Hearts and Claws Box Set

Chapter 3

Chapter 3Arlo slapped on a grin before looking at Holly as he tied the dark gray half apron around his hips. His stomach grumbled, but he ignored it. When he tried to eat, the bite would grow in his mouth until it was too big to swallow.

“Did you manage to unpack yesterday?” Holly touched his arm as she walked past, making him tense and step away. He was usually more careful to keep his distance.

Frowning, he pursed his lips. “Yeah. I don’t have much.”

“You want to go furniture shopping later? Hey, I saw this.” She dove for one of the glossy interior magazines lying on one of the tables. “It would be so cool.” The cover showed a room decorated in white and gray, and Arlo sighed.

“I don’t have any money. I’ll have to wait until payday.”

“Oh…But look at this—” She didn’t get any further before the weight of someone’s gaze pressed down on Arlo. He turned toward the entrance and quickly looked away again. The tingle caught him just as off guard as last time. Fudge berries!

He glanced at Holly and slipped into the kitchen. He sucked in a breath and wiped his hands on the apron. What is he doing here?

Arlo glanced over his shoulder, but the kitchen door had closed behind him so he couldn’t see Nash.

“Oh, hi, Arlo.” Aksel Bakke glanced up at him from a stack of papers. “How’s it going? Holly showed you the ropes?” It would take some getting used to Aksel’s Norwegian accent—if he was staying. At one point, Aksel had been handsome, not that it mattered. Now he looked like a sleazy businessman, and Arlo guessed he was in a way. Maybe not sleazy but this wasn’t the only coffee shop he owned.

“Yes, thank you, Mr. Bakke.” Arlo nodded a bit too vigorously, and the room spun. He should try to eat something.

“Good, good. Was there anything you were looking for?”

“Erm…no.”

“Then what are you doing in the kitchen?” Aksel gave him a look again.

“I was…erm…”

“Do that by the counter.” The papers caught his attention again, and he didn’t so much as glance up to see where Arlo was going as he left the kitchen.

“Hi, I’m Philip.”

Arlo jumped at the voice. He hadn’t seen the other man standing by the fridge. “Hi…I’m Arlo.”

“I heard.” Philip grinned, and Arlo couldn’t help but stare at his perfectly shaped white teeth.

“So, you’ve hooked up with Holly?”

“What? No!”

“No?” Philip shrugged, muscles moving under his skin with its perfect tan, and Arlo cursed himself for looking.

“No.” Arlo fought the glare, but it only made him frown. He was glad it was fall, his pale skin would still stand out, but at least he wouldn’t have to fear turning the shade of a boiled lobster every time he went outside. Philip looked like he’d spent the entire summer on the beach, soaking up the sun to get that golden glow. Most people had lost their summer tan by now, though.

“Hey, no need to get upset. She’ll come around. I’m surprised she put up any resistance.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Just saying, it usually only takes an hour or two before she’s on her back.” He grinned again, those teeth and the way his chocolate-colored bangs fell into his eyes had Arlo’s hands curling into fists. Philip was gorgeous, but that did not entitle him to be rude. Holly was kind and thoughtful and what she did in her spare time was none of his concern. Arlo glared. “Idiot.”

A wrinkle appeared between Philip’s brows, but then he shrugged and gave Arlo a dazzling smile. “Don’t worry about it. Aksel can be a bit of an ass, but the paycheck comes regularly, so who am I to complain?”

Arlo made a mental eye roll. Philip was an i***t.

It wasn’t until Arlo stomped back out to the counter, he remembered why he’d fled into the kitchen in the first place.

* * * *

Nash drummed his fingers against his hip. He was here, might have disappeared into the kitchen as Nash came through the door, but the smell was here. He pretended to study the menu while waiting for the man to come back out.

“We’ll have the breakfast sandwich, both of us, black coffee, please.” Ellis’ voice was too loud. The man was talking in the kitchen, and it would’ve been easy for Nash to eavesdrop if only Ellis stopped shouting in his ear.

“Shut the f**k up.”

Ellis sighed, and Nash suspected he made a face to the woman behind the counter.

“Come on now, Nash.” He pulled at Nash’s arm and before Nash could stop himself, he curled back his lips and showed off his teeth.

For a few seconds, everything went still, and Nash heard the conversation in the kitchen just fine. Two men introducing themselves, one Philip and one Arlo. Arlo? Nash frowned, he didn’t look like an Arlo, but Nash had heard Philip’s voice before when he’d been in here, so it had to be Arlo.

