Chapter Seventeen

Priest

Sitting in Beth's coffee shop, I watched enthralled as I listened to my wife chew her brother a new asshole.

In fact, I couldn't have asked for anything better.

Rat bastard deserved this, and more, for pawning Cameron off on me.

I hope she hexed the cowering weasel.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one interested in what the town's local witch had to say because I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen Beth's shop so full.

From the moment I realized my wife had up and left the city, I am not ashamed to say I reached out to the only person on the planet who could find her. So, imagine my surprise when Sypher tracked her straight to Gunner's house. After learning she was safe, I spent the rest of my time trying to figure out how I was going to get her to forgive me.

I knew my wife.

Woman could hold a grudge. Especially when she knew she had done nothing wrong. The fact was, my beautiful, sweet, peacemaker of a wife was hell on wheels when the mood suited her.

Make her angry and she made Bailey look like... well, a cupcake.

And while I knew eventually she would forgive me, I wasn't holding my breath that it would be any time soon. In fact, I was expecting no less than a few months of penance.

"What do you mean you didn't file the papers?" she barked at me.

"Don't yell at me, babe. Your brother was the one who didn't listen."

My wife rounded on her brother, who quickly backpedaled right into Gunner. "I couldn't, Sis. It felt wrong."

"I don't care what it felt like. That wasn't your choice to make!"

"But it was wrong," Scribe whined. "Do you know what Mom and Dad would do to me if I filed those papers? Not to mention Freyja and Athena? I love you, but Freyja is mean as hell and Athena scares the crap out of me."

"When I get done with you, I will scare you too!"

"Come on, Sis. You know, deep in your heart, I did the right thing."

"No. What I know is now I have to find an attorney who will do what you couldn't!"

"Not happening, babe," I stated, sitting up as my wife slowly turned to glare at me.

God, I'd forgotten what a temper she had on her.

"I've changed my mind."

She scoffed. "You changed your mind? Just like that?"

"Yep," I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Well, too fucking bad!" she shouted, storming out of Beth's shop as Bailey giggled.

"Damn, Priest. I think she means it."

"She's just angry at me."

"I've seen angry." Bailey shook her head. "Phoebe is witchy-woo pissed. I'd be very careful if I were you, ‘cause if she decides to put a spell on you, I'm going to help her gather the ingredients."

I smirked at that. "Too late. She already did that ten years ago."

Watching as the women trotted off after Phoebe, I reached for my cup of coffee when Scribe, King, and my other brothers all sat down around me, staring at me as if I'd grown another head.

Narrowing my eyes, I groaned, "What?"

"You're freaking us out," Gunner admitted, leaning forward to get a better look at me.

Pyro simply stared with a confused look on his face, while Frank and King looked bored.

"Gunner's got a point," Enigma said, frowning. "You are the moody one. The grumpy brother. The drunk brother. But since you returned from the big city, you've changed. Spill."

"Shouldn't you all be at work or something? Who's watching the kids?"

"Granny and Martha, and don't change the subject," Gunner quickly said. "We want to know what the fuck happened."

Refusing to answer, Scribe groaned. "Look, man. I got love for you, but I am not going down for you. Phoebe is my sister, and she is madder than a hornet right now. I don't like taking sides, but I'm taking sides. Sister trumps the douche that broke her heart. Sorry."

I could respect that, but like it or not, he was going to help me fix this. I just didn't know how yet. I refused to stay in the city without Phoebe, and I didn't think twice about leaving when Sypher told me she returned to Rosewood, but I still had an obligation to Robin and her case. While I wasn't happy, I couldn't leave the woman in the lurch.

"Help us out here, Priest." Pyro sighed. "What the hell happened in New York?"

Looking at my coffee cup, I simply replied, "To use Stevie's words, I had a come-to-Jesus moment. I won't go into it, but since then, I haven't been able to think of anything else."

"My mom doesn't believe in Jesus."

