Fated: Karma Series, Book Three (10 page)

“Sorry about the intrusion.” Murphy was standing in front of the TV looking at the remote with a confused expression when I entered the living room. I hoped he’d keep looking down at it or that my face wasn’t as flushed as it felt.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said, trying to brush off what he’d seen a few minutes ago. “That wasn’t what you thought,” I added. That sentence made it sound like it had been
exactly
what he’d thought. When had I become so bad at this?

Now he did look at me. His mouth twisted and his eyebrows rose, confirming my suspicion, but he didn’t say anything more about it.

“When did you get here?” I asked.

“A couple minutes ago. Same time as Luck and Mother. You didn’t hear us come in?”

“No.” He didn’t comment on the fact that I’d been otherwise occupied, while I was trying not to roll my eyes. Of course Mother was here already. I was surprised she hadn’t come over last night.

Luck broke the awkward tension with her heels clacking down the hardwood stairs, armed with lip-gloss in her hand and Smoke following her.

“I’m not staying in a room with her!” she hissed under her breath the second she got within ten feet of the two of us. Smoke started howling, as if backing her up.

“Mother?” Murphy confirmed. “She’s not that bad.”

“She’s horrible!” Luck blinked her eyes as if she could barely hold back the tears. “I was supposed to be with you,” she said, pointing her lip-gloss at Murphy.

“We had to make room for the Jinxes,” Murphy explained.

All of our eyes shot to the bar at the mention of their name. They did have a propensity towards being on the wet side more often than not. Perhaps an unguarded liquor supply wasn’t a good idea. But they’d probably had more booze in bribes from me than Fate had stocked, so who was I to talk?

Luck walked over to the bar in question and poured herself a shot of peach Schnapps.

“She can’t be that bad,” I said, thinking of my own arrangement and how much easier it would be to room with anyone but Fate.

“She
is
.” She threw back her shot and shivered like she’d just put down 180 proof moonshine.

I heard a door shut from somewhere behind me and then Luck called out Fate’s name, rushing across the room to him.

For the most part, Luck didn’t have the same effect on the guys in the office that she had with human males. I’d never confirmed it with her but my hunch was she dulled the sex ninja down on purpose.

Fate came into the living room just as we heard Mother’s annoyingly high voice singing
We are the World
upstairs. She was very loud and extremely off tune. I had to concede Luck’s point. I didn’t think I’d make it long with her either.

Luck grabbed on to one of Fate’s arms. “I need a different room. I can’t stay with
her
.”

“She’s not that bad,” he said.

A screeching ripped across the house before we all realized Mother had brought a karaoke machine with her.

“Really?” Luck asked. She threw her hands up in the air and broke into full dramatics.

Another screech of an amplifier had Fate relenting a little. “I’ll talk to her.”

I’d been avoiding eye contact with him until I heard that. There it was—again. Fate having to swoop in with his soft touch and handle Mother. Maybe he’d buy her some lingerie to go with the perfume.

All the jealousy I’d never wanted to feel came bursting out of calm surface waters like a dolphin doing a flip to amuse the spectators. “Of course you will. Why don’t you have her room with you? I’ll room with Luck?” The evil words spewed from my mouth before I even knew what I was saying. I wanted to reach out and yank them back. The green demon would eat me alive if what I’d just suggested came to pass.

Why did I keep doing this? Saying the stupidest things I didn’t want to happen? And now I was doing it with an audience?

Luck froze, her hysterics ceasing almost immediately when she realized there was a better show available. Murphy’s eyes grew large. This was one of those times that it was painfully clear they weren’t human. Polite humans would’ve been surprised by my words and would’ve made their excuses to leave the room and give us some privacy. With these two, I was waiting for them to decide who was going to make the popcorn.

Fate, never human either, didn’t seem to care that we had company. “Is that what you would prefer?” I’d lobbed the ball to him and he lobbed it right back at me.

We stood about eight feet away from each other but it could have been a chasm for the connection I felt. There wasn’t so much as a muscle twitch to tell me what he was thinking. Stone. Because he didn’t care? Maybe I was simply a game to him.

