Damon
Present
“Ugh, what the fuck?” I said, wincing as I sucked a drag off my cigarette and watched Banks clean my wound.
It felt like I’d been stuck with a red-hot poker.
She sat in a chair in front of me, eye level with the stitches and shaking her head. “What the hell did you do to this?”
“Lots,” Will chuckled, coming into Michael and Rika’s luxury kitchen and rounding the massive marble island.
Just as I thought, they completely douched up the place. I couldn’t bring myself to look at the rest of the house after I’d come upstairs.
Banks dabbed at the blood from the torn stitch, and I just hoped nothing inside was torn as a tiny wave of nausea rolled through my stomach.
But thankfully, it quickly left.
Will came around to Winter’s side, who sat at the island facing me, and lowered his head next to hers, whispering in her ear.
“Get the fuck off,” I told him.
He could talk to her. Just not like that.
He looked up at me and laughed, but threw his hands up and backed off.
Nothing had changed. He’d remember that.
“You’re going to need to go to the hospital again, Damon,” Banks spoke up.
“Fuck that.” I blew out smoke. “Just butterfly bandage it.”
“Are you kidding?” she blurted out.
Rika blew through, carrying a small duffel bag and wearing a black suit with her hair teased and wild. She plucked the cigarette out of my mouth, quickly looking around for Michael before she took a drag.
But pain suddenly sliced through me, and I hissed, “Shit, Banks.”
She just shook her head, and I barely noticed as Rika stuck the cigarette back between my lips.
I blew a few breaths, using what nails I had to dig into my skin around the wound and detract at least a little of the pain.
I swallowed, looking at Rika who unzipped her bag and started adding shit to it.
“We need guns,” I told her.
She didn’t look at me, only grabbed something out of her bag and slammed it down on the counter next to me.
I looked down at it, arching a brow. “That’s not a gun.”
It was the dagger we gave her two years ago as a threat. Coincidentally, the same one she stabbed me with then, too, not very far from the wound I had now. Her cut wasn’t as deep, though.
“It’s our way,” she answered, still focused on her task.
“Our way?”
What the hell did that mean?
She zipped up her bag and fixed me with a hard stare. “If you want this town, we are not leading by creating a massacre in the streets,” she bit out. “They won’t fear us because we’re armed. They’ll fear us because we never fail.”
And she grabbed the bag and stalked off, head held high and shit.
I snorted. “Madame Mayor…”
“Shut up,” she fired back.
But Michael caught her, wrapped her in his arms, and led her off himself, smiling back at me. “I knew she’d warm to the idea.”
Yeah. We had her. Definitely.
Banks cut two-inch pieces of first aid tape, slicing off triangles to make the butterflies and started fixing them to the incision, keeping the skin together until I could get back to the hospital.
“What are you guys going to do?” Winter asked.
“You mean, what are we going to do?” I teased back.
She was coming tonight. We were ending this once and for all.
She shrugged. “I can stay here with Mr. Crane,” she said. “I’ll just slow you down.”
I narrowed my eyes, looking at her. She was beautiful in a tight black turtleneck and black pants, her hair loose and shining down her back, and Rika had even helped with her makeup. She was ready. Why did she think she wasn’t coming all of a sudden?
I’ll just slow you down.
I pulled away from Banks and headed around the island to where Winter sat. Leaning over the corner, I took her under her arms and lifted her off the seat slowly, bringing us nose to nose.
She tried to face away, but I followed her.
“I’m not in a rush,” I whispered.
Her mouth twisted to the side, like she was trying not to get upset.
“I don’t want you to worry about me,” she admitted. “You need to focus tonight.”
I stared at her, thinking about all the times that would come up over the years ahead where she would think we’d move faster without her. Have more fun without her. Get to enjoy the full extent of an adventure without her.
Have more freedom without her hanging on.
I wasn’t living like that. I wouldn’t let her live like that.
“That’s not how we’re doing things,” I said. “That’s not your life anymore.”
The corner of her lip twitched, like she might tear up, but she didn’t.
If I ever thought I couldn’t do something with her, then I wasn’t doing it at all.
“Your place is at my side,” I told her. “Say it.”
She whispered, “My place is at your side.”
“Louder.” I shook her gently, but my tone was firm. “My woman doesn’t ask permission. She’s a force. Say it louder.”
Her chin started to tremble, but her voice burst out strong. “My place is at your side.”
And I kissed her, making sure she fucking believed it. She was always wanted.
I set her back down, a little smile peeking out of her now, and Alex strolled in, carrying something and plopping it down on the island in front of me.
It was a black suit with a white shirt and black necktie. Kind of like Rika’s.
There were gloves and shoes, too.
I looked to Alex.
“It’s a party, after all,” she said.
And then she put my mask on top.
I laughed a little. The irony wasn’t lost on me.
We weren’t boys in hoodies anymore, I guess. It was time to reintroduce ourselves to Thunder Bay.
A half hour later, I tightened my tie and pulled on my black, leather gloves, heading out the front door to one of the motorbikes Michael had waiting. I had no idea if he owned all of them or what, but the village wouldn’t accommodate our cars tonight, so bikes, it was.
I checked the dagger in my breast pocket, making sure it was tucked tight, and mounted the motorcycle next to Michael’s. I wasn’t sure why I brought the knife, but we had a history. Why not?
“Get on, girl,” I heard Will say. “Come on.”
I looked over my shoulder, spotting Alex grinning and shaking her head as she swung over the bike, sitting behind him.
Kai and Banks took the fourth motorcycle, while Lev and David backed us up in Michael’s G-Class.
Rika and Winter came out, Winter holding Rika’s arm as she led her over to me. I took Winter’s hand as she felt for the seat with the other one.
I smiled. She wore a blindfold of sheer red fabric. I could still see her eyes, but it was the perfect mask, because it didn’t hinder her other senses that she used to see the world.
“You know what you gotta do?” I asked.
She climbed on, wearing a small backpack. “Just tell me when.”
She wrapped her arms around my waist, and I unhooked my mask from my wrist, pulling it over the top of my head.
I looked over at Michael, Rika already situated behind him and pulling on her mask. “Your father will be there, too,” I warned him.
He laughed to himself, turning on the bike and revving the engine.
“First thing’s first,” he called out.
We all pulled down our masks, gripped the handles, and took off.
Damn straight.
It was the perfect setting.
Public space. No kids. Chaos and activity.
It seemed, in the past few years, that absence had made the heart grow fonder, and the town of Thunder Bay decided to institute some Mischief Night activities of their own, apparently lamenting the loss of the horsemen.
Earlier in the evening there was a Halloween parade with a carnival for the kids, but after ten, the curfew went into effect, and anyone under sixteen had to be indoors.