Page 97 of Off the Rails

Claiming the vacancy in my bed, Blade stretched her arms out and cracked open my laptop. “Is this why you’re so testy? Upset about Tess’ little fan boy?”

I crossed the room in a single stride, slamming the laptop shut and snatching it away from Blade’s prying eyes.

“Jesus, Cy. Nearly took my fingers there.”

“You’re lucky I don’t take more than that,” I glowered, tossing the laptop into my desk drawer with a thud.

But Blade didn’t have the good sense to heed the warning in my tone. “There’s no need to be jealous. I’m not even sure Tess swings his way.”

She sure didn’t seem to mind the attention back at Heirs of Promise.

Hot blood pulsed at my neck. I wanted to snap at Blade about her needling. But clearly, entertaining the jabs only made her more insufferable.

Pulling in a deep breath, I leaned back against the desk. “How much do you remember about Rubin from Heirs of Promise?”

Blade sat up on the bed, picking at a knot of rope around her thigh. “Honestly, not much. He was a zealous little suck up. I thought his voice was annoying. Not really a shock that he grew up to be such a weirdo.”

I grumbled my assent — that was about as much as I remembered, too.

He was so much younger than us, and so into the god stuff that I wouldn’t have entertained the conversation even if he tried. For all of her piety, Tess was an entirely different beast than Rubin.

She’d burned herself a permanent place in my memory. But Rubin had been little more than the shit on my shoe.

Other than that, I couldn’t remember much about him. And I certainly couldn’t think of any real reason he was showing his face now.

“Oh god.” Blade groaned, “And he was so obsessed with Pastor Harris. Idolized him more than their so-called god.”

“Tess too.” I growled.

Her brow furrowed. “He was obsessed with Tess? Or Tess was obsessed with Harris?”

“Both,” I grumbled. “Two peas in a fucking pod, those two.”

“Cy…” she gave me a warning glare that made my hackles rise.

Like Blade has any right to police how I feel about that traitor. She’s going soft for that girl.

But I didn’t want to open that can of worms again. I’d already made up my mind about how to handle Tess. And Blade could pretend all she wanted she could win me over to her side, but the way that this ended was out of my hands. The cards had settled the question years ago.

“Whatever,” I threw my hands up, returning to my pacing.

Still, that knowledge didn’t provide the same comfort it once had; unease bloomed in the pit of my stomach.

It wasn’t Rubin that I feared. I could kill that weasel with my bare fucking hands if I wanted to. But he wasn’t the problem: the forces enabling him were.

I couldn’t quite put my finger on what was going on, but there was way too much weird shit going on at once. The drugs, the fanaticism, the little blonde nightmare who’d stumbled through my gates: something was shifting in Valemont, but I still couldn’t figure out what.

55

TESS

My leg was falling asleep, but it didn’t matter. I didn’t dare move off the couch: not when Butch was sleeping soundly against my thigh.

I shifted my weight, trying to alleviate the tingling in my toes without waking the furry little guy. The TV was playing another episode of Sweetheart Shores, and the remote was too far out of my reach to do anything about it.

I had half a mind to ask Nash to change the show, but she was busy in the kitchen whipping up lunch.

Plus, I’m still annoyed at her.