Blade (RBMC: Dallas, TX #4)

Chapter Fourteen

“TheGift”—Seether

Seventeen years old…

L uis had hurt Sage bad. All because she was protecting me. I wasn’t sure how she was even staying on the back of my bike through the terrain we traveled.

Though it felt like we’d been halfway across the country, we’d barely made it halfway across the state. We traveled at night as much as we could. I’d done my best to clean her up. I treated her wounds and cleaned off the blood at the first gas station we stopped at in the middle of the swamps in Florida, but she was exhausted so I couldn’t ride like I would’ve wanted to.

We headed toward Georgia. I really didn’t have a plan or a destination in mind. All I had was about eleven grand in cash left from what I’d been saving since I first started working for Luis. I’d given a chunk to Ricardo’s family to escape, and left two grand for my mom, wishing I could’ve given her more.

I figured we’d jump around a bit to make our trail harder to follow, then go to California and lose ourselves there.

Just before sunup, we stopped at a rundown motel just across the Georgia border where we both showered. “Lock the door. Don’t even make a peep unless you hear me say ‘I have cookies.’ Okay?”

Sage nodded, but remained quiet.

Satisfied she’d be safe for a bit, I left to get food and while I waited for it, I saw an old payphone by the bathrooms. Who knew shit like that still existed?

I glanced at it several times before I got up, stuffed some quarters in it and listened to the ringing as I waited for her to answer. At least I hoped she would since she wouldn’t recognize the number.

“Hello?” sounded in my ear and I almost hung up. After all, I was only checking to see if she was okay. Except I couldn’t help myself.

“Mom?”

A sob was quickly muffled. “Finley, where are you?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m safe. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Okay? No, I’m not okay. My son is missing. No note, no calls, his phone going straight to voicemail… how could you possibly think I was okay? Where are you?” Her voice cracked and so did my heart.

“I can’t tell you where I am. If anyone asks you can honestly say you have no clue.”

“Are you in trouble, Finley?”

“Kind of…”

She gasped.

“I’ll be okay. I just needed to get away for a while. Once things blow over, I’ll be back,” I lied. I knew I’d never be going back to Florida again.

“Does this have to do with Manny? I knew he was bad news. No kid his age should have that much money. What’s going on?”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with Manny.” More lies. Though it wasn’t directly related to Manny himself, it was sure as hell his father.

“Lee!” The waitress called out the name I’d given her, setting a white paper bag on the counter.

“I gotta go.” I paused. I had no idea when I’d be able to speak to her again. “I love you mom. Check in the Pringles can in the cupboard.”

“What? No! Finley!”

But I cut her off by hanging up the old black receiver.

I grabbed the bag, leaving a tip on the counter. When I walked out of the small, ancient diner near the motel someone across the highway lit a cigarette. He was leaning against a black truck. For a moment, I thought he was watching me and the hairs on my arms stood up. Then a woman walked out of the salon, locked the door and rushed into his arms. He swung her around and I breathed a sigh of relief.

After that I hurried back to the room, announced myself and I heard Sage unlock the chain. We ate without talking. Then I told her, “We’ll take turns keeping watch. I’ll go first, you sleep.”

Barely able to keep her eyes open, she nodded before she crashed. I didn’t wake her up until the sun was starting to go down. She needed rest to heal.

“Fin, why didn’t you wake me up?” She was mad, but it didn’t matter, I knew I would be okay. I had enough adrenaline coursing through my veins that I would be good until we got farther away from Luis’s extensive reach.

“I just need an hour or two,” I told her as I flopped face down on the bed. “Wake me up in no more than two hours. We need to get somewhere I can get a job for a bit.”

She sat on the bed with her back to the headboard, knees to her chest, and her thin arms wrapped around her legs. “Okay,” she replied in a small voice.

We had spent a little time in Georgia, then Tennessee, before moving down into Mississippi. We never spent more than three weeks in any one place. Call it paranoia, but I kept thinking I saw Luis or his men.

Wherever we were staying, I would work construction jobs for cash, and Sage would also work for cash at small businesses, or for tips in small diners. I didn’t want us to burn through all of my money right away. We were going to need some to get started when we got to California.

We had left a small town in Mississippi and decided to lose ourselves in Louisiana for a bit before finally heading toward California.

