Dead Man Walking (The Fallen Men 6)

Loyalty was an obstacle we could hurdle. I doubted my sister would be crazy about me hooking up with Priest, but in the end, she would want me to be happy.

And after that kiss, what I had always secretly wondered at had solidified into a real belief that Priest was the only man to help me break the constraints of my conformity and explore who I really seemed to be. It didn’t shame me to admit I was too frightened to travel those potentially menacing recesses of my soul without a fearless man at my side holding my hand.

“Bea.”

I jerked out my reverie to look up at Seth and Tabitha Linley. They were the best-looking couple I’d ever seen outside of the club, and also the kindest. They had been integral in keeping my mother together after everything happened with my dad.

I surged to my feet to wrap Tabitha in a hug that smelled of her candy-scented perfume.

My ribs ached as she squeezed me, and she pulled back as soon as I hissed. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Bea!”

“It’s me,” I admitted sheepishly. “I keep forgetting it takes a while for ribs to heal.”

Seth clucked his tongue, handsome brunet brow puckered. “What have we told you about taking care of yourself? You’re always putting others first.”

“So says the doctor.” I raised an eyebrow at him, then looked at Tabby. “You two are the most generous people I know.”

Tabby ran a hand down my hair, a gesture that always made me preen. “Like is drawn to like, I suppose.”

“But honestly, Bea, what were you doing with such an unsavory character?” Seth asked, concern ripe in his lowered voice. “It’s not like you to get in trouble.”

“He was wearing pressed slacks,” I said with a sheepish shrug. “I thought he was one of the good ones.”

They both blinked at me before Tabby burst into laughter and Seth smiled, shaking his head in exasperation.

“You have strange taste in company sometimes,” Seth admitted fondly.

“This is true,” I admitted. “I’ve never really liked people my own age, and of course, when I tried it on for size, it backfired on me.”

In fact, Cleo was one of my best friends and the only one within a five-year age difference. I knew from my studies that it wasn’t unusual for children raised by older parents or guardians to experience difficulties with their own cohorts, and even though I’d been fourteen when Loulou married Zeus, it was that community that took me in hand more than my parents ever had. This deviation from the norm was something therapists tried to fix, citing it as a maladjustment to society.

Personally, I liked it just fine.

“I was referring more to the criminal gang your sister married into,” Seth corrected, but his voice held none of the scornful judgment I so often heard in reference to The Fallen at church. “I can’t say I understand the appeal, especially not for a nice girl like you.”

I fought my wince at being referred to for the millionth time as nice, the most lukewarm adjective to be known for, and therefore, in my mind, it was an insult. I affixed a plastic smile to my face. “They’re just a little rough around the edges, but so are diamonds before they’re polished.”

“Cute,” Tabby teased me lightly as she stroked my hair.

“Have they caught the criminal yet, the family of that boy?” Eric asked, stepping around Seth to give me his own hug.

I beamed at him.

Based solely on his appearance, Eric was the least pious-looking man in church. He wore his dark hair long and shaggy over his dark eyes, the gold bar through his left eyebrow glinting in the light. I’d yet to see him wear anything other than black, and he had a tattoo on the ridge at the base of his left thumb that said “Call Me Your Sky Daddy”. He was only a few years older than me and even though we’d known each other through the church for years, it wasn’t until he became TA in one of my criminal psych classes last year that we became close.

Seth and Tabby immediately took a little step away from him as if he reeked, and in a way, he did. He smelled of rebellion and fresh ideas, like a cold breeze sweeping through the warm, myrrh-scented church.

“Um…” I bit my lip as I hesitated, thinking of the body Priest had carried out of the Purgatory Motel. “I think it’s a work in process. Apparently, his parents split up and went into hiding.”

“Fuck.” Eric shivered dramatically, then shot Seth and Tabby a sly little look as he wrapped a hand around my waist and tugged me close to his side. “Maybe I’ll have to move in and protect you until they’re found.”

I rolled my eyes at his aplomb, but the Linleys were unimpressed.