Conclave (Devil's Night 3.5)

Like, seriously. No one here could think for themselves. You had to tell them every little goddamn thing, and God help you if you had to give them more than one instruction at a time, because their brains would fucking short out because they couldn’t remember all that AND remember to breathe at the same time.

I finished removing the last two nails and pulled the two by four off and tossed it to the side, getting rid of any evidence he did any work here today.

“He’s temperamental, but he’ll compromise,” Kai explained to Bryce. “We’ve been through this before.”

“Compromise?” Bryce whined. “He threw an ax at my head!”

“If I’d thrown it at your head, I would’ve hit your head,” I growled low.

There was silence, and then I heard Bryce’s voice. “I’m outta here, man.”

I knelt down, pulling up the nails on the next board he’d fucked up.

“Bryce, come on.”

“Let him go,” I told Kai.

The door swung open again, hitting the wall, and the rest of the crew around me cleared their throats, getting back to work as Kai loomed. Why was he even fucking here? If I couldn’t have Will handling shit out there, then I wanted one of the girls. Michael and Kai stressed me out more.

“How are you going to get anything done?” Kai demanded, and I noticed a stack of papers crunched in his fist.

“A lot better without that idiot around.”

“Damon…”

But I shook my head. Just fucking stop. I needed to get the framing done on three more treehouses before the baby came in like nine days, not to mention finalize the design on the fountain in front of Meridian City’s new library and figure out what the fuck a she-shed was, because Catherine O’Reilly just loved her son’s new treehouse and thought I could build her something of her own. She was paying double to rush it before the snow started in a few months, so I couldn’t say no.

Photographers were coming by all week to get shots of “work-in-progress” for the new website that Alex was handling, and thankfully doing everything to get us set up online. I just wanted people to leave me alone in the warehouse. I moved faster without help here.

But part me knew I was part of my own problem, too. The Langston kid wanted a treehouse, but once I found out he was obsessed with pirates I chucked everything that was already done and started a design for a tallship instead. What the fuck was I thinking?

I looked over at the bow and masts already constructed, feeling a smile tug at my lips. It was going to look fucking fantastic when it was done, though. It was worth it if he loved it.

“You are running on fumes,” Kai told me. “You just got back from Washington, and then California before that, you have a baby on the way, projects are piling up…” He trailed off, and I felt him inch closer. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think you should start smoking again.”

I arched an eyebrow. I hadn’t entirely quit, actually. I probably never would.

Lifting up the first frame, I leaned it against the wall and then moved to the next one.

“You don’t need employees, you need a team,” Kai said, following me. “I’m not taking any more orders until we get this place in shape. With a regular staff. I’ve already put word out at the university that you’re recruiting.”

I shot him a scowl. He wasn’t wrong. I just didn’t have time to deal with it.

But Kai went on, “You need an office manager, you need a design team, and you need a receptionist, and that’s not me. I have enough on my plate.” He rubbed his neck. “Everyone is scrambling to keep you covered, but you’ll be a lot less stressed if your home base is running smoothly.”

“Fine, whatever” I snapped. “Just take care of it. I need to stay ahead of schedule.”

Just do what you want, and don’t bug me with it. I knew they were all doing me a shitload of favors, and I was grateful they were here, because I wasn’t cut out for a lot of this. I just wanted someone else to be the face of the business and for me to stay in the background, designing and building and being left alone. If Will was here, he could do it. He’s be happy to do it.

But he wasn’t here a lot lately. He’d come home for a couple months and then fly off again, itching for space he never seemed to need before. He, Alex, and a few others were backpacking around Scandinavia over the summer, but when they came home, he stayed there, and I hadn’t seen him in weeks.

Although, he checked in regularly.

I think he was feeling left out. He saw Michael with Rika, Kai with Banks, and me with Winter, and struggled to feel like he belonged. He had Alex, but she wasn’t what he needed, and he just kept running away again and again, so he wouldn’t think or…feel. Or deal.

Kai turned and headed back for the lobby, but then stopped, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

“Ah, shit,” he said. “Where’s your phone?”