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TWENTY-SEVEN
Decima
It didn’t seemto matter how many times I woke up in the Chaos Crew’s apartment—each morning, I felt refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to tackle any challenge that came to our doorstep.
Part of my vigor might have been the realization that wehadno more substantial challenges at our door. The mess I’d gotten the guys into when I’d first crossed paths with them had ended with the Blood Hunter’s life. They’d gone for years before now without any significant threats from other criminals, and we could continue our business for years more with his manipulative designs behind us.
I walked out of my room, stretching my back, and found Steffie in the kitchen with Brittany. The housekeeper was standing at one side of the stove, the girl at the other on a stool, Steffie giving strict instructions for our breakfast.
“Whisk the eggs, don’t stir them, lyuba,” Steffie said with her stern, lightly accented tone. “You want them fluffy, do you not?”
Brittany only nodded and tried to mimic Steffie’s gesture slowly. She didn’t quite get it, but it seemed to be close enough for Steffie’s approval, so she smiled down at the girl.
“Looks delicious,” I said with an awkward smile. I never knew quite how to behave around the little girl we’d unwittingly found ourselves in custody of. When Brittany looked up at me with a hopeful glance, I added, “Steffie will teach you how to make eggs better than any you’ve ever tasted.”
The girl brightened, and she continued whisking the way Steffie had instructed. Her other hand drifted to the worn stuffed tiger sitting on the counter next to the stove. She’d kept it close to her side since I’d offered it to her when we’d arrived here.
I’d assume the Blood Hunter had given her much fancier playthings than my ratty old toy. But it was the best we’d had, and maybe she could sense how much love had been poured into it. How much comfort it’d provided to another little girl who’d found herself far from home among strangers.
She could keep it, wherever she ended up after this. She needed it more than I did now.
I turned toward the table where Blaze and Garrison sat. They’d been hard at work since getting home, trying to find a living situation for Brittany, because it wasn’t as if she could live with us forever. I was just getting used to the idea of being a free human being—I had no clue how to be a parent on top of that.
The Blood Hunter had adopted Brittany at a young enough age that she had no idea who her birth parents were, and Blaze hadn’t been able to find any record tying her to another family. So we were looking for new adoptive parents, vetted much more carefully than the Blood Hunter had evaluated his own aptitude for fatherhood. Blaze was doing extensive background checks on every couple we considered, and Garrison would go out and maneuver himself into an assessing conversation with those who made it to our shortlist.
It was a complicated process, but we didn’t want to risk putting Brittany into another bad situation.
When she’d asked about what had happened to “Father,” as she referred to him, we’d told her that he’d had an accident and couldn’t take care of her anymore. I didn’t have the heart to explain the full truth, and probably it was too much for a kid to handle anyway. She’d withdrawn since hearing the news, but Steffie’s presence always cheered her up at least a bit, so the housekeeper had been a constant presence in the apartment over the past few days.
I ran a hand across the back of Blaze’s shoulder as I approached, and he leaned back into my touch, slowing his impressively swift one-handed typing. “So many dark secrets to unearth,” he said with a laugh. “I’d lose my faith in humanity if I still had any. Maybe we should just hang on to her.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Right, because we’re model parental figures here.”
Garrison tapped a pen to his lips. “I don’t know. Julius gives off definite dad vibes from time to time.”
Blaze snorted. “I never thought I’d hear you call Julius ‘Daddy,’ Garrison.”
Garrison glowered at the hacker, who grinned cheekily in response. Some things never changed, and I could tell their constant heckling was one of those.
Then Garrison shrugged, pitching his voice low so Brittany wouldn’t overhear. “Hell, it’s not as if we could be worse parents than the Blood Hunter.”
“Not exactly a high bar to meet,” I said dryly. “Keep at it. Even I know that it’s a bad idea to raise a kid in a home full of deadly weaponry.”
Garrison didn’t look as if he was disappointed by my refusal. He cocked his head as he considered the latest file Blaze had passed on to him. “I think these people could actually have real potential. We’ll just have to see if they let any red flags slip when I chat them up in person.”
Right then, Talon’s door swung open, but it was Carter who walked out. We’d brought him back to the apartment with us too, of course, but ever since I’d told him how his forgery efforts had helped us take down the Blood Hunter, something in him had relaxed. Maybe it was Steffie working her mother hen vibe on him too, or maybe it was him seeing how gently we were treating Brittany. Maybe he’d simply needed proof that he really could contribute toward his quest for justice in a different way, one that didn’t require hurting innocents.
In any case, after our first day back, we’d felt comfortable removing his restraints. We’d set up a cot in Talon’s room mainly because he was the one who’d grumbled the least about having to share. Julius was already talking about arranging a new home base—somewhere we could all have our own bedrooms and I wasn’t stashed away in the workout room anymore on a cot of my own.
The thought of a home designed with me in mind made me a little giddy.
We were still keeping a close eye on Carter, but he hadn’t shown any signs of regretting his new allegiance with us so far. The contrary, really. As he bustled over to us, Talon stepping out behind him with a baleful look in Carter’s direction, I could tell my brother was on another of his crusades.
He came up to the table and caught my gaze, keeping his voice quiet with obvious awareness of the little girl nearby. “I’ve got a whole list now.”
“A list?” Garrison muttered. “What are we, a grocery store?”
Carter made a face at him and then turned his attention back to me. He seemed to have decided that I was the ultimate authority in the crew even though that honor technically still belonged to Julius, but I didn’t mind him relying on me. That was exactly what I’d been hoping to offer as a big sister.
