Epilogue

EPILOGUE

One Year Later

With a heavy grunt, I pushed the back door open, and once I heard the door slam shut behind me, I waddled my way to the stack of boxes I'd been bringing in. The last thing I needed was another cat to get loose. As sweet as it had been for so many of our customers to come together to form a search party for an adventurous cat, I didn't need to go through that again.

A shaggy head of hair popped around the corner. "Hey, uh, Hunter?"

I glanced at Rich. "What?"

"We have a small problem."

"If this is about you still not finding the perfect cup of coffee for Kai, I'm not helping you."

"Aww, I know damn well you made him something that made him happy."

That was true, but I tried very hard not to think too hard about that night, content to let it sink to the recesses of my mind where it could sit in obscurity. That was the second worst night of my adult life, and it deserved to be shelved with the rest. But I couldn't tell Rich that since it would involve some key details, including all the bodies I had to deal with and how I barely remembered what I'd done with the coffee that night.

"Maybe he just enjoyed it because I made it," I said, setting my hand on a box. "Thankfully, that's something you'll never be able to replicate."

"Ugh," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Love."

"And sex."

"Gross."

"What did you really need?"

"That woman is back."

"Which one?"

"The orange cat lover."

"Oh God," I groaned, rubbing my face. "How many times do I have to tell her?"

"I don't want to throw around accusations, but uh, I'm pretty sure she's keeping an eye on all of us, waiting for a moment to make her move."

As much as I loved what I did, sometimes dealing with the public was the most tiresome thing. It made me want to hang up my hat and manage from the back—hire a floor manager and hide from the world so I didn't have to deal with anyone. Then again, that would be a problem since I was supposed to be the face of the café. That meant I had a well-loved reputation; if needed, it could serve me if someone came sniffing around.

Sometimes I didn't know if I should love or hate that my actual job was a damn fine cover for my second job.

"I'll talk to her. Just keep an eye on her until I get there," I told him with a roll of my eyes. "Apparently, talking it out doesn't seem to be working. I'll have to come up with something else."

"Fine, fine," he said with a heavy sigh and returned to the front counter.

Thankfully, the delivery was for toys and new beds, and all I needed to do was take the two heavy boxes of food and put them in the back storage. I could leave them on the floor, but that just invited the more ambitious and gluttonous cats to chew through the cardboard to get into the bags. I'd dealt with that a few times but didn't want to go through it again.

With a sigh, I peered through the door leading out to the floor. The café was as busy as ever during the lunch period. I watched people milling around, some enjoying coffee while others were preoccupied with the cats and busy trying to coax one or more of them closer for pets or treats. Stepping out, I scanned the room as I always did when I came back in and found nothing out of place.

I had always done it, even before everything in my life had taken an abrupt turn. Now, it came with the added need from a year of training. I had to give Zeke credit. He put together an effective training plan. Of course, that training had pushed me physically. It was a good thing I'd spent the two years before staying in shape with a strict program otherwise, I would have been hurting.

The rest had all been mental, some just learning, and some for the required stamina and strength. Unsurprisingly, Kai had become better at getting around quietly and figuring out ways to get where we weren't supposed to. I was better at being the ‘face' of our duo, and while he wasn't prone to giving compliments, Zeke seemed pleased whenever I had to talk my way into something. We'd had to learn a lot: how to get through locks and security systems, maneuver around computers, and dozens of other things.

The only thing left was ‘interrogation resistance' training. Which left a few gruesome and unhappy images in my head, but that was a problem for another day.

My eyes settled on the small shelf behind the counter before I stepped out to deal with the problem on the floor. It was a picture of Brooke smiling in that warm yet sarcastic way she had, her brow quirked as if she had something funny or witty to say. She had joined Lucas in the halls of my memories, of people I had lost to monsters in the world that I couldn't save.

Rich, Arwen, and I had agreed to put it up behind the desk to remember the woman who'd been a vital part of the café and adoptions. As far as anyone was concerned, the police included, Kai and I had gone to stay at a little bungalow at the edge of Port Dale. She'd come in early and found the people who'd cut the security system and broken in. The result was her having either fled or been carried upstairs into my apartment, where she'd been murdered before they made off with a few thousand dollars in cash and some of my things.

