Hell on Wheels (Faetal Attraction #1)

Get It Together

Rogue is the only person I’ve ever known who can call me on my bullshit so damn thoroughly. My friends aren’t bad, but she’s always could nail me to the wall—figuratively—and it’s aggravating as fuck now. All of them being able to be affectionate and flirty in public without worrying about what the consequences will be is grinding my gears.

But I can’t figure out how to accept what I’m being offered.

It’s not the ‘step’ thing; Rogue and I are not remotely blood related, nor have I really thought of her that way since puberty, despite the front I put up for appearances. I just… I don’t know how to let someone in, especially someone I don’t want to hurt. It’s weird that getting what I’ve always wanted is causing me such issues, but I guess that’s because I convinced myself it would never happen. I’m not comfortable with the possibility of being happy.

“There’s one for a goddamn therapist,” I mutter as I lean over the engine, moving through my checklist before the slot I’m going to take.

“What was that?” Angelo’s head peeks around the hood and I jerk up, banging my head on it hard. He laughs, watching me spit curses as I back up and try to clear the circling ducks from my vision.

“Nothing, asshole. Just talking to myself.”

He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest. “Dude, you’re a hot fucking mess. Why are you acting like such a bitch? We all know you’ve coveted our girl since your dick started twitching in puberty. Get it together.”

Jesus, everyone fucking knew, and I was working my ass off to pretend otherwise—what a fucking farce.

Damon walks around the other side of my car, giving me a smirk. He’s cocky as shit since he mated with Rogue, and it suits him. I don’t know how well it will play with his dickface father, but that’s a problem for later. The chaos demon tilts his head as he watches me, then finally speaks. “Look, man. I know it’s hard to switch gears on a dime. I’m not great with change, either. Alcohol absolutely helped me, so I cheated a bit. But once it was happening, it felt like the most natural thing in the world. And now…”

His twin grins broadly. “Now it’s fucking baller and you’re missing out because you’re being a pansy. Every single one of us worried about fucking up—trust me. We’ve been Rogue’s protectors and admirers in secret for so long that it was like a three hundred and sixty degree turn to have her welcome us into her bed.”

“At least you didn’t purposely put her in a weird box to help yourself cope,” I grumble. “I’m not wigging out about that as much as possibly hurting her on accident.”

“She’s a big girl now, Reb. You’ve pretended you’re in charge of her, although she does what and who she wants and has for years. You gotta accept who our girl is now and run with that.” Angelo shrugs as he leans in to point out something I need to adjust, and I nod at him.

“I guess that’s where I’m struggling. You know I have… kinks.”

Both of the demon twins burst out laughing, clutching their sides at the joke that’s apparently on me. I growl as I pick up the wrench I need, waiting for them to get over it and explain. Finally, Damon does, shaking his head. “Rebel, Rogue is bent like a paperclip. She’s got Javi and me in the palm of her hand, Archie and Angelo battle her, and you’ll have to find your own role with her. But I guarantee none of your shit clashes with hers.”

“But you have to fucking talk to her, you dumbshit,” Angelo adds with a glare. “Because we all have.”

I arch a brow, tilting my head as I study him. “Maybe about bedroom shit, but you didn’t tell her she’s going to be a fucking demon queen someday.”

They both turn bright at that, shrugging and both saying in unison, “We thought it was a future Gemini problem.”

Rolling my eyes, I let out a slow breath of annoyance. “She knows about the pride and the odyssey, right?”

Damon blinks, tilting his head. “I don’t know, honestly. It’s not come up yet, but I know Javi and Archie have discussed how we’d approach their families. But maybe not… the responsibilities they’re supposed to take over. They never talk about that shit; Archie keeps hoping if he’s playing one of his brothers will take the seat.”

“And Javi pretends his parents don’t exist, much less the whole damn community. You know that.”

I groan, swiping my hand down my face. “This is going to be a disaster.”

“Maybe we handle one thing at a time, man. Right now, you have to figure out your end. Once that’s solid, we’ll bring in the other stuff.” Angelo scratches his chin, then shrugs. “Or who knows? It’ll all go to hell at this universal meeting and we’ll deal with it all at once, like we did Luca.”

“You know that’s a terrible plan, right?” I ask wryly. “Rogue is good at masking emotions when it’s absolutely necessary, but that will strain even her—especially if people get in her face.”

The vengeance demon grins wickedly. “I’m not opposed to watching her take down some shitty motherfuckers who think they rule the world. It was hot when she did it to Luca.”

