ALWAYS (A Wolfe Brothers Novel) (2 page)

“
Fuck!” Her rescuer ran
back to Maggie and placed the gun in her palm, grip first. “I don’t
know you. You don’t know me. We never met.”

Chapter Two

Cam strode past the women to head off
his stepbrother and drag him back to the cabin they’d rented.
Otherwise, Jags would introduce himself, shake their hand and read
their future. Attempting to fill in the gaps of his vision, he’d
ask a shitload of questions, making this one hell of a long
night.

“
I was coming to—.” Jags
laughed, eyeing Cam’s soaked clothing. “You could’ve borrowed my
suit.” He peered around Cam. “Who are your friends?”

“
Don’t know ‘em.” Cam
grasped Jags’ elbow and tugged him in the opposite direction.
“Let’s go.”

“
Tilly!” Jags twisted out
of Cam’s grasp, danced around him and sprinted toward the blonde.
When he reached her, he scooped and twirled her.

She let out a clipped laugh. “Hello,
Jags.”

“
So good to see you.” He
lowered her to her feet. “Where’s your husband?”

“
Nate’s not here. I’m here
with Maggie.”

Jags turned toward the sexy redhead
still sitting at the table. With a shit-eating grin, he strode
toward her. “What’s a sweet thing like you doing with a gun? Cam
has the same model. Gen4?”

She looked at Cam and he shook his
head.

“
Where's my manners?” Jags
cupped her hand in both of his. “Nice to meet you.”

Cam clasped his hands
behind his head and broke into a brisk pace. The little shit was,
no doubt, reading her future.
Fuck!

Jags stumbled. His arms swiped through
the air as if blind. He tripped and fell into the table. Regaining
his balance, he felt his way along the worn wood and sat beside
Maggie.

With his head back and his fists balled
by his side he released a guttural scream. “Argh!”

Maggie hugged herself and stepped away
from the table. “What’s wrong with him?”

Cam rushed to Jags. He gripped his
upper arms and gently shook him. “Why do you do this to
yourself?”

Jags brushed past Cam. With careful
steps, as if approaching a skittish animal, he neared Maggie and
cupped her chin. “So much pain.”

A twinge of possessiveness
sparked Cam’s temper. His face flushed. His hands trembled. A flash
of heat swept through his body. Sweat dripped down his forehead.
Cam shifted his weight and shook his head. She was just some random
girl.
What the fuck!

“
He won’t give you the end
that you seek,” Jags said.

She shuddered. “I have no idea what
you’re talking about.”

“
My brother has been alone
too long. You don’t know how happy I am to meet you.”

Tilly tapped Jags on the shoulder.
“He’s your brother?”

Keeping his eyes on Maggie, Jags said,
“Yes.”

“
I must have seen him at
Chase then visiting you. I thought I recognized him.” Tilly
grimaced. “Didn’t you have a vision of what your brother just tried
to do?”

“
I rarely subject myself
to Cam’s chi. Too painful.”

Cam rolled his eyes. And there it was.
The freaky voodoo crap.

Jags glanced to each of them. “You’re
all soaked and I don’t think it’s because you went swimming, since
Cam is dressed and so is Tilly. I’m guessing there’s an intriguing
story to tell.” Jags turned toward Tilly, a mischievous smile on
his face. “So the question is what did my brother just try to
do?”

Cam glared at her. “Don’t.”

“
Hold it,” Maggie said.
“Am I missing something?”

“
He tried to kill
himself.” Tilly pointed. “With that gun.”

Jags’ head whipped around. The moment
their eyes locked, the color of Jags’ eyes shifted to silver. His
brows lowered and the goofy smile on his face turned down.
“Bastard!” He stormed toward Cam, finger wagging like a father
scolding a toddler. “I’m not going to let you kill yourself, and
I’m prepared to haunt you night and day to stop you.”

“
Really?” Cam said.
“Shocker.”

Jags gave Cam a dismissive wave, took
the gun from Maggie and bowed. “Ladies. I bid you
farewell.”

Cam walked.

