As I proceeded forward, the throng was thinning out, the faint hum of discussions giving way to silence. My presence was enough to remind the stragglers it was time to leave. Their eyes flew up, caught for a brief moment by mine before they gathered their possessions and made their way out. The two men sat with the kind of silence that made the air thick at the far end of the poorly lit bar. I stopped at the counter, eyes fixed on them as conflict coiled inside me.
"You finish here. I'll clear them out," I say to Aisha with a low, controlled voice.
Her hand darted out, fingers gripping around my forearm with startling strength before I could turn away. Her gentle touch anchored me in place, and I looked down at her slender fingers before meeting her eyes–eyes that reflected the sparkle of anxiety matching the rapid intake of her breath.
"Is that the same guy you rode out with this morning?" she questioned, her eyes flickering tensely toward the man in the leather vest, shoulders tensed like a storm about to strike.
"Yeah, he's a friend," I said, the words clipped, a meager layer of certainty I couldn't quite feel.
She swallowed, glancing back to see the shadows playing on the second man's face. "Do you know the other guy too?" her voice faltered, a tremble I felt in the pulse against my skin.
As the question hovered between us, a muscle in my jaw tightened. My hands balled at my side and the counter while the tendons in my neck strained. The silence was heavy, filled with everything I wanted to say. "Yeah," I forced out, the admission rasping against the walls of my chest.
"Who is he?" her voice quivering with terror chipped away at my will, and I wanted to let her in and tell her the truth, damn the consequences. My mask slipped, a flicker of vulnerability breaking through the storm.
But vulnerability wasn't a luxury I could afford. I wrenched it back behind the iron wall that protected us both. "Don't worry about him," I murmured, my tone firm but with a softness reserved just for her. Gently I uncurled her fingers from my arm, the touch lingering longer than it should have before I stepped away.
Every stride I took toward the two men resonated more than the last, guiding me toward a conversation that promised nothing good.
"Ramsey, what are you doing here?" my words were quiet, making sure Aisha couldn't hear us.
Ramsey's blue eyes stayed locked on my sister, their depths rich with something I didn't like. "Does she know?"
I glanced at Aisha, who was cleaning a section of the counter. "No, but she'll dig until she discovers why I'm..."
Ramsey cut me off, "You know what will happen if she finds out," his words were laced with warning.
Aisha moved closer and our conversation went silent. The two of them stared at her like hungry predators which infuriated me. "Are you finished with that?" Her words seemed consistent, but I could tell that was not how she felt.
Ramsey responded, his words flowing naturally. "I am, sweetheart, thank you." she went for the glass in front of him and managed a polite grin. Ramsey was the only object of my attention; I issued a quiet warning as if to say back off. However, when he looked at me, the challenge in his eyes was like a slap across the face. My body stiffened, shoulders tightening.
"Levi, is everything okay?" her words were shaky, barely above a whisper.
I didn't respond, not with Ramsey here. The words were there, though they wouldn't surface. Ramsey's smile was smooth, one that promised trouble wrapped in charm. "Don't worry about him, darlin'," he said, his voice rich with that mysterious Southern accent. "Just go about your business. He will drive you home later."
YOU ARE READING
Blood and Silver (On Going)
Werewolf"I was tangled in their world, a world where shadows lurked with claws and teeth, one in which hunters were not far behind." When Aisha discovers the secret her brother has been keeping for years, it pulls her into a world she thought didn't exist...
