Page 80 of Guitars and Cages

He chuckled at that; didn’t even say anything about me interrupting him.

“He’s a friend, is all,” I finally admitted. “The best one I ever had.”

“So I gather, the way you’re chewing those buttons. You know, if you’d stop being a stubborn shit and work for me, those would be free, whenever you wanted them.”

My shoulders slumped, and I shoved three more in my mouth, chewing until I could choke them down. “Maybe.”

If he was surprised to hear anything except a no, he didn’t show it. “I remember when you came to me and asked to fight for the first time. The furious look you gave me when I told you the cost of the information, the way your fists clenched and your eyes flashed when you told me you didn’t have any money. You looked like you wanted to try to beat the address outta me. You remembered your manners pretty quick, didn’t you, when I showed you what happened to little punks with dirty mouths. You didn’t blink, though, not even when I ordered you to your knees. Such a contradiction, Asher; you always have been. It’s one of the things I like about you—one of many.”

“I remember that fight. I had to dislocate the guy’s shoulder before he’d tap out.”

Catfish chuckled. “I don’t know who was more surprised when it popped out of place, him or you.”

“Him, definitely him.”

Catfish chuckled again, and launched into even more memories of the past. I listened and finished my buttons, waiting for the warmth to hit. When it did, it was slow, gradual, the colors getting brighter until the walls began to melt like rain. Catfish was melting, too, melting and talking, and so were the windows and the door. I saw Gage’s face in swirling neon shades of green and gold, laughing as he melted into a battered, lumpy red mass on the floor. It writhed, and I screamed, hands holding me down as Gage rose up, the skin sliding from his body, pink and purple pulsing organs shambling across the floor, cursing me and damning me to hell. I struggled, twisting, trying to escape the hands as the organs fell from Gage’s shuffling form, until orange and blue bones reached for me, clawing, tearing. In the back of my head, I knew the trip had gone wrong, but it was too late to stop it, and the images were too bright, too real.

I could hear Catfish talking in the distance, so far away. I tried to look at him, but all I saw was his mustache, bobbing like it was keeping time with the skeleton’s curses. Green and red snakes twined around my wrist like vines, their mouths opening, biting deep. I tried to claw them away, but more vines came, and soon I couldn’t move. The ceiling rained fire and hay, and I struggled, trying not to get burned. Catfish spoke in my ear, low and slow, almost like he was singing. I wanted to calm down and listen; I was scared and death was coming, Gage was coming to make me pay for what I had done. I could hear his bones rattling beside the bed, reforming until they climbed over the edge and stretched out beside me, one long, bone-gray arm snaking across my abs, pinning me flat. I gave in then, and sank into darkness.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Iwoke up feeling like shit, most of the afternoon spent vomiting into the toilet in Catfish’s room. My left wrist and arm were scratched to hell where I’d clawed them, and both wrists had bruises from where Catfish had tied me down. The images from the trip were still fresh in my mind; I was nervous and on edge, the shambling of the skeleton echoing inside my head. I turned corners afraid of what I might see. I curled under the spray of the shower at River’s End, letting the water scald my skin until it turned cold. I didn’t want to leave, but the longer I stayed the harder it would be to keep refusing the bodyguard job.

I had a job, provided I dragged myself to the bar on time. That’s not where my heart wanted me to go, it wasn’t where my soul screamed at me to go, but it’s where I went ’cause I was a coward, and I doubted that would ever change. Morgan caught me by the arm and dragged me to his office the moment I rounded the corner of the bar, slamming the door behind us and bolting it for good measure. He leaned against it with his arms crossed, leaving me with no way out of the room. My phone was sitting on his desk. I reached for it, but let my hand fall back to my side before I could touch it.

“Well, aren’t you gonna check your messages?”

I turned to look at him. “I’m guessing you already did.”

He nodded, watching me. I tried to keep my eyes and hands off my phone. He waited until I was squirming before putting me out of my misery. “He’s still alive.”

I knew he could tell how relieved I was. Hell, I damn near dropped into one of the chairs at hearing those words. I reached for my phone and shoved it in my pocket, breathing a bit easier now.

“I texted Eve back. Don’t worry, I let her know it was me. I gave her my cell number; she’s been keeping me updated.”

“I, uhh...thanks, Morgan.”

His eyes darkened and I could feel the weight of his stare. “Thank me by telling me what the hell happened between you and Gage that you’re not on the first bus back to Nebraska to be there for him.”

His words shook me. I knew he had no way of knowing what had taken place; best not to let him see how rattled he’d made me. “We haven’t been that close in a long time, Morgan, so don’t worry; I won’t be ditching my job to go run off somewhere, at least not without giving notice first.”

He shook his head at me, eyes narrowing more. “You boys were inseparable. Whatever distance there might be over all the moving around you’ve done, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t want to see you.”

“Believe me when I say that there are far, far more reasons than that for why he wouldn’t want me there. So drop it.”

“Sorry, kid, but that’s been your copout for everything lately. Do you know how sick I am of you telling me something doesn’t matter, or to drop it and leave you alone? No more, Asher; not this time, not tonight. I borrowed a bartender from Dalton, so your shift is clear, and Melinda is taking care of things for me, so sit your ass down. You aren’t going anywhere until you and I have a talk.”

I huffed, scowling as I flopped into one of the seats. I resisted the temptation to cross my arms, glare, and pout, but not by much. “Fine.”

He stayed where he was, guarding the door; guess he didn’t want me bolting on him again.

“Now, why wouldn’t Gage want to see you?”

I sighed, picked at my jeans, and went for as close to the truth as I dared to get. “Look, we had a fight, okay? And not just with words; it got physical and we haven’t talked since.”

He shifted feet, eyes widening. “What the hell could you boys have disagreed over that would escalate into violence?”

I studied my hand and the scuffs on my boots, the pile of papers by my feet, anything but him. I said nothing, and neither did he, and I was reminded of how much I’d hated when he did this when I was younger, because his silences had always made me nervous and always made me tell him what I’d done. The clock ticked. Who the hell had a ticking clock these days? Most people had digital, but no, not Morgan, his goddamned clock had Roman numerals and it was ticking away, counting down every second of the silence that had filled the room.

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