“Well?” he prodded, nailing me with an intense stare when there was no forthcoming reply.

He wasn’t going to accept my silence and let me off the hook by not answering. He’d wanted me there, in his room, but I couldn’t decide if I wanted to be there or not. What I did know, without the tiniest little sliver of a doubt, was I didn’t want anyone else there.

But he’d let the whole situation go up in flames just to force me to admit it.

I was damned either way. I couldn’t insist on staying with him and then
pretend
I had no feelings. And that left me the option of letting Mother move into my place. I tried not to curse, even mentally, because the more foul words I spewed in my head, the more likely the words would eventually slip from my tongue. But
fuck
that! I wasn’t handing him over on a platter.

I stared right back at him. “And if I did?” It was an evasive stall tactic wrapped up in a bluff.

His mouth firmed. It was the only movement he made before he finally spoke. “Do you?”

He’d called the bluff and I couldn’t bring myself to answer. The word yes was stricken from my dictionary. I didn’t care if it was immature or petty. He was mine, even if he technically wasn’t. And if he wanted her, fine. There wasn’t much I could do to stop it but he’d have to make the call himself. I wasn’t going to be the catalyst.

“Do whatever you want. That’s what you always do anyway.” I turned and started walking toward the kitchen, toward anywhere that wasn’t there, in front of him and his questions.

I heard Fate’s rich deep laughter at my back before it receded down the hall. That bastard. He called my bluff and I realized that no answer was an answer. I’d just admitted I wanted him.

***

We were all there, everyone that was staying in the house, piled into Fate’s living room. Knox, who’d shown up this afternoon, had even lost his suit jacket and was down to the shirt. The Jinxes, banned from skateboarding in the house, were sulking where they sat at the dining room table.

Mother was there, sulking as well but for another reason. Her karaoke machine had magically stopped working a few minutes after the Jinxes had arrived, right in the middle of her rendition of
Girls Just Want to Have Fun
.

Even the people who weren’t staying were there, like Death, Bernie, and Crow, who’d moved into Kitty’s. She was still under the weather so it made sense to have someone stay with her.

Even Fate’s guys were there and current Death meeting Lars—retired Death—was a very awkward moment. Lars didn’t look like he approved of new Death’s sweater vest, while new Death’s eyes kept staring at the snake tattoo wrapping up Lars’s neck.

Disapproval aside, everyone kept the peace. Everything was on the table, every resource in use no matter what people’s hesitations might be. We all knew what the meeting was about. The very short-lived truce with Malokin had come to an end. The tipping point had arrived.

Fate stepped into the center of the room, casual as always and the focal point without trying. He didn’t need a suit to imply authority or status. He had more presence in his jeans and t-shirt than anyone I’d ever met.

I relaxed slightly as I saw him lean against the table behind him. If he was leaning, maybe things weren’t too bad, not yet. Or not worse than I thought, anyway. Then I looked closer at the lines of his form, and not for the appreciation of the fine figure he made, but to the telltale signs it revealed. His hands were resting at his sides, fingers curved a bit too firmly around the edge of the table. No, not so relaxed after all.

Fate pushed off the table before he spoke. “I killed three of Malokin’s people and broke the truce. Anyone have a problem with that?”

Not the intro I would’ve used but I guess it got to the point quick enough. I looked around the room.

Exactly as suspected, no one said a word.

“Now that things are about to get ugly, we need to establish a watch,” he said to the packed living room.

It was greeted by several yeses and many nods.

“Maybe we should find another location. This place with all the doors and glass is going to be really hard to protect,” Knox said.

“Maybe for you.”

I cringed inwardly. Talk about a warning shot across the bow. But why? The tension I’d sensed between these two from the very start seemed to be trying to bubble up. This wasn’t the time for it. They needed to bury whatever their issues were, although I couldn’t imagine what they could be if they’d just met.

But for now, I needed to diffuse. Nervous energy drove me to my feet. “I agree with a watch but it won’t be necessary to move. The only people that will bother us here are humans and they’re running around in a disorganized and chaotic mess. They won’t come at us in substantial enough numbers to be any kind of threat. Malokin won’t come here either. It’s in his best interest to stay in his own corner.”

