The Cat In A Dark, Dark, Closet

Looking up from the floor of the closet, I squint at the intruder. Rafe's face is a mask of concern as he shakes his long mane. Frustration radiates from his frame as he slides in the door and pads over to me.

"Hey."

"Oi, love. What in the hell is going on? You had a good day. It was nice to see you looking happy."

I give him a look of complete disbelief. "Are they not hitting you with the crazy? Is it only me?"

"I think so, pet. What are they doing?"

"They can't leave anything alone. First, Sari poked at Taurus and Talia; now Rhea is whining. You know how she's been lately—like a fucking emo teenager. She's spouted hatred for him and Talia the entire time I've known her. Why is she latching onto them now?"

"They've both been ridiculously needy. Emotions are running high. With Sari and Wilde aboard the crazy train, it's been bad for everyone. I can only assume that we're not the only ones taking the brunt of their bullshit."

I lay my head on his knee, enjoying the cool, enclosed space of the closet while I'm this upset. "I was texting with Taurus while he's on assignment in Rio. Rhea's been after him big time. I bet the big dummy regrets giving her his stupid number now."

"Yeah?" Rafe's eyes narrow, suddenly picking up on the actual source of my distress.

"She wheedled him into a corner with her ‘poor me' shit. Somehow, she got him to agree to fuck her to piss off Sari and Wilde."

His body tightens, anger flooding our bond. Rafe won't rage at her about this, even if it hurts him. He won't tell Rhea that she can't fuck Taurus. The thought of her using the person who she's vilified for years for a revenge fuck scheme infuriates him. He's heard the same vitriol about Taurus being a complete bastard. Yet here she is, so eager to tick off Sari that she's willing to jump right back into that situation. When it goes bad, he'll be the one to pick up the pieces. Rafe has done nothing but support her despite her blindness to his pain.

It infuriates me she's doing this to him because she's jealous of me.

"Taurus isn't happy about it, either. He thought I could get him out of it by sending one of you guys to flip her. I literally laughed in his face. None of you could give her the confirmation of her faux bad girl persona that she wants from him."

"That's harsh, love. Deserved?"

"Yes," I whisper. "She was rude and hurtful to me today. Then she did this garbage, so I told Taurus what she'd been dissing him for years. I was so angry, baby. I'm exhausted by all of them."

"You spilled the tea about her grudge?" He looks shocked and I don't blame him.

I'm known for being a vault for people's secrets. Sometimes, I'm even a fixer of problems. I don't rat people out.

"I couldn't help it. Her hypocrisy sent me over the deep end. Those people are supposed to love us, but they are incapable of allowing us to be happy. She's using him, and even if he knows it, he doesn't understand that it's not just to hurt Sari. Rhea will never admit that she's assuaging her insecurity about us."

"Hellooooooo? Calling all kitties and long-haired lazies!"

I can feel the color draining from my face as my heart stops. What in the bloody hell are Sari and Wilde doing here? We have not had a good morning and I cannot deal with their shit.

I murmur low into my mate's mind. ~Do you think we can hide? ~

"My Darkness? Are you in the closet with my noble one? What happened?"

Rafe gives me a look that says we're fucked. ~Can you bend time and space to not be here? Otherwise, we're stuck. ~

I know someone who can bend space, but Taurus isn't available right now. If he were, I would have had this conversation with him. We only scratched the surface of Rhea's treachery in text. When I show him the entire picture, he'll be much angrier. "No."

The door opens and they peep in, ruining my hiding place. I look up, giving them a forced smile. "Fancy seeing you guys here."

Sari gives Wilde a look before plopping down next to me. She holds out a bottle of bourbon. "We've all had a day—same person, same issues. Let's chat."

Wilde crawls over to Rafe, who looks defeated Wilde wraps around him. He gives me a look, knowing that I should get coddled, not him. Honestly, he's right. I let it go because I'm not in the mood for a cuddle—at least, from Wilde.

