“You’re like my social secretary,” Mark saidwith an affectionate smile.“Thank you, Terry.”
“I’m your spiritual guardian.And I’m alsoyour boss.So, please understand: I’m putting all this in the formof a suggestion, but if you don’t follow it, it’s going to turninto an order.Your passion is a strength, Mark, but only if youcan control it and channel it.I want you to do what it takes to besure you have yourself under control.Clear?”
Mark nodded.“Yes.It’s clear.”
“Okay, then.”Terry stepped back.“I’ll checkin on you in a couple hours.I’d better not find you hard atwork.”
“That’s a fairly non-traditional managementstyle you’ve got there.”
“It works for me.”Terry smiled, and thenjust looked at Mark for a moment before nodding as if he’d seensomething he liked.“Okay.No hard work from you.”
Then he was gone, leaving Mark alone with histhoughts.He hadn’t gotten the job.He’d lost his opportunity tomake his mark on the future of the Church.And Lucas Cain was stillwalking around free, acting as if nothing bad had ever happened.Yes, Mark was going to do what he could to deal with the second ofthose problems.
ChapterSeven
“It’s Friday night, Lukey!”Sean draped anarm over Luke’s shoulders and smiled happily.He’d already beenhalf-drunk when Luke had arrived home from work to find the guyssitting around the Gage living room, the air dingy with cigaretteand pot smoke.They’d been waiting for him.
Lucas tried to remember how he talked tothese guys.“Does Friday even matter, when you’re not working?”
“Yeah, it does,” Tinker said firmly.“Becausethe ladies work, so it matters to them.They’re gonna be out infine style tonight, all dressed up, looking to hook up.”
“Unless you’re going to be a one-woman man,now?”There was something sharp in Sean’s smile, something Lukedidn’t want to even try to figure out.“You and Mandi Carter—thatwent well?Are you guys a thing, now?”
“I like her,” Lucas said honestly.“But it’snot a thing.”
“Good!”Scotty had started drinking rye atsome point while Lucas was away, and it made him seem older,sitting over there sipping on his glass of amber poison.Made himseem almost mature, right up to the point when he opened his mouth.“She’s a whore.And you shouldn’t be tying yourself down tosomebody, not this soon.You need to have fun for a while,right?”
“I like her,” Lucas said, and he staredScotty down.Maybe he’d opened her up to abuse when he’d said theyweren’t a couple, but Scotty needed to watch his mouth.And Lucashad always had a good stare.Something about his eyes unnervedpeople, and he’d gotten out of more fights than he could count justby looking like a psycho.
Sure enough, Scotty looked away first,muttering something about how Luke didn’t used to be so touchy.
Luke sighed and looked down at the bottle ofbeer going warm in his hand.He wanted to drink it.He wanted tofind a dozen of its friends and drink them too.Life used to be somuch simpler, back when every problem was solved by a drunken nightwith his friends, and when he and everyone else lived by the sameunwritten but absolutely clear code of honor.Scotty was right:Lucas had changed.And it really didn’t seem like anybody else had.Lucas put the bottle down on a nearby end table and only thenrealized that everyone in the room was watching him, waiting to seeif he was going to push the thing with Scotty any further.
Sean’s voice broke the awkward silence.“Okay, you grumpy fuck, go have a shower and get all pretty.”ButSean’s arm tightened around Lucas’s shoulder, preventing him fromleaving.His other hand slid up to grip Lucas’s jaw on either side,gentle for a quick, private moment before squeezing like astereotypical grandmother.“As pretty as you can manage with thisugly mug.”
It was hard to smile with Sean’s fingersstill squeezing his face, but Lucas tried anyway.He leaned intohis friend, just a little, Lucas’s lean torso pressing againstSean’s beefier side.Warmth, strength, acceptance.A quick taste ofcomfort was enough to get Lucas through a lot.He pushed away,wrenching free with a playful snort, and headed for the stairs.Shower and get pretty.For Sean, he’d do what he could.
Three hours later in the bar, Sean’s arm wasback around Lucas’s shoulder.This time, though, it was a differentSean.His arm was rigid, almost trembling, and Lucas felt dizzywith remembered emotions.He knew how Sean was feeling—the savagejoy of the adrenaline rushing through his body, the way hormonesand alcohol were fueling his intoxicating rage, narrowing his focusuntil he could see only enemies and allies.His body was preparinghim for battle, making him into the warrior his distant ancestorshad needed to be, and Sean wasn’t doing a damn thing to control it.He was addicted to the rush, just as Lucas used to be.The worldwas complicated most of the time, but in a fight, there were noshades of grey.There was only red.
“Just walk away, man,” Lucas said, althoughhe knew it was hopeless.“Who the fuck cares?He stole your walletin high school?What’s next, somebody who took your crayons inkindergarten?”
“He stole from me,” Sean said slowly, as ifLucas was stupid.“And he was never man enough to even admit it.Fucking Dylan Hayes.It’s time for him to go down.”
“You never had any money in high school,Sean.How much did he take?”
“What?I don’t know.Jesus, Lucas!”Seanpushed away and glared at his friend.“Seriously, Lukey, what thefuck happened to you in jail?I thought you were going to come outa total badass, not a fucking pussy.In the pen, if someone stolefrom somebody, what would happen?”
“We’re not in the pen.And trust me, youdon’t ever want to be there.It’s not full of badasses, it’s fullof losers.Guys who lost control, guys who got caught.Guys who aretoo fucking stupid to just follow the rules and stay out oftrouble.”
Sean was quiet for a moment, then noddedsadly.His arm was a little looser around Lucas’s shoulders, somaybe this talk was doing some good after all.“They broke yourspirit,” Sean said softly.“I get it.All this bullshit aboutfollowing the rules—they brainwashed you, Lukey.It’s like you werein a cult or something.You need to get deprogrammed.”
“A man is dead, Sean.”
Again, though, Sean was clearly working onthe “action movie” understanding of death.“Yeah.I know.But thatwas a long time ago, Lukey, and you’re still alive.Time to getback on the horse.”
Lucas stood.It was almost curfew timeanyway, and he really didn’t mind leaving a few minutes early.Hewas reaching for his wallet, ready to pull a few bills out of hisfast—iminishing cash reserve, when Sean’s body tightened again.“Mother fucker,” he hissed, and Lucas turned reluctantly to followSean’s gaze and see the new source of outrage.
Dylan Hayes, the notorious wallet-thief, hadhis arm around Mandi Carter, and she was smiling up at him.
