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Worse than she deserved.
Briefly, her eyes closed and then a cold sort of smile spread over her lips, just a flash before she suppressed it.
“I understand that you’re angry,” she started, deadly calm. “You were twelve when I left, and for years, I was the only semblance of a maternal relationship you knew. And then I was gone. You get to be angry about that.” She nodded. “But I need you to remember… I was a fucking child too. ‘Trained’, abused, used,just like you. I’m not the enemy.”
“You’re right,” I conceded, hands raised. “That shit was uncalled for. I’m sorry.”
She shook her head, blowing me off. “Don’t be. Honestly, if you want to be angry with me… you know what? Okay. You wouldn’t be the first person.”
For a long moment, we just looked at each other, neither of us speaking.
“What are you telling me any of this for?” I asked, finally breaking the silence.
“I’m telling you this as a preamble to the fact that although I understand your anger… I’m still gonna need some answers from you. For example –again –why are you in Vegas?”
“I like the sounds the slot machines make,” I answered, offering her a grin.
From the look on her face, she wasn’t amused.
“Look, I can’t force you to join us. But Icannothave you running around this city without knowing your motives.” She shrugged. “I have people to look out for. You understand that, right?”
I frowned. “I’m not here to disrupt your precious family, if that’s what you’re concerned about,” I told her. “I’ve been laying low; I haven’t bothered anybody.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “You haven’t bothered anybody? I heard you beat five or six niggas up,” she said, tossing her hands. “Broken bones, all that.” She laughed. “I betthey’refeeling quite bothered.”
“They started it,” I said, even though it wasn’tquitethe truth and already knowing what her response was going to be.
She laughed. “That was always your thing wasn’t it?” she asked. “They started it.No matter that you had the power to walk away.They started it, so you had to finish.”
“You’re damn right I did,” I grunted, really not appreciating her tone. “You’ve got a lot of nerve, being on this maternal energy with me.”
She sighed. “You’re right. I don’t have any license to take that tone with you anymore. But the fact remains… you running around Vegas doing God knows what is a liability for me and the reputation I’ve built.”
“That sounds selfish as fuck.”
She shook her head. “No—I’m worried about my people that I brought here. They came in because they want peace. They don’t want to be hunted; they don’t want any trouble. But if somebody withthaton their arm,” she said, pointing at my thorns, “The same ink they wear,is going around causing trouble, what do you think it tells the world about them?”
“Not to fuck with them,” I countered, and she nodded.
“Yes, but in more than just the way you’re implying, which is what I need you to get. Don’t hire me for a job. Don’t say yes to a date. Any number of things. You should know, these people have been through enough.You’vebeen through enough, Nyx. Believe it or not, you need people. Let me help you.”
“Appreciate the offer, but I think I’m good,” I said, shaking my head. “I made it this far. I’ll be okay.”
“It’s not about being okay, it’s about thriving.”
“I don’t give a shit about that,” I admitted. I wasn’t there mentally—wasn’t anywhere close. “You’ve got all these questions about why I’m in Vegas, how about you tell me how you found me?”
She sighed, then pointed at her neck, and for a moment I was confused, until a little itch reminded me of my fresh ink.
Shit.
“Okay, buthow?”
“You attracted the wrong person’s curiosity,” she answered. “Consider yourself lucky I was filling in atReverie, because if ol’ girl had asked a differentRoseabout her ink, she might be pushing up daisies right now.”
I frowned. “What the fuck are you talking about?” I asked, even as my brain tried to pull up an answer of my own.
Reverie?