"Tell us what happened, my Darkness. Let us ease your burden."

That is an ironic offer. Rhea aside, he is definitely part of my burden. We'll leave that alone for now—maybe forever. "She's in one of her funks. Taurus being around is making it worse."

"I'm in supportive girl mode," Sari grins. "Rhea's been driving me crazy. What's she saying to you?"

Uh-huh. I see where this is going.

She's had problems with Rhea, but she only wants to talk about mine. I smell a setup. "I don't know if I'm supposed to know this shit." That practically guarantees they will repeat this conversation, but what the hell? "I don't know if I should repeat it."

Sari arches a brow, her curiosity piqued. Turning to Wilde, she gives him a look. "Honey, why don't you and Rafe go find glasses and some munchies? This sounds like girl talk."

At least she picked up on my reluctance to talk about in the boys' presence. I really don't want to repeat the specific things Taurus said in front of Rafe. It would break his already ravaged heart. "That sounds like a good idea."

Rafe gives me a warning look, reminding me to tread carefully. Rolling to his feet, he takes Wilde's hand. Wilde isn't as possessive of me as he is of Rafe. He forced the situation with Victor and made enormous problems with Alistair. He'll always take alone time with my mate. Of course, that also means that Rafe is taking the brunt of the angry demon, but I can't convince him not to be the sacrificial lamb.

"Now, tell Auntie Sari what happened." She twists the cap off the bourbon, clearly not worried about the glasses.

I take a swig—a dangerous gambit with Sari. I'm glad she can't see my face, because this shit is awful. Her taste in liquor is abhorrent. "Rhea is trying to get Taurus to fuck her. According to her, her current bedmates aren't giving it to her as ‘spicy' as he did."

Sari looks taken aback. I probably made the same face when Taurus relayed that gem. Rhea wanted Wilde to treat her like a princess from the beginning. Conversely, she's always pushed Rafe to treat her like a bad girl. Both of them gave her everything she wanted and more—I've seen it firsthand. Apparently, that wasn't enough for the gaping wounds in her self-esteem. "I'm glad you didn't say that in front of them."

"The hypocrisy of asking him to fuck her is what boggles my mind. The revenge and the ‘spicy sex' thing are both complete bullshit. We both know it."

"What do you mean?"

This is Sari playing dumb. She understands, but she wants me to say it.

"I don't care who she sleeps with. Rafe might caution her to be careful, but he'd never try to stop her. I wouldn't even what she excuse she used to get Taurus to sleep with her. It wouldn't chafe me she's being an idiot, except she gave me an hour-long lecture on how careful I had to be with Taurus. All the stuff that comes from the ‘not cuddling' crap we've been hearing for months. Look how fast she throws that out the window because she's got a burr in her saddle."

"It's her hang up about being ‘special,' Dels. If Taurus sleeps with you, she's not ‘special' because she's not the only one besides Talia that he's fucked."

"Oh, bollocks, Sari. Taurus and I are not sleeping together." Lies—that's all lies. I have to lie, though. Not lying would put me in a much worse position. I can't have Sari and Wilde go even nuttier while I'm dealing with all of this bloody drama.

I don't have the fucking spoons right now.

"I know, but he's paying attention to you. To her, it's inevitable."

I shake my head because this is so stupid and childish. "She's rushing into a situation that she knows will lead to her getting hurt. To make it worse, she's fucked everything else up to get it. Rafe will be the one stuck mopping up when this crashes and burns."

"Maybe she thinks that their texting is a precursor—like if he acknowledges her, he'll give her what she wants this time. You forget I knew her before The Rift. Rhea has never had male friends, just crushes and assholes she let use her. When guys pay attention to her, she creates these romance novels in her head. She assumes they'll follow along every time."

"Taurus said he was trying to help an old friend. I don't think she realizes he thinks of her like that, or that he feels being obligated to do this."

