Page 176 of Monstrous Serpent

I nod.

Cody mumbles, “Thought you hated him. Now you’re asking his permission.”

Davis yanks the strings of his hoodie tight until only his nose is visible. “Ugh, why are you such a butthead!”

The youngest Jenkins is still wary of me. He doesn’t leave the room anymore when I walk in, but he’s not as friendly as he used to be. It bothers me. Mrs. Jenkins said he’ll get past it in time. Hope she’s right.

I clear my throat. “Davis, there’s a sandwich for you on the counter. Grab it before you go.”

He takes it, then starts to head back to the living room.

Cody slaps the table. “Seriously? Say thank you.”

Davis sticks his tongue out at Cody, then looks at me. “Thanks. Oh, and Atlas is still my favorite.”

Cody throws his pen at his little brother as Davis runs out of the kitchen laughing. “He’s such a pest.”

“You’re the same. Mouthy. Runs in the family, eh?”

“Oh, shut up.” He leans over and kisses my cheek. “But thanks. For the sandwich and for helping me with my assignments.”

“No thanks needed.”

“You know, Atlas has all these plans on taking Blue with him to Philly. He even bought a Flyers collar. Like my dog is wearing anything but my team’s logo.”

“He’s not taking the dog.”

Cody chuckles. “We both know he’ll just dognap him. Probably wait until you’re in North Carolina, so you can’t stop him.”

My jaw clenches but relaxes a moment later. Haven’t decided what I want to do about the NHL yet. But I still have time.

I stand and grab Cody’s empty plate when he squirms in the chair again. “Go rest on the couch before we leave.”

“Yeah, okay. I’m done looking at graphs anyway. They make my eyes hurt.”

Cody makes his way to the living room as I load the dishwasher.

There was a time I didn’t think past the next hour. The next hunt. The next thing I had to do to survive. Now I have a future.

Don’t know what it looks like yet. But Atlas and Cody are in it. And that’s all I need.

Epilogue

Cody

Third period and we're down by two. Fucking fantastic. I didn’t work my ass off for the past four months to lose the championship game like this.

Nope.

Western Michigan can kiss my ass.

No way in hell I’m making it easy for them.

Their center fires from the point, and I drop into the shooting lane, but the puck gets through. Novotny kicks out his right pad. The rebound pops loose, and I battle their defenseman for position, shoving him off with my hip. Their winger beats out Connor and gets a wrist shot off, but Novotny sprawls and smothers the puck.

Whistle.

I hop over the boards and drop onto the bench, squirting water into my mouth. Eighteen thousand people in this building and half of them want us to lose.