“Go back to the part where you started talking to animals. You said all the other guys have powers, too? What can they do?”
“Normally, I’d never share this,” he says hesitantly.“But I guess it’s okay. As long as you promise not to tell anyone else.”
“I won’t.” I give his hand a reassuring squeeze.
“It started when I was six, right after my parents abandoned me. I stayed home for two days waiting for them. Eventually, I was too hungry. We never had much in the house, and I was too short to reach the shelves where they kept what little food we did have.”
“That’s so sad. I can’t imagine how scared you were. Only six, too,” I whisper.
“Yeah. So, I left to go find food. The quick mart was two blocks away from my house. My dad had taken me there many times before, so I knew how to walk there.”
“And nobody stopped to ask why you were out by yourself?”
“Nobody cared. In that neighborhood, it wasn’t unusual for kids to be left alone for hours. A lot of the parents worked more than one job. It was a poor neighborhood, and there was enough illegal stuff going on there that people looked the other way.”
“I’m so sorry you had to grow up in a place like that.”
“Wouldn’t say I grew up there. No, I didn’t do that until that first night at Blackstone’s. That’s when I learned that there’s true evil in the world. But before that, I learned to talk to the animals who also ate out of the dumpster.”
“How did you get into the dumpster? If you were six, you couldn’t have reached it.”
“Imagine my disappointment the day I figured that out.” He laughs bitterly.“But that’s when my animal friends showed up to save me.”
“Is that why you have a bald eagle tattoo on your arm?”
“Yeah, and a nutria swamp rat on my back.” He raises his shirt so I can see. I couldn’t make out much in the candlelight last night, so I didn’t get a good look at his tattoos.“The eagle’s my favorite.”
I trace my finger over the eagle tattoo on his upper arm. It’s kind of silly in a way because it’s wearing aviator sunglasses and an American flag doo rag on its head, but somehow, it fits him.
“Why does it say‘Murika’under the eagle?” I ask.
“Because I believe in America. It’s kind of tongue-in-cheek, but I’m proud of my Southern heritage. I’ll always consider the south my first true home, but my family here at the club is more important than anything. I stay here in this god-awful cold because I can’t leave the others. We all lived through hell, and none of us would be alive right now if we hadn’t come together to escape that dungeon.”
“You said animals helped you?”
“Yes. I learned to talk to them when I desperately needed food. The rats would climb into the dumpster to retrieve whatever they could. Then they’d share with me.”
“That seems pretty altruistic for a rat.”
“They felt bad for me.” He shrugs.“We were all starving and hungry. Don’t get me wrong, they ate their fill first, but then they’d bring me any leftovers. It was enough to get by. I didn’t starve to death, which was a definite possibility back then. I got used to being hungry, so when Blackstone kept us for days without food, I was able to tell the others how to deal with the pain.”
“Oh, sweetie.” I pull him into my arms and hold him tight.“You went through so much.”
“Yeah.” He wraps his arms around me and pulls me into his lap.“That’s why you have to believe me when I say I’m just doing the best I can.”
“I do believe you.”
“That means everything to me,” he whispers, lowering his lips to mine. When they meet, I melt into his kiss. Last night, we shared passion beyond my wildest dreams, but this is more than just passion, it’s something deeper, and I don’t want to lose it.
“Tell me how you ended up with Blackstone,” I whisper after he breaks the kiss.
“Child protective services got a call from the quick mart owner. They found me hanging out with the rats behind the building. The animals tried to protect me, but the guys who came for me kicked them out of the way. They had guns, and I was afraid they were going to shoot my friends, so I went with them. I never saw the rats after that, but I still think about them sometimes. Up until Nina found us, those rats were the closest thing I ever had to a friend.”
“Now, you have her, as well as the others.”
“Yes. I met Scar my first night in the basement. After CPS picked me up, they put me into a series of group homes. Each one seemed worse than the last, so I kept running away. I hated being in those crowded houses, sharing a room with three or four other kids.”
“That doesn’t seem legal.”
