Page 95 of Hell on Wheels
Archie gives me a cheesy grin. “The others are sitting out there like pampered queens, but I’m in the trenches. Mama’s gonna be so damn proud of me. She’s always said my dads let me get off easy playing sports and not working a part-time job when we were in high school. This will give her a big smug smile to flash at them.”
I roll my eyes, shaking my head. “Man, your family is probably the most and least normal of all of them. It’s so loving and cool, but your parents are addicted to giving each other hell in a handbasket.”
“I’ve always enjoyed that,” Rogue says, shrugging a little. “When I came to his house with Reb, it was so oddly nuclear for a poly, supernatural household with mixed species. Graciela and Odhran were beyond hands off with me outside of criticism, and we knew about Luca. Your parents had zero interest in your friends. Archie’s house was like pretending to be on a sitcom.”
We both look at her in surprise. It takes me a minute, but I find the words eventually. “You pretended to be part of his family, sort of? Because your folks didn’t seem to care what you did either way unless they were mad at you?”
Rogue nods, looking at the counters as she cleans them off. “Yep. It was fun to watch and felt a hell of a lot better than wishing our adoptive parents gave a shit.”
Damn. I didn’t realize how isolated Rogue was growing up. No wonder she’s so glued to Rebel.
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that anymore, Wheels. We’re a family and even though Luca was a pain when you toldhim, Samara and my dads willlovethis news. It will make them beyond excited to know we’re a unit.”
The same isnottrue of my parents, so I purposefully don’t add to his statement. Esmerelda and Diego will be a lot like having an audience with a cross between cartel bosses and generational wealth from the East Coast. Phoenixes are notoriously elitist because of their rarity and the price for magical ingredients produced by our kind. Tears, feathers, and even ashes can be sold for ridiculous amounts of money, both legally and illegally, so not one family of my species has an ethical amount of money in their name.
In fact, we’re tied with dragons in the top five ‘rich assholes’ category of supes.
“You’re pretty quiet, dude,” Archie says with a wry look. “Imagining Diego and Esme pulling their bullshit when we tell them?”
“I don’t even want to think about it,” Rogue says as she moves to drying glassware. “The one time I saw your mom at a school thing, she looked at me like roadkill in the middle of her Berber.”
“Yikes. I don’t remember that.” I wince a little, trying to find that memory. “But it doesn’t surprise me. She and Diego have always been hot for me to stay with the firebirds. It pissed them off that I never dated in their crowd.”
“And why is that?”
I snort, tilting my head as I look at our girl. “First, the phoenixes on this coast are far too inbred at this point. Second, they all act like their shit doesn’t stink. But third, and most importantly…” I pause, waiting for her to look up at me. “I’ve had a thingfor this adopted Fae girl since middle school and no one’s ever compared.”
“Oooooooh!Smooth, brother,” Archie says as he offers me a fist bump and I accept. “Look at that bright red face; our girl is definitely giving you some lovin’ tonight.”
I will not complain about that; I’m not stupid.
It takes another hour to finish getting the Lotus up to snuff, and the other guys are halfway in the bag by the time Rogue, Archie, and I are done. Archie shakes his head, hefting Damon over his shoulder while I take Angelo and Rogue steadies Reb. They killed off another two bottles of Fae wine farting around, and they’re going to feel it in the morning. It takes a hot minute to get them poured into the cars, and we quickly jet off towards the house we all share. Reb is muttering goofy, unintelligible shit the entire way in my car, so I imagine it’s worse for poor Arch.
“You… you left us to amuse ourselves,” Reb slurs to Rogue from the back seat. “It was mean.”
She snorts, looking over her shoulder. “You three sat like lazy lumps while Javi tried to hold that restaurant together with his fingertips, buddy. Archie and I were doing the right thing, and you guys deserve the hangovers.”
Rebel pouts, and I laugh as I see it in the rearview mirror. Dude is so whipped and he’ll never admit it. “She’s right, man. We could have been done so much earlier if you idiots would have pitched in.”
“I don’t get why you work there,” he says grumpily. “You’re a sole heir to a mega fortune. Rogue and I’ve had to work because our parents aren’t leaving us shit. They’re donating it or something to look good for their friends—at least, that’s what Graciella says. I think it’s ‘cause we’re adopted and they refuse to give us anything, even though they pretend to like me.”
What the hell?
Rogue’s face turns white as she looks at me and murmurs, “I knew nothing about this. I didn’t expect shit from them, but they’ve always alluded to Rebel being their heir.”
“Nooooope,” Rebel says with a loud, drunken ‘pop’ of his lips. “They really don’t like either of us, but they were stuck after trading a kid once. Would have looked bad to do it again. I heard Graciella talking once in middle school. S’why we always have to protect Rogue, Javi. I don’t want them to change their minds and try sending her away.”
“Holy fuck,” I whisper. Rebel’s been drunk around the two of us hundreds of times over the years and he’snevermentioned this. I don’t know what the hell truth serum Fae wine is for him, but it’s definitely made his tongue looser than normal.
Our girl shakes her head, her expression unsurprised. “It’s not anything I didn’t fear without knowing this, Javi. After they sent Reck away, nothing I did ever pleased them, and when Rebel came along, they put all their energy into making him the golden boy. His decision to race and do things with cars instead of going to school while waiting for our Guardian assignment always pissed them off.”
“My parents aren’t great, babe, but I don’t know that I can imagine them doing that shit. Sure, they huff and puff about mybartending, and dislike that I won’t step into my heir role until they’re gone… but I don’t actually believe they’d do this kind of shit.”
She gives me a rueful smirk. “Javier King, phoenixes are rare as hen’s teeth, and they don’t reproduce often. It’s usually some cosmic miracle when they do. Even if your folkswerelike ours, they don’t have good options. Fae, both Seelie, and Unseelie, are a dime a dozen if you have the right connections. Mythicals are far less likely to be fobbed off for bullshit reasons.”
I think about that for a moment as I pull into the driveway, not happy with the thoughts it engenders. Honestly, I’m not sure about Esme and Diego now. They’re very into this whole West Coast upper-crust society thing and my refusal to bend to their expectations vexes them. They might have traded me in for a lost one or hybrid adoption through the Society if phoenixes didn’t require pure blood in their ranks.
Fuck, that’s terrible and now I need a drink.