Jags followed.

Yup. One hell of a long
night.

# # #

Cam whipped the screen door open and
stormed into the cabin. Planting his palms on the far wall, he hung
his head between his arms.

Jags’ boots clicked on the
wood-planked floors. With the thud of each step, Cam’s rage soared
and the familiar symptoms surfaced.
His
hands shook. Beads of sweat
speckled his neck and forehead. A white light pierced his vision. A
monster migraine slammed behind his eyes.

Jags’ footsteps stopped.

“
No psycho-babble
bullshit,” Cam said. “Not tonight.”

Silence.

Cam glanced over his
shoulder.

Jags stood in the center of the room.
No smile. No scowl. Jags without a hint of his usual animation and
goofiness, traits Cam found comical and sometimes
maddening.

Jags stepped forward. His leg whipped
out and swiped Cam’s feet from beneath him.

He landed on his ass. “What the
hell!”

With a booted foot, Jags stomped onto
his chest.

The air whooshed from
Cam’s lungs.
He
stared in disbelief. They’d fought many times, but this was
different. Their fights consisted of punches and kicks. Nobody was
ever hurt and by the end they both laughed. And not once, had Jags
used his martial arts training against him.

Cam grunted as he tried to catch his
breath. “I thought you hated violence.”

“
The few times I’ve been
forced into violence were because of you.” He removed his boot from
Cam’s chest. “Sometimes I really hate you.”

Cam climbed to his feet, slammed Jags
against the wall and gripped him around the neck. Saliva sprayed
from his clenched teeth. “Don’t fuck with me.”

A steeled fist rammed into Cam’s gut.
He stumbled backwards. “Shit. I’d hate to think—” He clutched his
gut, gasping. Jags walked toward him, Cam held up his hands, palms
out. “—how’d you’d be if you loved violence.”

Jags backed Cam against the wall.
“Start talking.”

Talk. Not Cam’s favorite pastime. He
slugged Jags across the jaw, a move he could have easily blocked
but for some reason chose not to.

Stepping backwards, Jags glided a
finger over his cut lip. He slid a pack of gum from his pants’
pocket and leaned his back against the parallel wall. “I’m
listening.”

Cam bent at the waist and braced his
hands on his thighs. “Tony didn’t drown. I held the fucker’s head
under the water until I was sure he was dead. And I’d do it
again.”

“
You probably saved Ajay’s
life.”

“
For too long, I didn’t
protect my little brother from that bastard. How pathetic is
that?”

“
Pathetic is not a word I
would ever use to describe you.”

The silver in Jags’ eyes shimmered,
which meant more voodoo freaky shit was coming. Jags’ bore into
Cam. The last time Jags attempted to ‘see’ him, Jags’ fell into a
week-long coma. Cam’s stepbrother was extremely sensitive to—what
Jags called—the dark side of a person’s psyche.

Determined to keep Jags out of his
psyche, aura, chi, whatever-the-fuck Jags called it, Cam looked at
the ceiling. “Last week I got rear-ended in the Expedition. Turns
out it was some old geezer. Couldn’t have weighed more than a
hundred pounds.” Cam covered his mouth with his fist. “I knocked on
his window but before I could say a word, the old man burst into
tears.”

Jags cocked his head, a clear
expression of boredom. “Get to the part where you decide death is
the only option for you.”

“
He pissed
himself!”

“
Well, you’re huge. I
probably would’ve pissed myself too if I didn’t know you better,
and your ‘fuck off’ expression doesn’t help either. I know you’re
out of practice, but try a smile every once in a while.”

Cam pushed off the wall and paced. “The
same demon that made Tony hurt Ajay is in me. I’ve felt it all my
thirty-three years. I’ve held it back. ” Cam faced Jags. “I’m tired
of fighting it. And if I stop fighting it, I’ll end up hurting
somebody, somebody who doesn’t deserve it, somebody like that old
geezer who fender-bendered the Expedition.” He resumed pacing.
“Gramps needs me and I’d hate to leave him, but I won’t become
Tony. I’d rather blow my own fuckin’ head off, before I let that
happen.” Cam leaned against the wall, propped a foot behind and
crossed his arms over his chest.

