Page 42 of Hell on Wheels
Sometimes having ‘death pollen’ wings is helpful when you want people to shut the fuck up and listen.
“Put it away—allof you!” Putting my hands on my hips, I let my wings flutter menacingly as I glare. “There will be no more fighting. Rebel, you butt the hell out of my bedroom. The rest of you, I can fight my own battles, so let me do it. Got it?”
A chorus of mumbled apologies follows the abrupt changes to their forms I demanded. Smiling to myself, I tuck away the knowledge that despite some of their alpha tendencies; I have these boys by the balls whenever I choose.
I like that—a lot.
“Thank you,” I whisper. “Now, if we could start talking about that damn riddle and what the hell I’m going to do about being summoned by the heads of the mob, I’d really appreciate it.”Flopping on the lounge again, I cross my arms over my chest. “I don’t like any of this.”
Angelo tilts his head. “You’ll be fine. We’ve all got your back, Princess.”
“That’s right, Wheels. We’ll help you figure this out.” Archie walks over and drops down next to me, throwing an arm over the cushion as he pretends to ruffle my hair. “No way you’re going without us.”
Looking up in amusement, I lean my cheek against his bicep. “You mean it?”
“Of course we do, Dragonfly. I’m in, too.” Javi’s soft brown eyes say more than his words and I have to tear myself away from his gaze before Reb notices.
“Fine, fine!” Rebel throws his hands in the air in frustration. “Okay, we’ll all help. Damon, if you and Ang have done this before, you need to tell us what kind of shit happens at these Appalachins. We can’t have her going in blind.”
I grin to myself.Score one for me. I’ve distracted him from the mate thing.
If only I can keep that going until after we deal with one of our two major issues that involve dangerous people who might end my life.
When we finally head inside to get food, I’m no less worried than I was before the twins started educating us on how these summits work.
The premise seems lovely with the boxes and the dress, but once everyone arrives at the location, all bets are off. There’s a dinner, a dance, and then the heads of the family disappear for a meeting. Depending on what grievances are aired, not everyone who entered may leave in one piece—or alive. The meeting may be a premise to kill someone, host a fight club, or even sell parts of their empires to another. It’s a giant free-for-all and being specifically invited when I’m not part of that world is not a good sign.
Rebel damn near lost his shit several times and my head is throbbing from refereeing all of their fights. The boys allowed me to defend myself when he came after me, but that didn’t mean they didn’t back me up. Their support almost led to fistfights, and I had to step in between Reb and his friends several times.
Would it be easier to just tell him? Maybe he’d lay off.
“No, it wouldn’t. It might even make it worse and I can’t lose the one person who's been in my life the longest,” I mutter. Javi said he was making dinner, so I head for the living room and fling myself on the giant couch with a groan. “The truth will have to wait.”
All my Fae instincts go bonkers internally when I voice that. We bend the rules and skirt around the truth, but we don’t lie. I’m pushing it by using omission as an excuse, but if he asks me directly, I won’t be able to avoid telling him.
“Don’t worry, Sparkles,” Damon murmurs as he comes over to sit next to me. “We’ll break it to him little by little. None of us want to hurt Rebel and we know you don’t, either.”
Archie hands him a beer and me a soda as he joins us, flanking my other side. “Besides, we all know the problem isn’ttellinghim. It’s that he?—”
“Shut it, dude,” Angelo says as he plops down on the end of my ottoman. “Not your place.”
“Fine,” Archie mumbles. “But it’s making everything worse and you know it.”
“What’s making things worse?” My brows furrow as I look at them all. “Tell me.”
“We can’t, Princess.”
That makes me even more irritated, and I sigh. “Today is not nearly as fucking nice as this morning was. I’m not happy.”
Amused looks are my reply, and I turn to Rebel again, watching him grit his jaw angrily. I don’t want to cause him this much pain, but I’m still coming to terms with all this in my head. Having him go bonkers and get into a giant fistfight with his best friends is not on my list of things I want to experience. We have too many outside forces conspiring against us; we can’t eat ourselves from the inside. So I wait until he finally joins us in the living room and lean forward with my forearms on my knees.
“Reb, I know you’re upset with me for not telling you what happened. But youknowme. I’m still struggling with the concept, much less the reality of the whole situation. When you add Mina’s betrayal and the mob to the equation, I don’t havethe spoons to give you what you need. You understand that, right?”
His eyes soften and he sighs as he rakes a hand through his bright green hair. “Fine. I get it. You’re overwhelmed and we’re both emotionally stunted. But this isn’t the end of this conversation, Rogue Olive Kelly.”
I give him a grin. “I accept your terms, Rebel Elvis Kelly. Now can wepleasego back to planning how to deal with my ex-bestie and her crew? I’d much prefer to plan violence than this feelings shit.”
My stepbrother rolls his eyes, but he nods and his friends let out groans of approval. He glares at them one at a time, but not one of my mates backs down. That makes me feel ahellof a lot better because this isn’t even a blip on the radar compared to how nuclear he’ll get when he hears the truth. “Angelo, has your dad texted you back yet?”