“Yeah, and now we have him, your mother, and the angry demon women gunning for her. Adding that to Mina, the Sickos, and possibly the Stuhlls, was not smart.”

He shrugs, looking at his twin. Damon does the same, and I have to bite my tongue. Their faith in our ability to juggle multiple enemies with boundless resources is a stretch. While we’re all formidable and we’d at least have Archie’s family to support us, I’m not sure the Council will. They stay out of the criminal shit unless it’s affecting the supe world as a whole. The glut of weird stuff occurring in the Southern enclave, the Northeast enclave, and in various spots globally has their full attention at the moment.

But these guys don’t know about that, and I can’t tell them more than what’s been on the news—it would be a breach of protocol.

Sometimes, duty sucks ass.

#

The competition for my race is fierce, but I’m glad I took the more dangerous course. Drifting through the sharp curves of Bay City is a gamble most nights, but there’s a lot of people milling around the underbelly for it being so late. I’m not sure if that’s the Stuhlls planting underlings in the path of the drivers to make this more difficult or if it’s just bad luck. At the moment, everything seems like a conspiracy.

I never liked Rogue’s best friend, but her defection was so sudden and absolute that it’s still making me paranoid.

~Reb, what’s going on in your head? I feel that anger. ~

Rogue’s voice filters in via mind speak and I sigh as I accelerate through a straightway. Instead of using that connection, I speak into the headset. Damon promised our frequency was secure, so I’d rather use it than let the others hear us mentally chat. Weird, I know, but I’m still getting used to the fact that she can hear people besides me there. “I had a flash of frustration about how quickly Mina abandoned you and how long it must have been in progress before she cut ties.”

Her growl echoes on the line and I chuckle as she replies, “Probably, but shouldn’t you be focused on the race?”

“In the bag, lil’ sis,” I say confidently. “I’m so far ahead of the two slot that it’s laughable. My mind is wandering a bit because there are… anomalies… along the track.”

“Huh.”

I know she’s running possibilities through her mind, figuring out what I might mean and how it will affect her race. That’s a good thing because if anyone truly knows it’s her racing, they’ll put much more risky shit in her path. At least, if we’re right about where the threats are coming from.

“Still don’t get why they’re tracking me,” she says after a minute or two. “I mean, her I get because she’s on some power trip or whatever. The bigger picture is puzzling. Is it about my day job? I doubt that; they don’t meddle so much unless something huge happens.”

“I was wondering the same thing,” I reply as I skid around a bunch of construction that shouldn’t be where it is. “What the hell did you do to even get on that radar? It’s not the racing; that’s solved by banishment.”

She’s quiet for a moment, and I wonder what she’s trying to find the words for. When she speaks, it’s soft in the headset. “Reb, you have to be careful. If they’re gunning for me, they’ll go through any of you they can to get to me or hurt me. Out of everyone, you’re the most exposed. Stay sharp or I’ll beat your ass myself.”

Her words make my chest ache and I have to blink for a second as the emotion floods my system. I know she’s right, but hearing it does something to me. It’s different now—not like when she worried about me in the past, but it felt like she had to. Rogue is definitely worried about losing me, and it’s because she wants me to be hers.

Fuck, how do I deal with that?

The answer is poorly, apparently, because I barely miss an extremely out-of-place cow that’s hanging out in the middle of this back road the course uses to loop back to the finish line. My eyes flash as I grip my wheel tighter, fury replacing the softness that was in my veins before. That shit was a deliberate road hazard placed to fuck up both a car and its driver—possibly fatally. Luckily my reflexes are on point or I’d be fucking road ketchup.

Whoever did that is either a cheating motherfucker from another team or it’s the bigger conspiracy we think stems from the Stuhlls. Either way, I’m feeling a lot less confident about letting Rogue take the later card for me. She might be a better driver than me, but if her cover is blown, they’ll pull out all the stops to take her out. My little traffic and beef problems will look like child’s play compared to what will get thrown at her.

How am I going to tell her that without getting my face ripped off?

“Rogue,” I start, but then I catch a glimmer out of the corner of my eye. Just a glint of something in the distance and I know I have to focus on the road. There’s a goddamn sniper out there and I just caught a glint of his scope because he’s shit at his job.

“What, Reb?”

I don’t answer as I swerve and dart around the road, making it hard to predict where I’ll be with enough accuracy to attempt a shot. If I can keep the dipshit guessing, I get out of range before he cracks one off. Rogue keeps talking in my ears, but I laser focus on evasive driving. She’ll be pissed when I get to the checkered flag until she understands why I had to shut up.

That is, if I make it to the checkered flag in one piece.