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"I didn't get to grab it yet," he said as he headed for the door again. When he came back, he had a similarly-made plate and he sat down in her desk chair.
They started eating, the only sound in the room was their forks scraping the plates as they sat in companionable silence. It felt nice that she didn't have to fill the silence with meaningless conversation, and that they could easily go hours without talking to one another and it didn't feel awkward.
After that conversation about his home life, they seemed to grow closer. Instead of just helping her learn how to manage her responsibilities, he started to assist her when she asked. She never realized how much she needed to know about the Cantil to be one of their leaders before, and she couldn't help but think Adam was crazy for wanting more responsibility.
When they were at her apartment and in the Pit, he helped her learn the ranking of the Cantil. She never realized how complex it was even after four years of being a part of them. Of course, Chance was top dog, and she was now only slightly below him. Before, Ryker informed her, she was seen as the top dog for their age group. He reassured her that it wasn't only because of her father but also because she showed her worth quickly after walking into the Snake Pit.
Ryker then told her that the Cantil had around ninety men and eleven women. Of the hundred men and women, around sixty of the men and six of the women were thirty and older. The rest were around her age, and it would be easier to convince them to accept her as Chance's second.
She knew that she wasn't the only one with a well-known name in the Cantil, but she didn't realize how many of the older men had made a name for themselves. Mykie wasn't the only one who kept small files on the people, as Ryker had provided her with his own folders containing data about the Cantil. Inside some of them were newspaper clips and write-ups about a majority of the events in the Cantil's history. They were almost organized exactly like Chance's folders in his office. It was then that she wondered if Ryker was the one to put them together. It was a lot to take in all at once, but Ryker had no problem helping her learn more about her people.
"Does Chance realize you're helping me out?" Mykie asked, putting her fork down.
"He probably has an inkling, but we haven't discussed it." He put his hand in front of his mouth as he continued to chew while also answering her question.
"Is that where you need to go after breakfast? To talk to Chance?" she asked, curious as to where he needed to take off to so early in the morning.
"No. I need to do my own errands. Plus, I haven't stopped into Harper and Co., either. I'll try to talk them into a meeting with you and I'll let you know the answers."
There was a knock at her front door, and she looked at Ryker. "Do you think it could be Jezebeth?"
He shrugged. "Possibly."
She jumped off the bed but was careful not to spill her plate on her sheets. She padded across the wooden floor and out to the front door. She plastered a big smile on her face as she yanked it open, but it quickly lessened when she realized who was at the door.
"Mykie. I heard what happened," Noah said, twisting his hands.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. She leaned against the door as she looked him up and down. He was dressed more casually than usual in a loose T-shirt and an unzipped bomber jacket. He was wearing blue jeans and his sunglasses were sitting on the top of his head even though there was no sign of the sun coming out anytime soon. She imagined that he was freezing even though her door led out into an enclosed hallway. He looked nervous, which put her on edge. Why would he show up at her apartment unannounced unless...?
"Did something happen to Dexter? Is that why you're here?" Her tone changed to express the urgency of the answer.
He waved his hands in front of him. "No! Nothing happened to Dexter."
"Why don't you come in and tell me what this is about?" she asked, channeling her best Dexter-like thing to say. Dexter was supportive when she just needed to talk, so she could try her best and do that for Noah, hopefully.
He walked into her apartment, and she closed the door. She still didn't understand why he would come to her when he was Dexter's...whatever. If he wasn't hurt, what was the problem?
He went over to her couch and sat on the cushion that Ryker had claimed for himself in the last few days. He sat stiffly on the edge of the seat, as if he was still debating his presence there.
She came over to the couch and plopped down on the other seat. She hoped that if he saw her relaxed and calm, he would relax, too.
"Well." He cleared his throat. "I guess I'm kind of here about Dexter. The night you were in trouble, he told me to stay in his apartment while he went with Jezebeth. I stayed for a little while but when he came back, he told me to go home."
He looked down at his hands in his lap. "He didn't even wait for me to go before he herded Jezebeth into the bedroom."
He looked up at Mykie, words still on his tongue, but his gaze quickly focused on something over her shoulder. She leaned back and looked as well. Ryker had tried to sneak into the kitchen, it seemed, and he was caught coming out of her bedroom. When Mykie turned back around, Noah was staring at her with his eyebrow raised.
"Ignore him. He's staying with me while Jezebeth is gone," Mykie explained. She hoped that Noah wouldn't focus on him for long and ask for more of an explanation.
"Jezebeth hasn't come home? That explains it," he said, mumbling the last part.
Mykie asked him to repeat himself.
"I went to Dexter today and he wouldn't let me inside. I hadn't seen him since he kicked me out that morning, but then he told me he had other things to do. Work, or something." He snorted, and his voice turned bitter. "If he considers working her up into a frenzy 'work', maybe."
"Her father was killed that Saturday morning. Dexter's been supporting her since it was my dad who did it," Mykie explained gently, placing a hand on top of his hand that was resting on his thigh.
"Oh," he said quietly.
