Page 69 of My Revenant
“Get outta here, Devil.”
“Yeah, yeah. See you soon, Rabbit.”
After work, I made my way to the pier. Roy had been veryRoyabout my arriving so late. Just an “Oh good, you’re alive,” and then carrying on with his tasks, leaving me to mine and asking no further questions, the long, scrutinizing look he gave me enough to satisfy him that nothing was wrong.
Being a weekday, Bryce was thankfully at school, so I didn’t have to deal with him. Jonah probably should have been there too, but if he didn’t want to go, I wouldn’t tell him to. I’d leave that in Becca’s very capable hands.
As I pulled up and parked my bike with the others, I knew I’d have to deal with a fuller crew tonight. Given what happenedlast time, Archer had clearly called in all the fighters this time. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the others… I just didn’t likemostof the others. The ones I did anything more than just tolerate—Bull, Cupid, Halo, Snake—wouldn’t be here. Their value lay outside the fighting ring.
“Coyote,” said Raven, giving me a lingering once-over I didn’t much care for. As usual.
“Raven.”
“Still gay?”
“Last I checked.”
“Maybe we should check again,” she said, licking over black-painted lips.
“Pass.”
“Hmm. Your loss.”
“I’m sure.”
“Pity.”
“I’m sure you have many other men and women who’d appreciate your talents.” I cast a glance at Reaper, already shooting daggers at me like I was the one flirting with the woman who’d sleep with anyone but him. I didn’t blame her. Reaper was a creepy fucker. I didn’t even know his real name; he just insisted everyone call him Reaper. He was a mean fighter, though.
As Archer and Henrik pulled up, I thought again about the conversation I’d had with the bulkier twin yesterday. It was something I shouldn’t have been thinking about at all, but the thoughts rose of their own accord—what would happen if I tried to take over the Strays? If Henrik did what he’d implied and somehow got Archer out of the picture, I still had no guarantee the rest of the Strays would follow me instead. Particularly Reaper.
As night swallowed the sky, and the sand was lit only by the stars and fires that slowly warped the barrels that sustained them, my eyes were more focused on the crowd than the fights. I neededto findhim. Not knowing where he was made my skin itch uncomfortably, like a junkie in need of a hit and Jonah was my drug. Without him, I was unmoored. Agitated. Distracted.
There.
I breathed a sigh of relief as my eyes caught him from a distance, walking onto the sand with Becca. He was still wearing my jacket. I never wanted to see him without it again. In fact, maybe I’d replace all his clothes with mine. He already smelled of my soap and shampoo after our shower. I liked the way Jonah usually smelled, but having him smell like me satisfied a primal part of me he’d woken up.
His eyes found mine right away.
My honey-eyed inferno.
Becca had her arms folded across her chest as she caught sight of me, and clearly I’d earned her disapproval. I wondered if it was the markings I’d left all over Jonah’s neck, or maybe it was just me as a whole she disapproved of. Didn’t matter to me either way. She might have been Jonah’s best friend, but he wasmine.
“Who’s that?” Raven asked, holding her pack of cigarettes out to me. I glanced at her just long enough to take one before looking back at Jonah, who was watching us with a glare.
“My rabbit.” I leaned down so she could light it for me. Raven took her sweet time, a knowing smirk on her lips as she stepped in far closer than necessary, hands shielding the flame from the wind as a much hotter flame burned in Jonah’s eyes.
“Rabbit, hmm? I’d go for something a little more territorial and murderous.”
Jonah kept walking, his limp faint, and I knew that was because he was doing his best to cover it. Becca reached for his arm to stop him, but he yanked out of her hold, continuing on his way. Coming to me.
The rest of the Strays and I were hanging out under the pier until it was time for our fights, smoking and drinking—well,Iwasn’t drinking. Overall, we were causing a general ruckus that most people kept clear of. Not my rabbit. He had a point to prove, and I was going to let him do just that.
The moment I was within reach of him, he had both hands gripping the collar of my jacket, and he smashed his lips against mine. I smiled against them even as they bruised me with the force of his public claiming.
When he considered his point successfully made, he released me, shooting a glare at Raven. She smiled back widely. Raven had never been easy to intimidate—came with being the only woman in the Strays. She could hold her own against the rest of us, so she certainly wasn’t about to cower down to Jonah. If anything, he’d just given her something fun to poke at.
“You should piss on him next,” she said with a sneer. “You know, just to really mark your territory.”