“He went to your condo,” Knox argued.

“When no one was there to stop him. A hit and run. As of right now, he’s winning. Why risk a confrontation that he might
not
win? The watch is more of a show of force, because we know he’s going to be watching. It’s best not to look too lax and invite a problem, even if it’s from one of his lackeys trying to climb the ranks.”

Knox was staring at me from one side of the room with a strange look I couldn’t place. Fate was looking at him with an expression like he’d been forged in steel. What was I missing here?

“What about retaliation? We just gonna let this dick burn our shit down and do nothin’?” Bobby asked from the side.

“We can’t retaliate against someone we can’t find. And we can’t find him, can we, Knox?” I asked.

“No. We can’t. He blends into the surroundings. He’s completely off our grid.” Knox looked ill at ease admitting this shortcoming.

Fate stood and walked over to the Jinxes. “He’s got a very good ability to hide. We’ve known this from the start. I want you three out scouting for any scent of him or his men tomorrow.”

“You got it, boss man,” Billy said, the other two nodding their agreement.

“Same for everyone. Keep your ears and eyes open but make sure to stay in pairs. Don’t get into anything on your own.” His voice carried over the room as he spoke to everyone.

“I’ll tag along with you, guys,” I said to the Jinxes.

Fate was shaking his head as he came and stood beside me. “I need you for something else tomorrow.”

“What?”

“We need to pay Jockey a visit.” His voice was low and he said it in a way that bordered on a question.

I nodded although I was cringing at the idea. I didn’t like my own nightmares. Running around in Malokin’s head was worse.

The steps in the hallway heading toward the bedroom were my first signal. The door opened moments later and my eyes popped open in the dark. A silhouette I knew as well as my own stood in the doorway, pausing briefly as his eyes moved over me.

Fate walked in, shutting the door behind him. He pulled his shirt off, revealing the male perfection that had left a permanent image in my mind. His hands went to his pants and started to unbutton. He wasn’t going to strip in front of me, was he? His eyes never moved from me and I realized that was exactly what he was going to do. I snapped my eyes shut again.

“You could’ve switched rooms with Mother,” he said, teasingly reminding me of my loss by default.

I
should’ve
told him to room with Mother.

I flipped on to my other side, facing away from him. “I’m martyring myself for the greater good of the housemates.”

The bed shifted with his weight. My eyes were wide open again as I sprang up into a seated position. “You’re really going to sleep in here? On this bed? What about that air mattress I saw you bring in from the garage?”

He settled onto his side, still shirtless with a good expanse of skin showing above the blanket that only came to his waist. I hadn’t watched him strip off his pants but I was certain he had only underwear left on, at best.

“That was for someone else. I don’t need an air mattress. I’ve got a nice comfortable bed.” He fluffed the pillow before he positioned it behind his head, looking a little too good for comfort. How was I supposed to sleep next to him?

“This isn’t a good idea.”

He wasn’t even looking at me anymore but lying there with his eyes closed as if on the brink of drifting off. “Where did you think I was going to sleep? You knew we were roomies,” he said.

“The floor.”

His eyes popped back open. It was better when he hadn’t been looking at me. “I didn’t sleep on the floor during the stone age. I’m not planning on starting now.” He turned on his side, his arm grazing my hip. “We’re both adults. There’s no reason we can’t share a bed.” His fingers grazed the side of my thigh through the blanket. “It’s not like we haven’t before.”

“This isn’t very nice of you.”

“I did apologize in advance,” he said, without an ounce of atonement in his voice. “And I also pulled back yesterday when you were all green lights and thumbs up.”

“I was…”

His brows shot up and he dared me to deny it.

“You sir, would never survive as a southern gentleman.”

“But someone likes me anyway.” He sang the words in a perfectly mocking melody.

I should leave just to show him.

We had a full house and I didn’t want to make a scene. Then again, would a scene really be that big of a deal with this crew?