Sari takes a swig of the bourbon and belches, chuckling. "Calling her an old friend would put her ass in a snit for sure. Trying to get her to see that would be a nightmare. Plus, she's going to know that you and Taurus have a close relationship because he told you. That's going to send her over the deep end."

"I know! But seriously, Sari, how does fucking Taurus help anyone but her? What is she trying to accomplish? All she's done so far is misread him and flame out on the people who care about her."

"She's mad at me. I tried to help her, and she snapped at me, so I told her I can't talk to her until she's rational. Maybe, subconsciously, she is trying to fuck everything up. She gets pretty low this time of year because of the dead brother anniversary." She pauses, sighing. "Not that it's an excuse. It's been over a decade and she's the one who refuses to deal with it."

I snatch the bourbon and drink deep, letting it burn its way down my throat. Christ, this is terrible. I might as well be drinking varnish. I ignore the topic of Rhea's brother—we've all hashed that out ad infinitum with her. I can't fix her past life damage for her. "Taurus tells me when things bother him. I think he's going to tell her he changed his mind. He's not into it and he seems to regret getting caught up in her drama."

"Honey, I'm okay with you being friends with Taurus. I'm not jealous or upset, though I am concerned because of my past issues with him and Talia. You're a different person than me, so you should be okay."

I'm not touching that diatribe with a ten-foot pole. "We haven't killed each other yet. Maybe a few idle threats. I know who I'm dealing with." I know what I'm doing with Taurus and we are not discussing it. If this is a fuck-up, it's mine to make.

"I'm all about you being happy." Sari pats my knee and I fight the urge to cringe. She's done nothing but help Wilde torture Rafe and me for months. She's so fucking full of it, but with Rhea and me on the outs, she's making her move.

"This whole situation reeks of hypocrisy. It's a land mine waiting to be stepped on."

She nods. "If he doesn't want to do this, he shouldn't. She won't want it to be a one-time thing. Rhea can't handle that. Look at her mess with Mayhem in the winter. It's like a direct-to-video part two to her mess with Taurus. She's not a fuck-and-run kind of gal, but she keeps acting like she can do it."

"He said she started by playing to him for sympathy, which she didn't get. Then she switched tactics to the sex thing. I mean, Sari, she's bitched about that ‘go to your mate for that' comment the entire time I've known her. But here she is, begging for history to repeat itself. Rhea basically told Taurus that Wilde and Rafe treat her like fine china."

"Seriously? Christ, I'm trying hard not to get angry, Dels, but we both know that's horseshit. We've both been there, so we definitely know it's a lie."

"That sent me through the roof, too. I didn't feel like explaining how much group shit we've been in, but I clarified I was certain she was full of shit. Honestly, I don't know how anyone could be more open to what she needs. You know how Rafe is."

"What are we going to do?"

I shrug. "There are no good options. Confrontation will only get us lies and betrayal. Ignoring it is like waiting for a bomb to go off. We can only hope that Taurus shuts it down." I can't say how incredibly overtaxed I am with all this emotional crap. I can't tell her that Rhea pulling this crap is making me lose the fucking plot. Showing Sari a weak spot is like baiting a bear with a steak.

It's not a question of if it will attack, only when.

"Is that it, Dels? How do we forgive her for selling the people she loves—that we love—down the river for a fling? She's only doing it because she's feeling sorry for herself. She could have just come to us and we would have supported her. She didn't want that. She wanted an ego stroke from the first willing dick that didn't know better."

"I don't have an answer to that. It's a bridge that I can't burn until I cross it. I sure as hell don't want to tell Rafe. He's been so understanding of her crazy."

Sari nods and takes the last gulp of the bourbon, leaning back against the door of the closet. "I finally get why you like to hide in here. This is pretty fucking amazing."

"Yeah, I know. It's enclosed…separate…safe…dark…soundproof. All of that makes for a comfy hideout."

"Do you mind if we chill here until the boys come back? We can talk about girly stuff."

"Sounds like a plan. I bet I can find some more booze, too."