Page 76 of Enemy
“I’m not, like, his girlfriend.”
“What am I, your priest? Why should I care?” I ask, and she takes a step back, trying to hide behind the other workers. I suppose she doesn’t want to let Rog’s mistakes affect her, though I make a mental note to keep an eye on her. Just in case.
“What the fuck was that?” Prophet yells from afar, before even reaching the cave we’re in. “No shooting in the caves!”
I let out a low growl, because I really don’t need to hear this again. At least Yeti doesn’t wait and hauls a limping, bleeding, sobbing Rog past Prophet who must already know what this is about.
“Nothing happened,” I say, shooting to my feet so fast the walls sway around me again, and Creep grabs my arm, keeping me from losing my footing. I fucking hate him sometimes for noticingeverything. “It’s all good. We’ll deal with that thief.”
Prophet shakes his head. “Come with me,” he says, but it sounds like an order. While we do have a hierarchy, my bond with Prophet is about much more than being his subordinate. We’re friends, brothers. Still, I don’t question him and follow, because I’m not about to argue in front of other people.
It’s not like I had other plans anyway, since Clyde isn’t waiting for me in a boat by the lake, already preparing pancakes and bacon.
Life’s not fucking fair.
Prophet leads the way outside, then past the building hiding the entry into the ravine, and toward the lake.
I roll my eyes. “I’m going to puke if she makes me drink any tea right now.”
As soon as we emerge into bright sunlight, I have to squint, because it feels like an assault on my senses.
“Noted. No tea, but I was actually going to straight up ask you what’s up first. You’ve been a mess the last three days, and I can’t have that from my enforcer. Road. Is this about Blondie? You’ve been like this since you came back that night.”
Talking to him is like trying to get to safety crossing a river of hot lava, but I’m not about to lie down and wait for it to burn me. “Since when are you so interested in the girls I sleep with?” I ask as we come close to the lakeshore, where some of our people are enjoying a nice day in the sun.
Prophet rolls his eyes at me and crosses his arms. Which are kinda hot. Muscular and tattooed. Did I just block that part of me so hard that I refused to even acknowledge such things? Clyde’s words hit me again. That I should fuck Prophet, or something along those lines. Is it possible that he was truly jealous and it triggered that whole frenzy in the motel on top of my reveal?
“Since you’re acting all fucked up about it. First you sneak around, and now you’re like a grizzly woken up in the middle of his winter sleep. There’s plenty of fish in the sea if she turned out to be—”
“Shut your mouth,” I growl at him, capturing his gaze with a scowl that has him stumbling over the root of a tree. “You don’t know her. There’s no one else like her!”
His bright green eyes widen, but I don’t regret a word I said. Yeah, I’m pretending we’re talking about a girl, but I need to get it outsomehow. It feels like my heart is rotting, and no one can see.
“So… what happened?” Prophet’s voice becomes softer and he pats my back. It’s a small gesture, I’m tempted to shrug it off, but I do appreciate it.
We slow down, making our way from the shore, past the now-empty volleyball court, toward Brigid’s cottage by the woods. My chest feels as if I packed it full of old lead bullets that are now slowly leaking poison into my system. I might not be able to pull Clyde against me, so getting comfort from Prophet has to be the next best thing. Even if he’d break my neck if he knew who I’m talking about.
“She was worried her family wouldn’t like her to date… you know, a biker, but everything was going well until she realized what I actually do. That I’m not just in it for the fun of riding a motorcycle.”
It doesn’t even begin to cover what actually happened, but I can’t risk telling on myself, so it’ll have to do.
Prophet nods, absentmindedly grabbing a pendant on one of his amulets. “Maybe it wasn’t meant to be then, brother. You need someone who will embrace all of you.”
My heart whirs, as if it turned into a blender and started liquefying my insides. “No! You don’t get it! Sheisthe one! She gets me. She looks at me in a way no one before him did. I don’t want any other!”
Prophet gives me the side-eye. “Okay, let’s… see what the cards say, hm? No tea.” It’s like he just came up with that, but we’ve been walking in the direction of Brigid’s house all along.
I don’t even know if Clyde misses me, or if he’s happy to be rid of the parasite that tried to burrow inside his chest. I hope he does. I hope he’s also thinking back to the dumb jokes exchanged by the fire, that he’s dreaming of my lips, and my presence at his side. I can’t get his sleeping face out of my head, and each time I wake up, it’s what I hope to see on the pillow next to me.
But I’m always disappointed.
Is there even a way to get him back after everything I’ve done?
I can’t take back what I did to his brother, but even if I could, I’d do it again, because the fucker deserved it, so we’re in a catch-22.
“Yeah, okay. Fine,” I tell Prophet and quicken my pace, because I’ve got nothing to lose.
We pass through a low gate that leads into the extensive herb garden where Luna is working on something under a giant sunhat. She reminds me of a baby bird with how dainty her wrists are, and when she glances at me with a shy smile and a little wave, I’m only more convinced that Roy got what he deserved.