I hoped wherever she was, she forgave me for the lie and that the tears I shed while the police were there after I'd ‘found' her body were as genuine as they could be. I still mourned her, and while he didn't talk about it, I knew Kai did as well. They might not have ever been a serious thing, but they'd always cared about each other in their own strange way.

"See?" Rich hissed beside me, yanking me out of my thoughts and bringing my attention back to the floor. And sure enough, there was that damned woman. She was insistent that she should be able to adopt Clem and, from the looks of it, was trying to fit him into her oversized shoulder bag.

"Alright," I said, opening the counter and stepping out, my voice loud enough to catch attention. "Susan put Clem down. He is a permanent resident here. And if you try taking him, I will press charges."

The woman's mouth fell open in shock. "I would never try to steal!"

"Then please get Clem's large butt out of your bag and step away from the door," I said. "You've been watched. We can see what you're doing."

"You can't prove that! Just because I wanted to carry this sweet boy around doesn't mean I—" She stopped when a shadow loomed over me, and a familiar pair of large hands descended to scoop Clem out of her shocked arms.

"I'll take him," Kai said, his hard face and eyes lingering on her before walking away. If Clem had seemed accepting of Susan's bag, he appeared to have reached a Zen-like state now he was curled up in Kai's arms. I smirked, wondering just how much Kai was aware of, and then let my eyes linger on his ass for a moment before turning back.

"Look, Susan, I'm more than happy to introduce you to a few cats around here who are up for adoption, as I told you. But you cannot have Clem. That is Kai's cat. Not yours, not this café's, not mine, it's his. The man was never allowed a pet in his life and was one of those guys who always acted like he didn't like them, especially cats," I said and glanced toward Kai meaningfully. He had appeared terrifying and angry before, but it was tough to see him that way when he stood behind the counter, carefully giving Clem a treat as he talked softly to him. "And well?—"

"That's so sweet," a couple of girls nearby cooed. "Is he single?"

"Absolutely the fuck not," I said with a laugh. "I've got a claim on that one."

"Damn," one girl muttered, but that apparently wasn't too heartbreaking as they immediately put their heads together while they whispered.

"Look," I said to Susan as gently as I could now she was no longer fussing. "It's his, alright? He loves that cat fiercely, and he babies him more than me, but don't let him hear that, or he'll think I think he doesn't treat me right."

Susan stared at me for a few seconds, her eyes getting watery before she dropped her gaze. "I'm sorry. He just reminds me of my Ringo. He went over the Rainbow Bridge a few months ago, and I don't know what to do without him. And I see him, and I?—"

What remained of my anger fizzled out as I watched her valiantly try to keep herself together before reaching out and taking her gently by the elbow. "How about this? I'll get you some of that tea you like. And tonight, I'll do some searching. I've got connections with all sorts of foster groups and other adoption agencies. If you don't want any of the ones available here, we'll find you another."

"None of them are going to be my Ringo," she said with a sniffle.

"No, and honestly? I think it's best you don't get another orange cat for a while."

"Why?"

"Because you might expect the new cat to be just like him, and no cat will ever be like your Ringo. It's fairer to you and the new cat that you let it find a new place in your heart, alright?"

She gave me a small, trembling smile. "You sound like you know what you're talking about."

"I do," I said, letting my eyes lock with Kai, knowing he was listening, before sitting her down. "Now, let's get Rich to make you some tea, and we can talk about what you might be interested in having, alright?"

That fire was swiftly put out, but it took another couple of hours before Susan finally decided to leave, a new spring in her step, a number for one of the adoption agencies on the other side of the city, and a newfound affection for a gray cat with one eye and half a tail who understandably had a terror of dogs. Before I could even begin to help close the place down, Arwen and the newest floor worker were quickly on me.

"Absolutely not," Arwen said with a wave. "We'll clean up and lock up. You just make sure to triple-check everything after we're gone. I don't need something...I need you safe."

"You've never worked a day in your life," I told her with a grumble, even as her concern touched me. Not that it was necessary. I had killed three men without the training Zeke had given me and then some on the side from Kai. And if I thought Zeke was a harsh instructor, he was nothing compared to the brutality Kai was willing to put me through. I told myself it was because he needed me at my best, but damn, being taken to the floor a dozen times hurt.