“
We may
not be blood,” Jags said. “But you
are
my brother and I know you would
never hurt anyone. I don’t need my visions to tell me
that.”

“
That doesn’t
mean—.”

Jags cleared his throat. “Adrian
cheated on Ajay. I never read her aura, I just sensed she was a
conniving little witch and I was right. Some people’s auras are so
wicked, I don’t need to be touching them to see the black of their
soul.”

“
You know that kind of
talk freaks me out.”

“
Right now, I don’t give a
shit. I was right about the waitress at Stoney’s that had a crush
on you. I steered her clear. I was right about—”

“
Get to the
point!”

“
I see
people for what they are. I’ve
never
been wrong. And you—” He
pointed. “—my friend, are not evil.”

“
If you see—” Cam made air
quotes. “—people so well, how come you nearly fainted when I told
you your girlfriend asked me to fuck her in the backseat of your
truck?”

Jags dropped his gaze to the floor. He
whispered, “Hitting below the belt, buddy.”

“
I’d call her a cunt, but
she lacks the depth and warmth.”

Jags looked up and narrowed eyes at
him. “We’re getting off topic. My point is that if you were a
monster, like Tony, I would have sensed it. You think I could be
around you, if your soul was colored with the same kind of evil
that painted Tony’s?”

Cam tapped the back of his head against
the wall. “You just don’t get it.”

“
What I get is that you
need a solid fucking.”

Cam groaned. “We’re not goin’
there.”

Five years ago, Cam had walked in on
his girlfriend fucking a bald-headed punk and he beat the guy until
the police pulled him off. The fucker lay in a coma for a week.
Worth every one of the hundred and seventy-six days he served in
Huntsville State Prison but not an experience he cared to
repeat.

To keep others safe, Cam vowed a life
of celibacy and solitude. He had no friends. The only people he
gave a damn about were his family.

Jags said, “Did you know that societies
where premarital sex is discouraged have more crime and incidents
of violence?”

Clasping his hands behind his head, Cam
traipsed back and forth, his boots thudding on the floor. “Shut the
fuck up.”

“
Did it ever occur to you
that your aggression worsened when you decided to keep your pecker
to yourself? Need more reasons to keep your head on your
shoulders?” Jags counted on his fingers. “I’ll give you a few.
Gramps. Dad. Ajay. And yours truly.” In front of his mouth, Jags
steepled his fingers. “I’ll admit that you have great pain hiding
in your psyche.”

“
Enough with the
psycho-babble bullshit! I killed my own father and don’t have an
ounce of regret.”

Jags hung his head and snickered. “If
you had no regret, I would see black in your soul.” He pierced Cam
with that familiar all-knowing, cocky look. “Give me a year. If
you’re still convinced you’re a menace, I’ll shoot you
myself.”

Cam gave him a sidelong look. “You
expect me to believe that load of horseshit?”

“
The details of the plan.”
Jags counted on his fingers. “First, you’re going to get laid, as
soon as possible. Second, you’re gonna get off your ass and make
the repairs needed on the old Copper Creek place and turn it into
the best restaurant this side of Houston. You need a life other
than taking care of Gramps.”

“
I won’t leave him
alone.”

“
Lest I remind you that
less than an hour ago you were prepared to shoot your brains out,
thus leaving him very alone.”

Cam shook his head. “I cannot hammer
nails into a wall, stock glassware and plan a dinner menu if I’m
constantly worried about Gramps.”

“
Gramps won’t be alone.”
Looking at his counting fingers, Jags said, “Leave that to
me.”

“
I don’t like the sound of
that.”

With three large and graceful strides,
Jags crossed the room and set his hand on Cam’s shoulder. Heat
warmed the muscles in Cam’s neck and arms. His legs weakened. An
invigorating chill ran through him, like taking a deep breath after
sucking on a peppermint; except his whole body felt electrified,
not just his mouth.