Page 19 of They Call Me Wicked
“No,” he states simply, his rage fully suppressed from his tone. If I weren’t psychic, I probably wouldn’t even be able to tell he was angry.
Two more auras make their way past me, one all joy and bubbling excitement and one calm and unaffected. Kai and Ezra stop next to Nic before two more largesomethingsare dropped next to the first.
“Hey. What the fuck is going on?” I cross my arms as my brow furrows, a headache blooming from a low pulse to a rapid throb right at my temples.
“I’ve never had a sleepover before, did you know that?” Kai lets out an excited whoop, a direct contrast to Ezra’s completely silent, unwavering presence.
“Where’s my present?” I tap my foot impatiently.
“Uh, I’m standing right here! Can we make popcorn and nachos and order pizza? Maybe even watch a chick flick? Or, ooh, I know! We can tell ghost stories and then have a pillow fight. I’ll even braid your hair, Wicked. It’s going to be so much fun!” His childish excitement and ramblings only serve to confuse me further, so I choose to ignore him. Instead, I turn to the final aura stepping into my entryway.
“Want to clue me in, Sugar-Plum?” I ask him dryly. My use of a pet name is the only sort of nicety he’s going to get out of me today.
“You smell like a bar.” When I simply tighten my arms in front of my chest, he continues. “Wicked, meet your security team. Kai, Ezra, and Nic have all volunteered to be on Team Wicked for the duration of this case. You refused to go to a safe house, so I brought one to you.” Alan’s voice is smug as hell as he drops that bomb on my lap.
“What the fuck?!” I snarl, my hand going for my cane on instinct. I grab it from its corner and snap it open, swinging it in front of me like I’m brandishing a sword. “Get out. All of you, get out!”
“Not happening. Either you deal with having them here with you, or you go to the safe house. Your choice.” I can practically picture Alan crossing his arms over his chest as he faces me down with a glare.
“You can’t fucking make me.” I resist the urge to whack him with my cane, but only just.
“I can and I will. Congrats, Wicked, you’re under an official protection order in Manna County. Don’t try to leave either, it won’t work.”
“What?! Protection orders don’t work like that!” The pounding in my ears turning up to a deafening degree as my rage builds. I swear even my eye begins twitching to the rapid beat of my heart and I’m about two seconds away from attacking someone with my cane or siccing Gizmo and Snitch on them.
“Well, you’re welcome to take me to court and try to get it rescinded. In the meantime, I suggest you try to play the part or I’ll have to take you into police custody.” His entire aura pulses with a challenge that screamstry me.
“This isn’t legal! This isn’t fair! What the fuck is happening right now?!” I stomp my foot, my fists clenching and unclenching around my cane while a sharp need for utter violence starts pulsing through my veins.
“Life isn’t fair, Wicked.” Nic’s accented voice is suddenly right next to my ear, all husky and threatening, his large and imposing aura surrounding me and forcing me back a step. “I’ll tell you what. If you can take any one of us right now, we’ll leave you alone. Then you can go back to whatever it is you do here all alone.”
I swallow thickly as he continues pushing into my space, a heat spreading over my skin that has nothing to do with rage. My cane drops from my hand with a resounding thud and I curse its traitorous ways as I try to find my bravado, be it false or not, yet I can’t seem to make my body do what I tell it. Instead, my chest seems to arch forward of its own accord, my head tilting back and exposing my neck like I’m prey submitting to a predator, praying to any and all divine forms that he doesn’t tear me apart.
“No? I didn’t think so.” He’s suddenly gone, his footsteps stomping through the entryway and towards my kitchen. My body suddenly seems to realize his absence and cools to an embarrassing degree, leaving only my heated cheeks to contrast with the bereft solitude that suddenly encompasses me.
“God damn! I could cut the sexual tension in the air with my dick!” Kai sounds wholly amused before he too, leaves the room and joins Nic in the kitchen, followed closely by the always calm and collected aura of Ezra.
I take a breath I didn’t even know I’d been holding, my palm moving up to rub at my chest as I try to collect myself.
Holy fucking fuck-hell. What is going on?
I feel like I’m in a state of shock. Far too many random and unpredictable things are happening right now and I can’t seem to catch my fucking breath. It’s too much. Way too much.
A pulse of caution and an air of something akin to second guessing comes from Alan and I round on him, using my frustration to battle away the uncertainty and pure fuckingneedthat seems to be threatening to drag me under. “You happy now? I got Nic-the-Dick invading my safe space! Kai, the mother-fucking loon, cracking jokes and ready to have a damn girly style sleepover with me where we can braid each other’s hair and do our nails. And another fucking Ezra shaped wall for me to bash my nose into every day!”
I know at this point I sound like a crazed harpy with the amount of screeching leaving my throat, but I’m beyond caring. He went too far. He’s treating me like a damn defenseless child. I don’t want fucking babysitters and I don’t need them!
“Wick-”
“No! I don’t want to hear it. Get out.Leave.” Moisture gathers in my eyes, thankfully hidden once more by my sunglasses, as I turn away from him and cross my arms.
“I’m just trying to protect you.” He sounds so sad, almost broken, and I know he’s reaching out for me, his intentions clear.
“I don’t want to hear it, Alan. I don’t want to hearyou. Go.” He sighs softly, a slight shuffling sounding from him as he rubs at his hair like he’s prone to do. Then he retreats, the door shutting softly behind him, leaving me with the only three men in the world who have ever had me questioning my own sanity. I don’t need to be able to see into the future to know a massive trial lies ahead, full of things that will test every fiber of my patience and humanity.
The question is, who will I be on the other side of the devastation that follows?
“Hey, Wicked! Where are we sleeping, snuggle-butt?” Kai hollers from the living room–where he no doubt has been comfortably making himself at home–shocking me out of the stupor I’ve been standing in for who knows how long. I shake my head before making my way over to him.