Tainted: Book Three - Enslaved

31. Fire and Fury

Rome

When Kerry returned, he handed a shopping bag to Mira.

"The blanket's on the bottom," he told her. "Everyone, grab a spoon. I brought a treat."

We gathered around the table and each claimed a carton of expensive ice cream: Cherry for Gigi, chocolate marshmallow for Mira, raspberry truffle for Jax, and pineapple coconut for me.

Kerry sat with us, but kept his hands in his pockets.

"Where's yours?" Jax demanded.

"Not hungry."

"You have to eat."

"I can't keep anything down right now," he muttered. "Hey, Mira, I got your money back."

"You didn't beat it out of Titus, did you?" Spoon halfway to her mouth, she paused and locked her golden eyes on him.

"No, I did not. I didn't even see him."

He pulled out his wallet, counted out two hundred in twenties and fifties, and passed it over to her.

"Thanks." She crammed it all into her pants pocket and went back to eating her ice cream. "Guess what time it is now?"

"I dunno. Three o'clock, maybe?"

"Close enough. It's laundry time! And it's your turn. Yours and Rome's."

Suddenly drawn into the conversation, I lifted my head to meet her eyes. She winked at me.

"Aw, come on! Rome can do it by himself. He don't need my help."

But Mira insisted he had to take his turn. Everyone knew he didn't pay attention to anything like that, so it was easy to convince him.

We were all becoming adept at finding ways to keep him distracted.

So after the ice cream feast, he and I hoofed everyone's bags downstairs to the laundry room. I showed him how to measure out the detergent and fill the washers. Gigi and Mira had done their sorting for us, for which I was grateful.

After the washers were set and chugging away, he leaned against the folding table and crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes were far away and glittering, and a dark miasma oozed off him.

"Don't brood," I told him.

He turned toward me, and his eyes burned with so much power that I couldn't hold them. I stared at his forehead instead.

"My angel is in enemy hands and scared. I know she'll put on a brave face because that's who she is, but she's still scared. And not just for herself. She's worrying to death about what I'm doing to find her. And what am I doing? Laundry."

If the word had any more venom in it, it would have grown scales and slithered away.

With a sigh, I went over to the vending machines to give him time to collect himself. I picked out some snacks and got two pops, then spread it all on the folding table and told him to take his pick.

He shook his head.

I sighed.

"This is a different kind of fight than what you're used to, Kerry. There's nothing to kill or destroy, but it's more brutal than any physical combat. You have to stay strong so that when we find her, you're ready to do whatever's necessary to save her. If you're too weak from hunger and fuzzy-headed from lack of sleep, you're only going to get in the way."

"I ain't weak. I ain't fuzzy-headed. I'm fine."

He dropped his head and stared at his boots. I wanted to put my hand on his shoulder, but knew better. Realizing I'd only made him more desperate, I tried another tactic.

"I understand. It's too much for you. Well, don't you worry, buddy. I'll rescue her for you. Just like you rescued Mira for me. I'll step over your collapsed body, pick her up, and carry her to safety."

In less time than it takes to blink, he was nose-to-nose with me with one hand fisted up in my shirt.

"Nobody touches her but me!"

"Then keep it together. Rein in your temper and curb the violence. You're all fire and fury, and that's not what you need to be right now."

"And what is it you think I need to be?" He released my shirt and took a step back, but still vibrated with power and anger.

"Calm. Steady. Reliable. The same thing you need to be for her when you see her again. Regardless of how safe Darius is keeping her, she'll need you to be stable, not explosive, after we get her back."

"How do you know he's keeping her safe? For all you know, he could be—" His mouth clamped into a thin white line.

"You decimated his brothers. He won't risk pissing you off again. He's on the peri side of the djinn family, not the div, and he's not Diabolical, so he won't hurt her just because he can. Mingo said they're men of honor, remember? My gut says she'll come to no harm."

"You really believe that?"

"Yeah. Besides, she'll have him wrapped around her little finger by now. He probably crumbled the first time she gave him puppy dog eyes."

He stared at me for a moment, then the unscarred side of his mouth twitched up.

"They are dangerous. At least, they make me give in to anything she wants." He sucked the power back in and looked at the snacks I'd spread across the folding table. "Did you get anything with peanut butter?"

I nudged a package of crackers toward him. His scarred, blunt-tipped fingers made short work of the wrapper. Figuring he didn't need me staring at him while he ate, I opened my pop and took a long swallow.

"You didn't really take that tenebrous demon back to the outpost's lab, did you?"

I ended on a belch and started to excuse myself, but we were the only ones down here, and he sure didn't care.

"Please." He rolled his eyes. "I went outside and banished the little turd. Well, I asked it some questions first. It knew the divs are running wild, but not why, and said something big is stirring, but not what. It said everything in the Dark World is waiting and watching."

"Hmm. Not really anything new there."

"Nah. It's pretty low in the ranks. Anyway, I banished it, threw the basket in the trash, and walked until I found a store, then took my time picking out ice cream."

"You promised Gigi— No, I guess you didn't. And you never really said you were taking back to the outpost, did you? Only that it would be returned to its own kind. Clever, buddy."

He shrugged.

"What about Mira's money? How did you— It's yours, isn't it?"

"I have too much and she doesn't have any." He made a face at me. "What she does have too much of is pride, so don't tell her."

"Thanks. If you hadn't come along when you did, I would have handled the whole situation wrong. She ... challenges my control."

"Believe it or not, I, too, have had moments of such idiocy that I didn't burn a bridge after I crossed it, I blew it up while I was still standing on it."

I snickered a little.

"Why do we cave to these girls, Kerry?"

"Because they put up with so much of our garbage all the time. And they forgive us for being idiots."

"Over and over and over again." I shot my empty can into the recycle bin.

"Let's agree on another thing."

"What's that, buddy?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Boots and Jax are not allowed to be left alone together ever again."