The idea of them all hashing this over at the breakfast table, not even caring if I could hear them or not, kept me quiet. It wasn’t like I was living with a bunch of beings who would use any discretion. They’d use the opportunity to take a vote on whether I should or shouldn’t, maybe start a box pool on when I’d give in and hang it on the fridge.

Then there was Mother. I’d rather deal with his teasing than have him near her.

The worst was he knew I wanted him, and he knew how good looking he was. It was written on every line of his relaxed position and the tiniest upturn of his lips. He reeked of self-confidence, and it should have made him annoying but somehow lent to his appeal.

The odds were stacked against me. I probably
would
succumb at some point. I knew it and after what he’d said, he did too.

But it wouldn’t be tonight, if only for the sole purpose of keeping his ego in check. I closed my eyes and lay back down, flopping over and turning my back to him again. I’d just pretend he wasn’t there.

I lay there for an hour before I admitted that it wasn’t mentally possible for me. I
couldn’t
pretend he wasn’t there. How was I supposed to sleep like that?

To make it worse, I was fairly certain he
was
sleeping, which irritated me further. Thirty minutes after that realization, his arm snaked around my waist and he pulled me back, flush against him.

“Fate?” I whispered, trying to determine whether he was moving around in his sleep. Please, please, let him be sleeping. I had to make it through tonight for the good of the world. No one should have an ego larger than his.

“Do you always wear this much to bed?” His voice was deep and husky and vibrated through me, sending tingles everywhere.

He was not only awake but speaking to me and admitting it. Now what? “Murphy has the AC down to sixty. I get cold. What are you doing?” I asked as I started to stretch in a strategic way that, if all went right, would gain me an inch or two of separation. Somehow, he ended up fitting closer to me. Hips to hips, the back of my legs to the front of his. I’d managed to stretch myself right into an official spoon.

“Helping you sleep.” His breath tickled my ear and I could hear the smile on his face.

“By spooning me?” Full body contact was not going to put me to sleep.

“Yes.”

I closed my eyes. One Mississippi, two Mississippi… Maybe sheep would work better.

“It’s not helping.”

“Fifteen minutes.” His arm didn’t budge and the heat that poured off of him was starting to feel really good, dangerously so.

“This is not going to help me.”

“Shhh.”

This was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever agreed to but since his arm wasn’t loosening, it was either get into a fully fledged battle and wake up the whole house or give him his fifteen. If I didn’t, I’d practically guarantee a pool hanging on the kitchen wall by coffee time tomorrow. It wasn’t like it felt bad.

The stiffness leaving me, he took it a step further as his leg nudged in between mine, dislocating my own and pushing it forward while his took its place.

“You’re pushing it.”

“Not the way I’d like to be.”

I threw my arm over my head, knowing I’d lose this fight and closed my eyes, counting down the minutes.

I awoke four hours later in a cold sweat, in the same position I’d fallen asleep, with Fate’s body wrapped around me.

“Karma?” His arm tightened around me and I didn’t try to pull away. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just a lousy dream.” I’d woken in the middle of a nightmare. I’d been standing in the warehouse again, watching Kitty’s fingers being broken, but this time I’d also seen what they had done to her legs. I’d never had an image attached to that atrocity before.

In my dream, one of the men I’d seen with Malokin had stabbed me in the hip. It was the throbbing of the tattoo leaking into my dream and I was almost grateful to the pain for interrupting it.

“You want to talk?” Fate wasn’t smiling anymore.

“No.” I just wanted to forget, the dream and the pain, but I couldn’t. I shivered, in spite of the warmth of the blanket and his arm rubbed mine in response.

“It’ll fade,” he said. “The memories.”

“The past will but what about the future?” It wasn’t getting better; it was getting worse. Things were spinning out of control, again.

“Eventually, everything passes. The good and the bad.”

I turned my head back over my shoulder and I shouldn’t have. There was a look in his eyes, a concern I couldn’t possibly miss and every caution or worry faded as I looked into his eyes.

His eyes shifted to my lips and I looked away quickly. One full day. I had to make it at least an entire twenty-four hours resisting Fate or I wouldn’t be able to live with his ego.