Page 52 of Dark Surrender

“The woman?”

“Yeah.”

“I dunno. Why?”

“You still got the address to the place?”

“Yes, and before you ask, no, I’m not givin’ it to you. That woman and her crazy-ass sister almost killed you.”

I point to my chest. “Again. Not dead.”

Dragging a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair, Dad huffs as if that’s semantics, and he’s not gonna budge. “You wanna tell me why you wanna go?”

“To see Iris.”

“Okayyy. But why?”

“I don’t fuckin’ know…”

“If it’s for the reason I think it is, she’s too young for you.”

“Didn’t take you for a hypocrite, old man.”

Snorting a short laugh, Pops punches me in the shoulder good-naturedly. “Asshole.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but your wife is… how old?”

“I get it. You win.”

“Thought so. Now you gonna give me that address or not?”

“No.”

“You know it was a courtesy to ask you first. If you don’t wanna give it, I’ll talk to Cell.”

“Cell ain’t gonna tell you shit either.”

Not wanting to fight him, I hum noncommittally and keep staring out the side window. He thinks Cell won’t give me Iris’s location, but guilt eats at a person, and right now, Cell owes me, whether she thinks she does or not. I’m not mad she sicced Iris and her sister on Penelope and her father. She couldn’t have known I was involved the way I was, so it’s not like I can blame her. Hell, I’m happy those assholes are dead. One less thing to deal with. Yeah, I know that makes me sound heartless, and… I guess I am. Penelope was part of a job that turned into more, and as much as she used me, I used her right back.

Come to think of it… Every person I’ve been involved with, I’ve used. It was usually to convince others of my loyalty or that I am who I say I am. Even if none of it was true, I was a successful liar. Kali was never meant to get caught up in the club stuff. Hell, I spent almost all of our marriage compartmentalizing Dark and Maxim so the guilt wouldn’t eat me alive. We see how that turned out, huh? Not too well. I’m nothing if not destructive.

Before too long, we’re walking the bike out of the storage locker, and then I’m back on the road, following Pops in the van. Even if I respect his reason for doin’ the dad thing, I’m still salty, ‘cause I’ve been jonesing for road therapy and here he is joyriding on my Harley. A Sacred Sinner cut stretches across his back as the sun glints off his helmet. I keep a safe distance and blast rock music to keep my jealousy under wraps.

Guess we’ve got dinner tonight to discuss what’s next.

Tomorrow, I’ll pay Cell a visit.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Iris

Holding the back screen door open, I holler, “Dee, do you want the leftover bread?” to my sister, who is playing with her creatures in the yard. It’s dark out, but the moon casts just enough light for me to see her.

“No,” she replies, sitting in the grass with a lap full of newborn Poppy babies.

We’ve been in our new house, in our new town, for just over two weeks now, and after the first few days, Dee’s settled down, and we’ve settled into a routine of sorts.

The day after we arrived, Doug built a safe house for the opossums out of wood. It’s just over six feet tall, with small arched doors on two sides so they can come and go as they please, and ramps for entry. The roof lifts off with a latch for cleaning, and he also added branches for climbing and two hammocks, which he clearly hand-stitched himself from old clothes. This has calmed Dee considerably. He and Creature drop by every now and again to check on us, and Mama, a big bald man, visits every night with our dinner. He might very well be the kindest person I’ve ever met.