“What would you expect of me?” I asked.
“You follow our rules,” Artemis replied. “We have them to keep us safe, individually and as a unit. When a conflict arises, we take a vote. You go along with the majority rule, no matter what. We honor consent, always. We don’t mess with each other’s belongings. If you act violent toward any of us, we will tie you to a tree and carry on without you.”
“Have you ever done that before?”
“We haven’t had to yet,” she said, her tone a warning.
I licked my lips. Santiago might never return. The fact that he hadn’t yet worried me, and the idea of having to wait here for him by myself made me want to claw my eyes out. This house was full of ghosts.
“Who made the decision to kill my mother?” I asked her.
“That’s our protocol when we encounter Rabids. Cipher is the most skilled at killing.”
“I suppose that comes in handy.”
“It does,” she answered evenly and glanced around the table as if reluctant to speak on his behalf. “He provides an important service to us all.”
The fact that they all viewed my mother as just another Rabid really pissed me off. There were ways to reverse the disease. My brother told me. But whether I liked these people or not, I needed to find him, and I was done waiting around.
“I’ll go with you,” I said.
She nodded as if she’d been expecting that answer all along. “We’ll spend the morning gathering supplies. Pack lightly and be ready to leave this afternoon.” She glanced behind me, and I turned to see Cipher haunting the doorway. That seemed to be his thing. His shoulders were slumped with exhaustion, and the hair that had come loose from his ponytail hung limply in his face. There was soot on his cheek and forehead and more of it streaked across his shirt; both hands were black with it. He must have been at it all night. Yesterday, I’d spotted Macon carrying my mother’s body into the woods. I knew what they did out there. My beloved mother, reduced to nothing but char and ash.
“What’s the good word?” he asked, glaring at me.
“He’s coming with us,” Artemis said as if she’d won something.
“Fantastic,” he deadpanned. “I’m going to bed. Do not disturb.”
“Asshole,” I muttered under my breath, and I’d swear the demon smiled.
* * *
Hours later,the band of misfits had ransacked my home and piled their loot on the living room floor, Macon had skinned, disemboweled, and roasted a raccoon that Artemis hunted in the woods, and Teresa had cooked and mashed my remaining potatoes. Dinner was about to be served, but first, the group had to decide who was going to wake Cipher.
“Last time, he pulled a knife on me,” Macon said. “Fuck that. Send Gizmo.”
“He threw his leg at me,” Gizmo said. “It left a bruise on my shin. Send Teresa.”
“He growled at me, and it was scary.” She batted her big, blue eyes and pouted pitifully, a solid strategy. Being the baby of the family, I’d been known to pull out the sad puppy routine from time to time.
They all looked at Artemis, who turned to me. “Would you like to do the honors, Joshua? It is your house, and it’s something of a rite of passage for us all.”
“Everyone has to poke the bear at least once,” Macon said with a sporting grin.
“He’s quite irritable when woken,” Gizmo added.
“What’s he going to do to me?” I asked.
“Bitch and moan,” Macon said with a shrug. “That’s about it.”
“He might throw his leg at you, and his aim is pretty accurate,” Gizmo said.
“I’m not scared of him,” I said, feeling bold. I dared him to put his hands on me. Maybe I’d go up there and bang some pots together, really scare the bejesus out of him.
“Just make sure he’s unarmed,” Artemis warned.
I stomped upstairs and down the hallway to my brother’s bedroom where the dragon had made his lair. The door was locked, which was annoying because it was my damn house, so I grabbed a metal nail file from my dresser and picked it from the outside. My brother and I had figured out ages ago how to break into each other’s bedrooms.