“Are you sure it’s safe here?” Sage whispered as we sat in the little cafe on the outskirts of New Orleans. She was rightfully frightened—in the last place we’d been staying, we both thought we’d seen one of Luis’s guys, prompting the last quick move from Mississippi.

There’d been no sign of them for days, so I was hoping we had imagined seeing them because we were both so afraid they would catch up and we were finally in the clear.

Stop acting suspicious and we’ll be fine , I spoke into her head. I’d done it for so long it was second nature, but it had sure freaked me and my mom out the first time I’d done it. Neither of us knew how I could do it and neither of us told a soul.

Until Sage.

She had started out as a bit of a pet after I found her digging in my trash. Sure, it made me feel useful having her to take care of, but she’d quickly become my best friend. The first time I’d spoken to her telepathically, she just blinked at me, then asked me how I’d done it.

“I’m—” Sage started to say when a woman with creamy brown skin and curly hair piled haphazardly on her head, sat next to her, effectively trapping her in the booth. My senses went haywire, and my heart raced. I poised to bolt. Something didn’t seem right, but I couldn’t just leave Sage.

The woman stared at me with pale blue eyes as if she saw into my soul. It was unnerving. “I was told you would be here,” she announced in a heavy Creole accent.

Chills raced across my skin. Sage froze and her face went ashen.

The woman slowly smiled making the light brown skin by her eyes crinkle. “Sorry, I should’ve started with introductions. I’m Adelaide Laveaux. And you’re Finley.”

“How the fuck do you know who I am? And who told you we would be here?” I demanded as my blood ran cold.

Don’t be scared. I’m gonna get you out of here , I said to Sage, though I had no earthly idea how I was going to accomplish that.

“I know lots of things, boy. One of which is that you’re running from some very bad people and without some help, you aren’t going to make it much farther.” She cocked her head as she studied me further. One curl fell over her brow, but she made no move to push it back. A chill skated over every inch of my skin.

Sage was practically hyperventilating as Adelaide turned her strange gaze on her. “It’s okay, girl. I’m gonna make sure you’re safe.”

“Why?” Sage croaked in a near whisper.

“Because I wasn’t given this gift to squander it. If the spirits tell me to do something, I sure as hell do it,” the woman replied.

Stay calm. She’s probably just crazy. We’ll hear her out, then get the fuck outta Dodge. Okay? I tried to reassure Sage.

“Now that’s downright rude. Didn’t no one ever tell you that’s akin to talking behind people’s backs?” she scolded, and I froze.

“What?”

“I told you I have a gift. I know you got one too. Now do you want help, or do you want those people to catch up to you?” she asked with an arched brow.

“What do you want us to do?” I reluctantly grumbled.

“I want you to follow me on that there thing you call a bike. I’m gonna take you to someone who will help us.”

“How do we know we can trust you or them?” I demanded.

She stood up from the booth, then leaned forward until she was inches from my face. “You don’t. But the people you’re running from? They just pulled in across the road. So, you can either follow me out the back door and out of town or stay here and wait to see what they got to offer you.”

Both Sage and I whipped our gazes toward the windows facing the street. A car with dark windows had indeed parked across the street. Three men got out and my heart stuttered. Sage whimpered.

They were definitely Luis’s men.

Adelaide was already walking down the hall toward the single bathroom. I grabbed my backpack, then Sage’s hand and dragged her out of the booth. We followed Adelaide out the back door where I’d parked my barely road legal dirt bike.

“The girl can ride with me. Safer in case you gotta cut off the road,” she murmured.

Sage whined as she grabbed my arms. “No. I want to stay with you.”

“I’ll be right behind you,” I told Sage. “She’s right.”

“Best be hurrying,” Adelaide urged as she climbed up into an old truck.

Reluctantly, Sage got inside the cab, and I closed the door. Sage stared at me with fear in her beautiful eyes. The truck rumbled as the woman started it up and I jumped on my bike. We pulled out and I didn’t stop looking back until we were entering the swamps.

We went deep into the bayou—beyond where I would’ve felt safe going on my own. There were countless forks that we took. So many that I’d never find my way back out without help. The sunlight barely broke through the trees that were woven together, dripping Spanish moss from above. The web-like tendrils swayed slightly as if a ghostly hand had teased them. There certainly wasn’t a breeze.

