There’s a darkness.
A spark of anger, maybe, as if she thinks he’s responsible for me hurting myself.
I clear my throat, drawing her attention back to me. “Honestly, I went off the normal track, so it was really my fault,” I try to tell her, not wanting to cause even more problems where there is obvious tension already. “Hopefully I’ll get to know the place a little?—”
“Well, that settles it then!” She exclaims suddenly, her dark frown shifting to a beaming smile as if someone has flicked a switch from night to day. She takes her hands off the wheel and claps them together. “Tomorrow I’m going to take you and Jovie on a lovely tour of the town.”
I smile but shake my head. “Oh gosh, please don’t go out of your way?—”
She waves her hand, cutting me off sharply. “Nonsense. I would love the opportunity to share the history of Hallowed Springs with you. Let you know all about the town and the families who built it. Maybe even share with you some of those spooky legends people love.”
I’m ready to give her a thank you, but no thank you speech. Jovie has already been on my back about taking one of the paid tours in town, and I really did want to stay on everyone’s good side if we were going to stick around a little longer.
So I nod. “Yeah, okay. That sounds great.”
It’s less than enthusiastic, but Victoria doesn’t seem to notice, her eyes lighting up like it’s already Christmas. “Perfect! I’ll pick you up in the morning!”
“Okay, I—” Her tires skid on the slippery street, the car sliding a little before she finally got traction and took off, waving her hand out the window. “—‘ll see you then.” I turn back to Grizz with a sigh. “So there is no love lost between the club and Victoria.”
His lip twitches. “She comes from one of the founding families and thinks we're dirtying the town's reputation.”
“Do I dare ask what the club thinks of her?”
A slow, dangerous smirk spreads across his face, one that makes my stomach tighten and my pulse misbehave. “You know the Devil Pools the town is so famous for?” I nod and he leans closer. “We’re pretty sure Victoria is what crawled out of them.”
Laughter bursts from my chest. “Great!” I say with a chuckle. “So tomorrow, Jovie and I get to go sightseeing with Satan.”
What could go wrong?
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 11 - GRIZZ
I've been aggressively cleaning the bar top for the past several hours. Victoria obnoxiously started banging on the door to The Gallows this morning, and I received a frantic call from Brynn. Thankfully, the cameras showed us who it was, but it was strange that she didn't arrange a time to meet. Instead, she declared it was appropriate for her to show up for their tour of Hallowed Springs when it suited her.
It took me all of three minutes to race down here and make sure everything was alright. Victoria, unmoving when I tried to open the door. Her perfume rubbing off on me as I brush past, the strong, powdery floral scent still cloying in my nose hours later. It was just after eight in the morning, and she looked like she had spent hours on her hair and makeup. Even the gentle breeze couldn't move a strand on her head.
From the day Hades offered me a place to stay following my release from prison, she always seemed to be in the background. The guys say it's because she thinks she's better than us.Karenkeeping an eye on the plebs to make sure they fall in line, and for the most part, we do our thing, and she does hers.
She made a scene when Sarah first got the job with us—Sat at the bar of her first shift, watching everything that happened. Unfortunately, this ended up making Sarah so nervous that she accidentally spilled a jug of beer on me. Was it annoying, yes, but I wasn't going to berate the poor girl when I could understand why she was on edge. After a quick look over the application she handed in, showing zero work history and her mother as a character reference, we all agreed that we would do our best to support her in coming into her own and stepping out from under her mother's thumb. It was only reinforced that first night when Mac overheard Victoria giving Sarah a talking down. Apparently, she would never amount to anything and was an embarrassment to the family name. Expecting to be fired, I’ll never forget the teary smile she gave when I told her she was expected to be back on shift the following night. Since then, Victoria has tried and failed to insert herself as a regular at the bar, and Sarah has become her own person. Which is why when I saw a spark of the old Victoria banging on the front door this morning, my hackles rose.
The sun is about to dip below the mountain ridge, and that will be the moment I go looking for them. I'm not that person, I'm not possessive… Well shit, maybe I'm a little possessive, but it's only with Brynn. Then you add the need to protect Jovie on top of it, and the fact that both of my girls are out with someone I’ve always felt a little dicey of, well, all it does is get me agitated as fuck.
“Grizzzzz.” Jovie's voice sings out as the front door opens and she comes running toward me.
Deep breath.
In four counts.
“Hey, baby girl,” I whisper, lifting her high into my arms, cuddling her as she clings to me.
“I had the best day,” she mumbles into the crook of my neck. Keeping my arms wrapped tightly around her, she pulls away from me, resting her elbows on my chest, tenderly holding my face. “Grizz, I saw a ghost. A real-life ghost! We drove to the Devil Pools, and mom slipped over, but I swear something pushed her. It was like one minute the thing was there and the next it wasn't.”
The hair on the back of my neck stands on end. “What do you mean you saw someone push her?” Looking past an excited Jovie, no one has followed her into the bar. The space between us and the door remains empty. “Jovie, where's your mom?” My brow is furrowed, willing the door to move.
“Mom's coming, she's just slow because of her leg, but Grizz, the ghost was like a shadow. Suddenly, it was behind mom, and then she slipped and it ran back into the trees. It was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. I wanna go back tomorrow…”
Jovie's voice fades away as the door finally moves, slowly creeping open as a defeated looking Brynn gingerly steps inside, Victoria holding a shopping bag and waving at us from behind her.
