Despite how easy he was with his sister, Stormy couldn’t shake the feeling of dread settling in her gut.
“Lucas?” Merlee said.
“Yeah, shug?”
“Thank you.”
“You’re my blood, Merlee-girl; above all others I’ll kill for your well-being or die trying.”
“Well let’s just make sure it never comes to that, Big Luc,” Merlee said.
Lucas groaned and rolled his eyes at the endearment. “See you soon, darlin’,” he said before disconnecting the call.
“I’ll call Edgar, see if he can fly you out to Oklahoma so you won’t have to deal with the worries of commercial,” Terry informed Lucas.
“I’d rather ride the skies bareback on a drunken dragon,” Lucas said.
“I don’t understand why the two of you can’t just get along,” Terry said, walking toward the bar. “I’ll see about booking a flight.”
“If I could get a ride back to my house on your way to the airport, I’d appreciate it,” Stormy said to Lucas, sad that their time had come to such an abrupt end.
“I got you, Stormy,” Lynx called out as he lugged a large green duffle bag over his shoulder and flipped it onto the porch as he came to a stop. “I got your to-go bag from your room, Big Country, I’ll drop you at the airport, then Stormy Redmond, of Red’s Pleasure Boutique, can spend the rest of the day in the city playing tourists with me. You game, Stormy?”
“Absolutely—”
“Not,” Lucas jumped in. “She’s coming with me.”
Noooo. No, I am not, she thought.
She felt for Lucas and Merlee, she did—but getting involved in family conflict was not how she intended to spend her sabbatical.
“Lucas, you go take care of your family’s situation and call me when you get back to town,” Stormy said, trying to be encouraging and helpful when part of her, the shallow selfish part, simply wanted to go back to her bed so they could lose themselves in each other again. She stepped closer when Lucas failed to responded to her. Instead, he stared at the phone in his hand as if there was more to be communicated through the blank screen.
Lynx looked at Mama and she nodded, expression flat, eyes focusing on Lucas. The dread in Stormy’s gut spread, left her feeling both tense and jittery as a dump of adrenaline burned through her bloodstream, demanding she do something as her mind coached herself to be still, be calm, wait.
“Big Country, son, it’s time to get dressed…” Mama said. “Time to go help Merlee.”
The phone fell from Lucas’s fingers, his arms lax at his side as he looked down at the small device on the ground.
“He threatened her, Mama, threatened to hurt Merlee.” He looked at the petite older woman. “He was going to hurt the baby.”
Lynx stepped forward, catching Lucas’s attention. “But Merlee’s fine, big guy, she’s okay.”
“Sabrina, go get Terry, tell him to bring a dose, he’ll know what I mean,” Mama said.
Sabrina looked at Zeus and went inside the bar as the other Brood members exited the house and walked onto the gravel, spreading out around Lucas. Only Zeus, who looked mildly curious, took one step down from porch to the top stair and watched.
Lucas’s gaze shifted toward Stormy and what she saw made her retreat back a couple of steps.
“Don’t run.”
She stilled, barely recognizing that the guttural voice commanding her was Lucas’s.
“Lucas—” Mama called out to him.
“They were gonna hurt the baby,” he said, still looking at Stormy, but she knew he wasn’t seeing her. “She’s just abébé, ain’t strong like me, can’t let ’em hurt her, no.”
“She’s safe,” Mama said.