Finally, we rounded a bend, and it was like the road simply dropped into the murky waters. I skidded to a stop behind the truck that had sputtered and gone silent. Dust from the dirt road rose in clouds around me, adding to the eerie feeling that was heavy in the air.

“You just gonna stand there looking like you’ve seen a ghost, or are you gonna help me with this boat?” Adelaide asked, briefly jolting me out of my nervousness. I noticed Sage was already in the small boat, the backpack clutched tight to her chest. It was practically bursting at the seam as it held everything we had on us. A change of clothes for each of us, some toiletries I had taken from the little motel, and all the cash I had to my name.

“Get up front and untie us once I get the motor started,” she instructed.

I nodded.

The quiet little trolling motor came to life, and I unwrapped the weathered rope from the mooring on the short rickety dock. Then I tossed it to the bottom of the boat and settled in for the ride.

My gaze darted back and forth from the swamp with its soft, mysterious noises and the woman manning the boat. She seemed calm and relaxed now that we were cutting through the muddy water.

Every so often I caught movement and saw the slide of a gator as it slipped off the bank and under the surface. The clear blue sky appeared between the branches periodically.

As if she had conjured it from thin air, a small cabin seemed to spout up out of the swamp itself. The front porch stairs disappeared into the water and the rusting metal roof had a short brick chimney that poked up into the pale sky. The roof to the porch was covered in leaves and Spanish moss that must’ve been blown from nearby trees.

Off to the left, I imagined there must’ve been land at one time, because there was a shed that had seen better days. Coupled with the stairs going down into the water, it spoke of different and long-lost days.

We circled around the right side of the wooden shack where I was surprised to see a dock that led to solid ground. Land stretched from the back corner and around the backside of the building where it met up with the shed I thought was underwater. It was actually on a little rise.

“Tie it up, boy,” Adelaide murmured as if to speak too loudly would wake something terrible.

I quickly did as she said, then I climbed up onto the dock that was sturdier than it had initially appeared. I reached down to help Sage out of the boat. Once she was steady at my side, I turned to do the same for the mysterious woman.

The second her fingers landed on mine there was a zap—like I’d grabbed a live wire. Her eyes went wide, and I knew she’d experienced it too. Her breath came in harder and faster intervals as she searched my face.

The moment she was safely on the dock she jerked her hand free. She was muttering something under her breath that I couldn’t understand.

“Come,” she snapped as she hurried toward the shack.

Sage and I glanced at each other, and her brows lifted as she mouthed, “What the heck?”

All I could do was shrug. As we followed the woman toward the house, I was sure I heard her softly muttering to herself again. When we reached the door on the side porch, she motioned Sage inside, but when I tried to follow, her hand slammed to my chest. Again, her eyes flared.

“No. You wait here for a moment.”

“I’m not letting Sage go in there with you alone. We don’t know you at all.”

“And yet, I saved you from certain capture and brought you to my home—my sanctuary,” she shot back as one brow winged up. “Give me a moment. I must do something, then I will come for you.”

Frustrated, I huffed and ran a hand through my hair. Sage looked at me through the old screen door. “I think it’s okay,” she assured me. I wished I had her faith.

Through the screen, I watched as Adelaide wandered around the cabin lighting candles and incense as she seemed to chant under her breath. She whipped the curtains wide to allow the most light into the cabin.

She disappeared behind a beaded curtain but quickly returned to where I waited. She pushed a small bottle into my hands. “You drink.”

“Look, I appreciate your help, but I’m not drinking some weird concoction that you hand me. I don’t know you. For all I know, you’re trying to kill me so you can take her.”

The last I said so only the older woman could hear.

Her lips flattened and her icy gaze raked over me in disgust. “You drink, then you come in.”

Teeth gritted, I lifted the vial and circled it, causing the dark green liquid to swirl. It looked like swamp water with a healthy dose of mud in it. And was that an oil slick sheen? My lip curled at the thought of bringing it anywhere near my mouth.

“If I wanted you dead, you’d already be dead and your body would belong to the bayou,” she declared in a softly spoken but hard as steel voice. In that brief exchange I knew she was telling the truth.

I uncorked the small bottle and told myself if I chugged it, I wouldn’t even taste it.

Lies.

I guzzled it down as fast as I could, but I still gagged and heaved, though nothing came back. A burning started in my chest and spread to the tips of my fingers and down to my toes. I gasped and clutched the doorframe.

