“Nothing,” I lied.
“Bullshit,” he countered. When I glanced at him over my shoulder, he shook his head. “You’re a terrible liar, Alex. Your body betrays you every time. You’ve been tense the last few minutes.”
“Sorry. I was just thinking about Willow.”
Deacon chuckled. “You missing the rugrat already?”
“Maybe a little. I’m not used to being here at the compound without her.”
Nuzzling my neck, his tongue flicked out against my skin. “I’m sure I can think of something to get your mind off of her.”
I giggled. “I’m sure you could.”
Case poked his head out of the clubhouse meeting room door. “You guys seen the latest invoices?”
Rolling her eyes at her husband, Kim groaned. “Babe, would you get your ass over here and relax for once?”
“I would love to, but at the moment, I got shit to take care of before I can do that. That’s the reason I got fucking ‘President’ on my rocker.”
“You know it isn’t good for your blood pressure,” she countered.
“Hell, Case, it can wait til tomorrow, can’t it?” Deacon asked, before taking a long swig of his beer.
With a grunt, Case replied, “The rest of the shit can wait, but I gotta double check these cargo invoices. It ain’t adding up at the moment, and unless I can find an error on my part, our asses are gonna be between a rock and a hard place.”
Deacon eased me out of his lap and onto my feet. “I’ll go with you, Prez. Once you have them, I’ll lock them up in the safe for the rest of night. Make sure you keep your word to unwind.”
“Thank you, D. I’m glad someone cares about my husband’s well-being,” Kim said.
As Deacon chuckled, I handed him Walter. “He probably needs a pee break.”
With a roll of his eyes, Deacon took Walter before he hustled to catch up with Case. Just as I was about to sit down, the jukebox changed over to some old-school tunes with Heart’sWhat About Love? Kim’s eyes rolled back in pleasure. “Oh my God, I love this song.”
“Me too.”
Crooking her finger at me, she began to sing along with the song. Never able to resist a chance at karaoke, I rose out of my chair and went over to her.
Bishop groaned. “If I find out who paid for this one, I’ll kick his ass.”
“They’re not that bad,” Rev argued over our singing.
“They’re not good either,” Bishop replied, which earned him the bird from Kim.
In the middle of our belting out the big finish, a loud roar ripped through the room. Windows rattled as the ground and walls vibrated. Bottles fell off the bar and crashed to the floor. It seemed to go on forever, but in truth, it probably only lasted a few seconds. When it was over, we all stared at each other, our faces a mixture of confusion and fear.
“Oh fuck,” Rev muttered at my side before turning to sprint out the back door.
In one fluid motion, we all rushed forward after him. The moment I got outside my heart felt like it shuddered to a stop. Smoke billowed out of Case’s house where orange and red flames licked and danced over what was left of the frame.
My world momentarily stilled. While I was frozen, everyone around me seemed to race around at warp speed. Raiders came out of every direction of the compound. At my side, Archer frantically called 911, and at the far end of the street, Liz’s silver-headed form began hurrying to the fire.
As I tried to step forward to help, it seemed I was trudging through quicksand in the dream-like world I found myself in. I shook my head, desperately hoping to shake myself out of the nightmare.
Deacon is in that house. Deacon is in that house. Deacon is in that house!
“CASE!” Kim screamed beside me before breaking into a run.
Although I willed my body to move, it remained rooted to that spot. Like the flick of a switch, I was transported back to the day I stood outside the mechanized ER doors. The grim-faced doctor had just delivered the news to me and Paul of my parents’ deaths.