Still, it eventually started becoming great foreplay, so everything had a silver lining.

"Should I point out that Brooke would be saying the same thing?" the ‘new' girl, Trina, asked me with a small smile. I liked her a lot, and not because she resembled her cousin significantly. Yet she was also not like Brooke, despite how close the two had been growing up. Trina was sweeter and gentler, but there was also a spine made of steel in that thin body, and she could shoot daggers out of her eyes just as sharply as Brooke. I had been hesitant to bring her on a month after Brooke had been murdered, but I hadn't regretted the choice.

"That's mean," I said with a sigh, knowing that was my white flag. "Fine. I should probably go make sure Kai hasn't tried to find a way to put a tracking chip in Clem."

"Have a good night," they said as I made my way upstairs. I noticed the boxes I'd left behind were gone, and I was sure the man I loved was to blame.

"You and Clem are safe!" I called as I closed the door behind me, kicking off my shoes and beginning to tear my clothes off, leaving a trail behind me.

"I heard what was going on," he said, and I stopped at the entrance to the living room. By the time The Collective had been done, you would have never known how much blood and death had been in this apartment. That hadn't stopped me from having the floors changed and the walls repainted, and then, in a fit, had all the furniture changed as well. It still hadn't removed the stain I could see on the floor in my mind's eye, but now I could at least enter the room without fighting to push the memory away.

My eyes still lingered on the spot where her body had laid, but when I looked up, Kai was waiting patiently in the chair, letting me have my moment, ready to help if needed but letting me fight it on my own. "Uh, sorry, and thanks for swooping in. I was ready to throttle her."

"Until she told you the truth," Kai said, his eyes drifting down. "Planning on taking those off too?"

I glanced down, realizing I'd stripped to my underwear. I couldn't help but twist around, showing him my ass before turning back. "These?"

"Yes, those," he said in a low voice that most would call a growl but reminded me of the sweet rottweiler a college friend with benefits had. The dog was sweet but expressed his pleasure through growling, which the guy had called purring.

"I might," I said, hooking my finger into the band and pulling them down to show part of my ass before letting it ride back up to my waist. "Or maybe not."

I turned and began walking off, listening carefully for any sound he made, a little game I'd made up whenever I wanted to practice what I was still being taught. Only when I heard the slight scuff on the floor did I burst into laughter and took off running. I wasn't trying that hard, and he caught up before I could get to the bed. His arms wrapped around me and picked me up, throwing me onto the mattress before he pounced.

It would forever be a relief to have this firmly back in my life. He could manhandle me as much as he wanted and treat me roughly, and I wouldn't feel the slightest trickle of fear. All I knew was the pleasure he gave me, that he always tried to give me, even when it burned as he entered me, claiming me all over again. I could feel his strength as he thrust into me and held me on the bed and not feel the faint panic that arose at the sign of danger.

Up until I felt him come inside me, leaving me to make a mess of myself as I cried out, I knew only pleasure and safety.

Minutes later, he gently shifted beside me on the bed and kissed my cheek. "I love you."

"Someone's feeling affectionate," I said with a chuckle, turning into him to throw an arm over his waist and bury my face in his chest. "I love you too. Always have, always will."

"Good," he said, pressing his face into my hair. "You okay?"

We were looking down the barrel of the worst part of the training coming up, and then we'd have to start fulfilling our end of the bargain. A bargain that had come about because four men had decided to take something that wasn't theirs and break my heart into a million pieces. But that was the funny thing about hearts, they could be mended, but sometimes the pieces didn't go together all that well. Sometimes, the mending left the heart with jagged pieces that stuck out, cutting and shredding people.

And so that's what I'd done. I'd shredded four men, cutting them from life and bloodying my hands in the process. It had cost Brooke her life and me the last of my innocence. Now, we were stuck in a deal, and I still didn't know what path it would take us down. So much about me and my life had changed, and the future was uncertain, but there was one thing I still had that counted for so much.

"I have you," I said, breathing in his smell. "That's all I need."