“Finley!” Sage cried out as she tried to get to me, but Adelaide held her back.

“He will be okay,” Adelaide assured her as she watched me closely.

“Fuck!” I shouted through gritted teeth as I fought to simply breathe. “I’m not sure how you figure,” I choked out. My lungs wouldn’t expand—it was like suffocating internally.

As quickly as it had hit, it began to subside. Each inhale was a massive desperate gulping of air. My labored breaths began to slow, and I swallowed the baseball-sized lump lodged in my dry throat.

Adelaide reached out and took my chin in a surprisingly firm grip. She stared unblinking into my eyes. Suddenly, she released me and motioned me into the house.

As I stiffly stepped over the threshold, I frowned at her and grumbled, “What was that for?”

“It’s not my place to tell you. You have a long journey ahead of you with much to learn,” she cryptically replied.

My confused gaze met Sage’s, but we remained wisely silent.

“Sit,” she instructed.

“Am I gonna turn into a toad or something?” I asked half joking as took a seat. I winced as my every joint ached and my muscles seemed… tight. Something didn’t feel quite right.

The woman made me nervous as fuck and I had no idea why. I’d dealt with worse than her since I was practically a kid.

She snorted and then released a rich melodic laugh. My brows shot up.

“No. But I have to protect my home. You’ll have to forgive me, but one cannot be too careful with your kind,” she finally said after her laughter faded. “I’m supposed to ensure your safety, so that’s what I’ll be doing. I know you were heading west, but you won’t be safe there. You need to be with those who will be able to protect you and that will understand your… unique gift.”

My kind?

“I don’t need anyone,” I firmly stated as I took Sage’s hand in mine. We had each other and that was all that mattered.

Adelaide tilted her head as she studied us. It went on so long, I almost wanted to shift and fidget in my seat, but I refrained. Barely. Sage’s hand went clammy in mine.

The muscle in my jaw jumped as I clenched my teeth at her unwavering perusal. I wanted to ask her what she was doing or seeing, but I already knew she wouldn’t answer anything that she didn’t want to.

A look of satisfaction flashed in her eyes, then she sat back in her chair. “You’re not a couple. There is love between you, but not as a man and a woman. Though….” Her gaze narrowed and my face heated. It was as if I knew exactly what she was “seeing.”

Sage slouched uncomfortably.

“I’m going outside to make a couple of calls. Then I must be alone to consult the spirits. When I am done, we will talk. The bathroom is through that door.” She motioned toward the center door on the opposite side of the room and got to her feet, then went out the door again. There were three doors in total. I assumed the other two were bedrooms.

Sage and I looked at each other.

“I don’t like this,” I told her.

“Me either, but I believe we are safer here than out there on our own,” she whispered back. “Are you okay? You don’t look good. Your skin is really pale, and your eyes look funny.”

“Funny how?” I asked as I scanned the room for a mirror. There wasn’t a single one visible.

“Dark.”

In frustration, I dragged my hand down my face. “I don’t know how to describe it. I feel stifled. Like my skin is too tight. I don’t know.”

She reached between us and took my other hand in hers. In silence, we waited. And waited. Finally, Adelaide came back in, but went through the beaded curtains.

So, we waited some more.

By the time she came out, the sun was going down. I could hear Sage’s stomach growling as she dozed. I think even in sleep, her body noticed that one of the scents in the small cabin was something cooking. We hadn’t eaten all day and we’d only gotten up to use the bathroom. Sage had dozed off periodically and I let her sleep as I kept watch.

“Shit,” Adelaide muttered, and Sage jumped awake. “Sorry, I got so tied up that I forgot to tell you there’s gumbo on the stove.”

She bustled to the kitchen area and pulled bowls down off a shelf. Then she ladled up the thick concoction and set the bowls on the table, then propped her hands on her hips. “Well, what are you waiting for? Eat.”

We both shot up and rushed to the table. In the center was a caddy that had silverware in it. We each grabbed a spoon and dove in.

It was the best damn gumbo I’d ever tasted. Then again, I was starving, so maybe I was wrong, but I didn’t think so. Especially when Sage moaned and said, “Miss Adelaide, this is delicious. Thank you.”

“Yes, thank you,” I chimed in, embarrassed that I hadn’t thanked her immediately.

“Ah, it’s just gumbo. There’s plenty so help yourself to more if ya like.” When we sat there fat and happy as ticks after two helpings, she leaned in.