“Some coffee and he’ll be a tad more polite.” Ellis pulled at his arm again, and he missed the next part of the conversation. Arlo was angry. Nash’s muscles tensed. Ellis dropped his arm only to punch him on the shoulder.

Nash glanced at the kitchen door. Should he go in there? Maybe Arlo needed help?

“For f**k’s sake, Nash. What’s the point of brunch if we’re gonna stand here and block the line.” Ellis’ hiss yanked him out of his mind.

“Sure, black coffee.”

“I’ve already ordered, i***t. Let’s sit.”

Nash ran a hand over his hair and trailed after Ellis to a table by the windows. “Windows? Really? You want people outside watching us as we eat?”

Nash was aware of Ellis’ scent changing; the slightly burned undertone didn’t bode well.

“Pick a f*****g table then.”

Nash took a table close to the counter. He wanted to be able to listen to the conversation in the kitchen. He wouldn’t have to worry about it, though. Only seconds later, Arlo came to stand next to the woman, a faint blush on his cheeks and his hair a little tangled. Nash chuckled.

“Are you stoned?”

“What?” He frowned at Ellis.

“You growled at the girl, and now you’re laughing.”

“I growled at you.”

“Yeah, in public.”

Maybe not the smartest thing he’d done but…“You were shouting in my ear.”

“What the f**k is wrong with you?” The burned smell intensified, and Nash cracked his neck. The beast inside of him was stretching—preparing to leap forth if needed.

“I wasn’t shouting, I was trying to cover you losing your s**t in the middle of town.”

“I’m not losing my shit.” He was though, his teeth grew sharper, longer, and he clamped his lips shut while taking a deep breath. What the f**k was wrong with him?

“Perhaps we should leave.”

Nash exhaled, rolled his shoulders, and cracked his neck again. “Nah, it’s fine. Some food and I’ll be better. Promise.” He smiled a tight-lipped smile.

“What’s going on, Nash?” The concern grated on his nerves, but he tried to swallow it down. Ellis was a good friend and friends were something you seldom came by when you sometimes turned furry…even though it was only partly furry.

“I don’t know. My skin’s too tight, and I’m restless.”

Ellis frowned. “You’re not a ray of sunshine on normal days, but this—”

“It’s nothing, Ellis.” He ended the statement with a hiss.

“Right.”

They sat in silence for a while. Nash kept glancing at Arlo as he skidded around. He didn’t look in Nash’s direction once. How he could avoid it when they sat right there was a mystery, and it had Nash gritting his teeth. Why wouldn’t he look at him?

“Are you sensing anything?” He didn’t as much as glance at Ellis. Arlo had to be aware of him looking if he had any sense of preservation.

“Sensing?”

“Seeing, are you seeing anything?”

“I see a crazy guy ready to shed his skin while eye-f*****g the barista.”

Nash slowly turned toward him. “Come again?”

“If you want to f**k him, go say hello. If you wanted help to seal the deal, you should’ve brought Gilbert instead of me.”

“I don’t need mind games to hook up. Speaking of, the blond yesterday really was boring, wasn’t he?”

“f**k you, Nash.”

And as if by magic Arlo appeared by their table. That smell, Nash couldn’t put words on it, it was human and yet not—f*****g delicious.

“Here you go, gentlemen.” The faint blush on his cheeks was adorable. Nash wanted to pull him down on his lap and kiss him.

Arlo put down a tray with one of the largest sandwiches Nash had seen in a long time only to whirl around and leave before he could say as much as a thank you.

* * * *

Arlo’s heart was thudding in his ears as he made his way back to behind the counter. It was hard not to run, but he made it. He didn’t know what it was about Nash, but it was something. Part of him wanted to stay close, another part urged him to get far away.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t a sickness he’d ever encountered before. He’d gotten better at telling if it was something he had to take care of right that minute or if it could wait. This was one of those could-wait illnesses that gave him the opportunity to find someplace to hide, and it was what he intended to do.

The darkness wasn’t calling for him to take it into himself so Nash would be fine, at least for a while longer. And if Arlo had left this town by the time the illness got worse, it wasn’t his responsibility—he couldn’t save the world, he’d learned that a long time ago.

“You forgot the coffee.”

“What?” He blinked at Holly.

“Nash and the other guy, two regular coffees. Black.” She grinned.

“Oh…” His pulse sped up again and he glanced at Nash’s table. The heat coursing through him shouldn’t be there. “Do you want to take it to them?”

Her smile withered. “What did they do? Did they say something?”

