“No, it’s not,” Baer said quickly. He placed a hand on Wiley’s slumped shoulder and squeezed, trying to bring the lightness to his features. “We don’t run into the pestilents every day, and they can’t touch us here on the plantation grounds. You’ll always be safe here.”
“We won’t let anything happen to you, Wiley. We promise,” Clay added, and some of the tension that had balled up in Baer’s chest eased under Clay’s words. His friend hadn’t wanted to be a part of the Weavers Circle, hadn’t wanted the responsibility, but over the past couple of months, he’d taken on the heavy mantle of leader with unwavering determination. If Clay said Wiley would be safe at the plantation, Baer believed him.
“Clay, you coming with me?” Baer asked.
“Umm…” Clay started, his eyes darting over to Grey.
“He’s staying here with me,” Grey interrupted. “We need to work on my powers some more. Maybe work on some memory techniques. I don’t think the pestilents will give you any trouble at Wiley’s if you’re fast.”
“We’ll be ready if you need us to back you up,” Clay added.
Baer stared at his two brothers. They were acting strange. Clay and Grey never agreed on anything…ever. But for some strange reason, they were in complete accord now. It was like they were plotting something—
“Let’s run to my place now, if that’s okay,” Wiley announced as he jumped to his feet. “It shouldn’t take too long to pack all my stuff up, and I want to check on Queenie. I wasn’t expecting to leave her alone for so long this morning. She gets lonely very easily.”
Baer shoved a hand through his hair, pushing it from his face before he rose to his feet. He sent one last questioning look at Clay and Grey, but neither Weaver said anything. He’d figure those two out later. His main priority was helping Wiley get his things and settling him in his new room. It was his fault Wiley’s life was turned upside down. He could at least make sure the guy had everything he needed while he was a prisoner at the plantation.
What could go wrong?
Chapter 4
The cops had already come and gone at the bakery, leaving behind long stretches of yellow police tape across the front of the closed shop. Wiley still hurried to get into his car and start it. He was worried they’d have to answer questions if anyone lingered inside.
He eyed the battered front of the building with its broken windows and splash of bright red blood. A shudder moved through him as an echo of the first shot from the pestilent’s gun reverberated through his brain. He’d never been in a scarier situation in his entire life. He pulled out of the parking lot, vowing to never come back.
Baer followed him to his building, and Wiley pulled out his keys to let them into his apartment. He was pretty sure he managed to count the stairs so softly that Baer didn’t notice it. The man had been intent on checking their surroundings to make sure the pestilents hadn’t followed them.
He set his keys on the small table by the door and paused for a moment. “I know I kind of got excited at the plantation, but are you sure I should stay with you guys? I don’t want to be a bother.”
Not being one of the brothers broke his heart. He’d gotten his hopes up, and he should have known better. He just wasn’t meant for such important things. But damn, he’d wanted to be a part of that.
“I’m sure those things aren’t after me and were really there for you this morning,” he quickly continued when Baer looked at him with eyes too full of sympathy.
“But now they know you, so no, you should stay with us. I’m sorry I got it wrong. This is all my fault your life is screwed up now. I’m still so fucking embarrassed.”
Wiley couldn’t help but smile at the sexy man. At least they weren’t “brothers,” so he didn’t have to feel guilty about finding the man attractive. “Don’t worry about it. I’m good at screwing up my own life, so I appreciate the help every once in a while.” When Baer cracked a smile, Wiley relaxed and led the way into the living room. “What I can’t figure out is why that woman told me about the doughnuts. It was like she wanted me to be there when that happened. Strangest coincidence ever.”
While he could chuckle a little about it all now, the not getting powers part was a bummer in the extreme.
Still, not nearly as much as the thought of being a part of an important brotherhood. In the short time he’d thought he was one of them, there’d been a sense of belonging he’d never felt in his life.
He walked into the living area and grimaced. He hadn’t been expecting company, and it was painfully obvious. Dirty dishes cluttered the coffee table along with an empty pizza box. A pile of unfolded, clean clothes rested on the small, red love seat and his work area was a mess of collectible action figures and comic books. He pointed at the desk that was partially visible under the chaos. “That’s where I work. This place isn’t very big—only one bedroom, and I couldn’t fit my desk into my bedroom, turning my living room into my office as well. Guess you can tell by all the posters that I’m a geek deluxe.”
Baer looked around the room, a small smile teasing one corner of his mouth as he stopped in front of a poster of a man morphing into a tiger. “I can definitely see why you were so excited to meet me.”
Queenie rested in his office chair, not even bothering to get up to greet Wiley. Not that she usually did. Baer spotted her and walked to her only to have her hiss, jump down, and saunter off. He laughed loudly. “Oh, she’s something else.”
“Could you read her thoughts?”
“Something along the lines of ‘Fuck you.’ She did not want to be touched.”
“I thought as much. She has her moments of sweetness, but they are few and far between.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back onto his heels. “I guess I’ll start getting my things together. What about Queenie? I can’t just leave her here. I thought I could bring her. If that’s not a problem?”
“You can. It’ll be interesting to see how she gets along with Ruby, who loves everyone and everything. She even chases rabbits, hoping they’ll play with her.”
“I’ll grab Queenie’s carrier. Getting her into the thing is always a huge chore.” Wiley picked up a bundle of clothes off the love seat. “You can wait here. Sit or look at all the things around my desk if you want. I have some cool action figures. There’s even one I had made of a character from my books.” He nodded toward one of the shelves. “It’s the guy with the ball of light coming from his hands.”
As Baer wandered in that direction, Wiley hurried into his bedroom. He dumped the clothes onto the bed and started pulling items from the pile. Snagging his only suitcase from the closet, he started tossing clothes into it. Queenie jumped into it immediately, and he gently lifted her out. She turned her nose up at him and pranced to the remaining pile of clothes and started kneading. He folded jeans and T-shirts for the suitcase. He tossed in some sweat pants, underwear, and socks before going out to the bathroom to get his toothbrush and shampoo.
It had been a long time since he’d gone anywhere overnight, so he didn’t have a holder for his toothbrush. He got a baggy out of the kitchen, catching a glimpse of Baer, who was still looking over the items on his shelves.