“In two days time, I will take you down the swamp. My man Yeti and his brother will have a box truck waiting. We will load you two up and they will take you up to Arkansas where you will meet up with more friends—also brothers of Yeti. They will take you to Iowa to my daughter and my grandson. You will be safe there.” She paused waiting to see if we had questions.

“What about my bike?”

“They will pick it up tonight and store it until you leave. It won’t be an overly comfortable ride into Arkansas, but I’ll try to make it as bearable as possible.” She stood up. “Sage will sleep in the room on the right. You can sleep on the couch. It’s late and I’m tired. Too much action for these old bones today.”

With that, she went into the bathroom, then into the room on the left and closed the door.

Old bones? She barely looked in her forties or fifties.

“Do you feel like we’ve gone to Oz too?” Sage whispered as she fought but it slipped out—the first real smile I’d seen on her face in weeks.

I slouched back in the chair. “Yeah. I feel like we just landed from a whirlwind.”

“You think we’re safe here?” Sage sobered and chewed on her lower lip.

With a calculating gaze, I scanned the small home again. It was a bit cluttered, with a lot of bookshelves crammed against most of the walls, but tidy. “Yeah. Crazily enough, I feel like we are.”

“Okay.”

“Please sleep with me?” she softly begged.

Nervous, I cast a glance at Adelaide’s door. Then I remembered her weird observation that we weren’t romantically together. “Yeah,” I replied.

I slept harder that night than I had since leaving Florida.

Like Miss Adelaide had promised, two days later, we were in the small boat, headed through the swamp. By the time we arrived at a rickety dock, I didn’t think would hold my weight, I was lost as fuck. The swamps were like mazes.

Surprisingly, the dock was much sturdier than it looked. There were two men waiting up the hill by a white truck that had peeling stickers that at one time must’ve read Gator Tail Plumbing. Now, it read Gato ail Plubing .

We followed Adelaide up the path to where they were parked. One man was a mammoth of a man, with a mostly salt, salt-and-pepper beard. Adelaide stepped into his arms, and he hugged her. Then she tilted her face up and they spoke quietly. He appeared to be chastising her, but she only smiled at him.

“Addy, what am I gonna do with you?” he asked in a voice that rumbled.

She grinned wickedly, making her look even younger than I first thought. “Oh, I could think of a few things.”

He snorted, then brought her to his side to face us.

“Jesus, Addy, they’re just kids.”

My spine stiffened and I crossed my arms.

“I know,” she agreed. “And I wouldn’t ask this of you if I didn’t feel it was important.”

He sighed and Adelaide introduced us. The other guy opened the rollup door on the back of the truck. “We gotta get movin’ y’all. Your chariot awaits.” He snickered and made a grand flourish toward the open box.

Yeti and the other guy, who I found out was named Silo helped Sage up into the back. I climbed in on my own. My bike was ratcheted down toward the rear. We had to step over the straps to get to the front.

“You got you a couple of bedrolls with them there foam mats under them. There’s snacks and drinks in the cooler. You can use the battery powered lantern during the day, but not at night. That thing there is if ya gotta piss or shit.” He was referring to a five-gallon bucket full of shavings with a toilet seat fixed to the top.

Sage’s eyes went wide, and I knew she’d let her guts explode before she shit in a bucket. I almost wanted to laugh.

“You won’t be able to get out until we get to the clubhouse outside of Little Rock. We can’t risk anyone seeing either of you. I opened the air vents but unfortunately that’s the best I can do without raising suspicion,” Yeti explained in a slow drawl.

“I understand. I appreciate this. I have a little money, I can pay you,” I offered, raising my chin. It would set us back, but they were going well out of their way to help us.

“Son, keep your money. You’ll need it more than we will. I’m doing this for my Addy because she said this was important. Who knows, maybe you’ll like the Iowa boys enough to stick around and prospect,” he winked and grinned through his full beard.

I had no clue what he was talking about, but I was thankful. All that mattered was Sage being safe.

Reluctantly, thanks to my pride, I gave him a curt nod of understanding.

“All right then. Make yourself at home in there,” Silo said before he grabbed the worn rope and pulled the door down.

Sage and I sat down on the bedrolls and held hands.

Little did I know, my life was about to make a drastic change.

We would go from having no one, to having a family.