“What? No.”

“I guess with your condition people might…say things.”

“My condition?” Condition? He didn’t have a condition, at least none anyone knew anything about, except…He went cold, there were a few who knew by now, and the group was growing larger for every town he visited.

It was impossible to hide it from those he cured. Chills marched up his spine. There was a reason he moved all the time, a reason he never stuck with the same phone number for more than a month or two, a reason he was never on any social media sites.

She grimaced before glaring at Nash. Arlo glanced over his shoulder again, and Nash was studying him, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth and his eyes seeing far more than they should.

Arlo frowned. It had to be a trick of light because those eyes weren’t nearly as dark as the last time Arlo had looked into them. The man Nash was with looked to be about Arlo’s age or maybe a couple of years older, but he doubted he was thirty. Nash on the other hand had to be at least thirty-five. Not that it mattered, but Arlo had a hard time picturing them barhopping together. But then again, what Holly had described hadn’t exactly been barhopping.

“Yeah…” She gestured at him. “You’re albino, right?”

Albino? Arlo blinked a couple of times despite knowing he came across as a bit slow. “I’m…no. Maybe.” He didn’t think he was, most of the time he was white as snow, but there were days when at least parts of him weren’t white at all.

“It doesn’t matter, you deserve the same respect as everyone else. People can be so judgmental at times.”

He smiled. “They weren’t disrespectful, Holly, but thanks for sticking up for me.”

“Well, in that case.” She grinned and squeezed his arm. “Go give them their coffee.”

“Sure.” He sighed and reached for the cups.

* * * *

Nash shoved the sandwich into his mouth to not have to talk to Ellis. The frown peeking up behind the shades was enough for Nash to know nothing fun would come from the conversation anyway.

“Your coffee, gentlemen.”

Nash tried to swallow, and swallow, but the bread got stuck in his throat. He tried coughing discreetly to get it unstuck all the while he was looking up at Arlo trying to smile and nod.

Worry shone in his pale blue eyes—not the best way to impress someone. Ellis snorted, and Nash gave in and coughed for real, unclogging his throat—sexy as f**k.

“Are you okay?” Arlo reached out as if to touch him, but then he tensed, and dropped the hand with more force than necessary.

Nash blinked away the tears from his eyes and grabbed the coffee cup Arlo had placed before him. “Yeah, sure.” His voice was rough, and he took a mouthful of scalding coffee and fought the reaction to the burn.

“Are you sure?”

Arlo looked at him, his eyes—Then Arlo blinked and everything was normal. The tears must’ve f****d with his vision. “Yes, I’m fine.” He smiled, but before he could check Arlo’s eyes again, he nodded and went away.

“Smooth.” Ellis smirked.

“f**k you.” There was no heat in the words, and while Nash wished he hadn’t choked in front of Arlo, he had to admit it was pretty funny.

“He’s an odd duck, that one.”

“Odd how?” Nash sipped on the coffee again, more carefully this time around.

“I don’t know, he’s just odd.” Ellis shrugged.

“Because you think he looks odd or because you’re sensing something?”

“Sensing?”

“Seeing.” Nash’s irritation spiked again. Ellis knew what the f**k he meant.

Ellis rubbed his temples. “I don’t know, I have a headache.”

“Hungover?”

“No, I only had one beer yesterday. It’s like it is too much, my brain’s scrambled.”

“Too much of what?”

Ellis shook his head. “It’s a bird, and Gilbert is unhappy—”

“Gilbert’s unhappy?” Nash had missed that. Sure he’d been a little grumpy yesterday, but he’d been hungry and he was always grumpy when hungry.

“No, not yet…I don’t think, but he will be unless something changes. And I keep seeing myself clutching my stomach—I never see myself, it’s like a rule for psychics, we don’t see ourselves.”

“There are rules for psychics? You ever met another psychic?”

“No, but since I’ve never seen myself before I’ve decided it’s a rule. It doesn’t matter, it’s…everything is jumbled, it doesn’t make sense, and lightning is drilling holes in my skull.”

Ellis was paler than usual, Nash had been too focused on Arlo to notice.

“And you’re chasing a bird.”

“I’m chasing a bird?” Nash had never chased a bird in his entire life, and he had no desire to change that.

“A black bird.”

“I’m chasing a blackbird?”

“You’re changed, clothes are ripped as if you’ve changed in a hurry, it’s dark and rainy, almost foggy, you know? And you’re running after a black bird.”

Nash rubbed his neck; he couldn’t think of one single reason that would make him chase a bird.