She craned her neck to look toward the fireplace. “About half an hour ago.”
“Huh. Thanks.” Ace took his beer and wandered through the tables. Chairs scraped. Someone cursed at a missed shot behind him. The air held that summer-night contradiction, late but not dark, the sky outside still plenty bright. Sam’s Tavern hummed with the kind of life that came from isolation and familiarity, and he didn’t much like all the tourists taking up space. He reached his brother. “D? What are you doing here?”
“What do you think?” Damian just looked at him. He was probably the oldest of the four brothers by maybe a year? Who knew. The four of them had been found in a half-buried home in an even more remote town after an avalanche had taken everyone else out. Just toddlers, they looked alike but had never bothered to check genetically. They were brothers. Their guardian, an old trapper named Hank, had adopted them, and that had been that.
Ace pulled out a chair and sank into it. “Again, it’s an odd night to just show up in town.”
Damian rolled his neck slowly. “When my brother calls me to do a deep dive on a U.S. senator, I figure that’s something we talk about in person.” He had thick, curly black hair and dark green eyes. He’d been an intelligence officer in the Navy before taking over as head of security for the Electromagnetic Vibrational Experiment, or EVE, the mysterious facility outside town that supposedly studied the weather or the atmosphere. Or so they said.
“What did you find out?” Ace asked.
Damian tipped back the last of what looked like scotch in a crystal tumbler. “Why do you want to know?”
Ace twirled the bottle on the table. When had Amka purchased crystal? Now they were getting fancy? “The senator is here in town.”
“I’m aware of that.”
Ace lifted an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
Damian rolled his eyes. “Give me a break. When U.S. senators come into our small town, I know about it. I’m head of security for one of the most secretive organizations in the world.”
Ace snorted faintly. “Really? Strong sell. Tell me more about EVE, would you?”
“No.” Damian didn’t even hesitate.
Ace shook his head. “I can’t believe you’re actually working at that place.”
As kids, they’d made up all sorts of stories about EVE. Even the name seemed kind of ominous. There were people who truly thought the facility could influence the weather and cause hurricanes or tornadoes across the globe. Ace wasn’t sure what he believed.
“I like it there,” Damian drawled.
The hair on the back of Ace’s neck rose. He turned just as Christian stepped inside the tavern, leaned over to kiss Amka squarely on the mouth, and then headed their way. Christian was definitely the quietest of the brothers. Solid and watchful.
“He quit drinking yet?” Christian tugged a chair out with his boot before dropping into it.
Ace exhaled through his nose. “I don’t need to quit drinking.”
Christian’s mismatched eyes—one green, one black—zeroed in on the bandage above Ace’s eyebrow. “You probably need to quit fighting.”
“Not really,” Ace said.
“Fuck.” Christian angled back. “I’m going to take you to Smitty myself.” He’d been threatening that for a while.
Ace took another swallow of beer, letting the cold brew calm him. “Anytime you want to go, let’s go.” Ace could use a good fight, and Christian would absolutely give it to him.
Damian dragged a hand down his face. “Both of you guys shut up.”
Amka arrived with a bottle of her best Scotch and poured more into his glass. The tavern’s warm lighting turned the liquid to gold.
“Thanks.” Damian reached for it.
Christian looked up at her, his gaze warm. “Hey. You got any clam chowder left from today?”
Amka gave his ear a tug. “’Course I saved you some. I always do.”
Christian looked pleased. Then he tugged her onto his lap. “You’re the best.”
Whoa, it was weird seeing Christian happy.
