Page 54 of Things We Hide from the Light
Steeling myself, I opened the front door and stepped into the world of the living.
It was a Monday night, which meant a smaller crowd and country classics on the jukebox rather than a live band.
Out of habit, I scanned the thin crowd. Tallulah and Justice St. John occupied a table with pet shop owner Gael and his husband, Isaac, for their monthly double date. Sherry Fiasco, Jeremiah’s sister and Knox’s right-hand person, was shrugging into a coat behind the bar next to Silver, the edgy blond bartender.
My brother clocked me before I made it two steps inside. He was in his standard uniform of jeans, battered motorcycle boots, beard, and an air of “fuck around and find out.”
Knox always appeared to be looking for a fight.
Beside him stood Lucian Rollins in a suit that probably cost more than my first car. He was tall, dark, and also dangerous, but in a different way.
Where Knox was more likely to punch you in the face if you pissed him off, Lucian was the type to methodically and creatively destroy your life.
Lucky for me they mostly kept their powers in check.
There was an empty stool between the two, which told me I was about to be the unwilling center of attention.
The door opened behind me, and my U.S. marshal shadow strolled inside. “You know this would be a hell of a lot easier if you told me where you were going and how long you planned to be there,” he groused.
“Yeah, well, my life would be a hell of a lot easier if I didn’t have you up my ass all day.”
“Long as we’re both miserable,” he said before peeling off to grab an empty two-top facing the door.
Knox straightened away from the bar.
Fuck me.
Fifty-six minutes. Drink a beer. Shoot the shit. Keep my brother from assaulting a fed. Then I could go home and hide from the world.
I made my way through the tables, nodding as people called out greetings.
“Evening, boys,” I said when I reached them.
Lucian offered me his hand and pulled me in for a one-armed hug.
“Good to see you.”
“You too, Lucy.”
Knox was glaring over my shoulder at Nolan Graham. “Think I might go kick your shadow’s ass,” he said over the rim of his glass.
“Appreciate the sentiment, but I really don’t wanna help bury a body tonight,” I told him.
Knox’s attention shifted away from the marshal and back to me. “You look like shit. You shave with a butter knife?”
“Nice to see you too, dick,” I said, sliding onto the stool between them. I didn’t have the energy to stand.
“You’ve been avoiding my calls,” Lucian said, taking his seat and shooting me one of those piercing looks that had women’s underwear falling down to their ankles for over two decades now.
“Been busy,” I said, signaling Silver for a drink.
She winked a smoky eye at me. “Comin’ up, Chief.”
One benefit to still living in the small town you’d grown up in, you never had to tell anyone what your drink order was. They remembered.
“Better not be busy with your new neighbor,” Knox said, straddling his stool and angling toward me.
“If that’s why we’re doin’ this, I’ll save you an hour and say what Lina and I do or don’t do is none of your damn business.”