I smirked at that because Scribe was right.

Stevie was the least devout person I'd ever met.

Second to my wife.

"This have to do with your past or your wife?" King asked.

"Both." I sighed, looking directly at King. "Look. I have a lot of shit in my head that I still need to work through, and I'm still working on that case with Robin Calloway that's going to dredge up a lot of painful memories, but my primary concern is my wife. I said some hurtful things before she left. I can't take them back, and I'm not proud of what I said, but I can try to fix what I broke."

"Do you know how hard it is to piss my sister off? It's damn-near impossible, Priest. I should know. I've done some bone-headed things in my life where she was concerned, but she's never lost her temper around me. I don't know what the hell you said to her, but, dude, if I were you, I would start begging now."

"What do you need from us?" King plainly asked.

"Time," I replied. "I'm not sure about anything yet, but I know I love my wife. I always have, and if she can forgive me, I want to try to be the man she married all those years ago. I can't change the past, but I don't have a future without her. I know that now. Which reminds me. The Malpas family will be arriving soon."

Scribe stiffened. "What the hell does that mean?"

"It means I need all the help I can get, and your family has offered a helping hand. All of them."

"God help us all." Scribe groaned.

I simply replied, "Amen."

Later that night, I sat at the bar, drinking a cup of coffee, and I watched the madness that was the Malpas family.

The first to arrive was Athena, who blew into the clubhouse like a woman on a mission, with several bags and a sage stick, which she lit the second she saw me. Dropping everything at the door, she marched her quirky butt straight over to me, slapped me upside the head, then said something unintelligible when she started waving that damn sage stick all around me like that would get rid of years of bad juju.

Could have told her that nothing would remove the stain of my past, but did I tell her that?

Nope.

I sat there like a good brother-in-law, let her do her witchy-woo thing before she marched her ass off to her favorite cabin, to do whatever it was she did.

The second to arrive was Freyja, who stormed into the clubhouse— another woman on a mission. The second she saw Scribe, she started barking orders like some four-star general, ready to kick ass and take names later. The woman didn't know the meaning of no. To make matters worse, Bailey thought the whole thing was funny as hell and backed the infuriating woman up one hundred percent, even offering to help, much to King's irritation.

However, when Stevie and Woody arrived, along with Ares, Scribe lost his shit. "What the fuck is she doing here?"

"Ares is our twelfth." Stevie smiled.

"Twelfth what?"

"Dimeter Malpas." Stevie groaned. "You know damn well we need twelve for the spell. We need a full coven."

"That's only eleven and only if Phoebe joins!"

"My daughter will come when the earth beckons."

"Wouldn't count on it," Scribe huffed, plopping his ass on the couch, crossing his arms, sulking. "Still need one more."

"Why are you so upset?" Henley asked.

"Because I just got rid of them, and now they're back, en masse."

Part of me wanted to feel for my brother, but paybacks were a coven of witches!

Looking around the room, Stevie frowned. "Where is your sister, Dimeter?"

"Why don't you ask her husband?" Scribe grumbled, pointing his finger at me, glaring at me while Bailey laughed uncontrollably.

Woman really did have a sick sense of humor.

"Because I am asking you."

Huffing, he grumbled, "At Gunner's house."

I always wondered what it would be like to have a big, rambunctious family. People who would stop their lives and drop everything if called upon. Looking around the room at my brothers, their wives, and my in-laws, for the first time in my life, I felt like I actually belonged to something bigger than myself.

Everyone was so different, all from different backgrounds, and yet, we all worked. Everyone cared, wanted to be here, and was eager to help. It was humbling and partly sad since I had no one to bring to this so-called party. My mother was dead, and my father was rotting in jail for his crimes.

I was the last of my line.

"You're not the last," Athena muttered when she walked back into the main room to greet her parents as she quickly turned and smiled at me.

Okay.

Scribe was right.

Athena was just plain fucking scary.