I had a sneaking suspicion that I would know. The cat always at my side made no mention of seeing them, and until she told me herself, I would continue to hope.
Eleven
