VEX: Valley Enforcers, #1 (12 page)

“Hey Vex…”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry that I’ve been acting crazy lately. Not just today… in general, I mean.”

“It’s okay. It’s normal to be stressed out when a family member is going through an illness. And the shifter stuff? Understandable.”

There was a slight pause. “Hey Vex…”

“Yes, Acacia?”

“So are you really my boyfriend or was that just so my Mom didn’t ask questions?”

It was almost a laughable question. I pressed her tighter against me. It was hot in the small room, but I wanted to feel her warmth. “I’d like to be more than your boyfriend.”

She quieted down and her breathing started to even out. I let my eyes drift shut, and the exhaustion of the day seemed to seal my lids together. Things with Acacia were looking up. It was easier to sleep knowing I wouldn’t have to worry about her blocking me out.

“Vex? What did they mean when they said I was your mate?”

I wasn’t sure if I was in a dream or real life. I didn’t want to know. “It means you’re my soulmate – that I want you forever.”

“
Oh
.”

We both slept soundly that night.

Acacia

The universe shit on me in the best way possible. It was like every positive came with a bouquet of negatives. I found shifters, but I inadvertently almost got myself killed in the process. I met Vex, but I almost got
him
killed in the process. I started to recognize my feelings for Vex, and then my Dad had a heart attack. Vex called himself my boyfriend in front of my family, but it was only after I freaked out and was a complete psycho for the duration of our nine hour drive.

And the holy grail of positives – the mate thing. My heart fluttered with excitement any time I thought about it. Actually, it thumped so hard it threatened to break a few ribs. It was still hard for me to believe that Vex was interested in a girl like me. I’d done a lot of things I regretted. Waseca was not one of those things, but it followed me like a black cloud. Vex was perfectly sculpted and had the appearance of a foreign god. And he wanted me?
Forever?!?
Soulmates weren’t something I believed in, but I started questioning my beliefs hours after meeting him.

I believed that extraterrestrials built the pyramids and frequently visited Earth, but I couldn’t believe in the concept of fates and soulmates?

I felt guilty that I was smiling to myself and mocking up fake love letters in my head while I was on the way to the hospital to see my dad. My mom told me that the ER doctor told her that if my dad hadn’t made it to the hospital when he did, he would’ve been dead in ten minutes. Ten minutes. Six hundred seconds. I could be comforting my mother while she made funeral arrangements if the secretary in my dad’s office hadn’t seen him doubled over in pain…. and I was imagining my future with Vex. 

I never really planned for the future. I knew in high school that I’d never go to college, so I went to a vocational school and became a cosmetologist. I didn’t take my salon job too seriously at the beginning. I thought that the Supernatural Society was going to take off and we’d end up writing a screenplay about our experiences or become the next Ed and Lorain Warren. I lived day by day. I never saw myself settling down or doing anything other than hunting ghosts. I still want to hunt ghosts, but for the first time in… well, forever…. I want a happy ever after. With Vex.

“You okay?”

“Huh?” I shook my head and looked around me. We were sitting in the parking lot at the hospital. “I must’ve visited the stars. Sorry.” I took a shaky breath and tried to give myself a pep-talk. “Okay. Now or never. He’s going to be fine.”

Wearing the same clothes we had on the day before, Vex and I looked like hot messes. Actually, we probably looked like a sideshow. He was well over six feet tall and built like a brick house. His long hair was pulled into the manliest bun I’d ever seen. The scar that ran through his eyebrow was more prominent when he pulled his hair back, and it only added to the badass look he portrayed so effortlessly. Vex was a modern day Khal Drogo. I was nowhere near Khaleesi status. My combat boots were scuffed, my hair was frizzy, and my shirt was wrinkled and smelled like trail mix. My eyeliner had a perfect wing, though. I always had that going for me. I was the blue haired bandit with the wings so sharp I could stab a man, and Vex was my badass bodyguard and lover with magical powers that
kept
me from stabbing people.

“Acacia? Is that you?”

I came to a dead stop in the hospital hallway. My shoes squeaked along the freshly polished linoleum. “Slug?”

The person walking towards us sounded like Slug, my former best friend and co-founder of the Montana Supernatural Society, but he definitely didn’t look like him. Simon “Slug” Martin wore chained Tripp pants and ironic tee shirts. He had a terrible soul patch and dyed his blonde shoulder-length hair black every other weekend with my assistance. The man approaching us sported corn colored hair in a perfectly manicured crew cut. His face was freshly shaven. He wore some hipster looking getup composed of a light denim shirt tucked into crisp tan chinos. Some weird ass loafer completed the ensemble. Definitely not Slug of my universe.

He grinned, revealing blindingly white pearls. “In the flesh. I go by Simon now, though. What are you doing here? I thought you were off in Mexico chasing a chupacabra or something?”

“My dad is sick, and I wasn’t chasing anything. I went to the mountains to find myself. You know – that’s what all these new age folks are doing. I thought it would be a nice way to get over your betrayal. How’s
my
club going? And why the hell do you look like a frat boy?”

“It was never your club, Acacia. Both of our names are on the charter. You abandoned me for three years. What was I supposed to do? You knew we were heading in different creative directions, anyway.” He tilted his head towards Vex. “Looks like you found
something
in the mountains.”

“Keep talking, you little prick. It’s going to make punching you a hell of a lot easier,” Vex threatened with a tight voice. He crossed his arms as a warning and his muscles rippled.

“I have a lawyer on retainer. It probably isn’t in your best interest to do that,” Slug clucked his tongue against his teeth in a disapproving fashion. His eyes were alive with amusement. “You know, the lawyer that was part of my deal with the Discovery Channel for a television show that follows
my
Supernatural Society as we purge innocent families around the world of evil spirits.” He spread his hands in the air as he spoke, as if he were imagining his name in lights. “Simon Martin: the golden boy ghost hunter.”

“You always were bad at naming things. It’s funny because you never had trouble making up fucking stories about people’s houses being haunted. No wonder Discovery wants you. You’re a great actor. You’ll really sell all those fake hauntings to the viewers. You turned the society into a joke, Slug. It used to be about breaking into abandoned warehouses and getting
real
content. You sold yourself for what? A passport and a shirt from Urban Outfitters?”

“It’s Simon,” He hissed. The lighthearted expression on his face turned to a pissed scowl. “You’re just jealous of my success. I knew all I had to do was cut the dead weight. You were nothing but a burden. I carried you, Acacia. While you were following bullshit news articles and looking for fucking crop circles I was busting my ass to keep our business running.” He laughed humorously. “Look at us now. I have an exclusive contract with a big name company, wealth, fame, and enough paranormal sluts to keep me entertained for the rest of my life. And you? You’re a washed up eco-fucking-terrorist who will never amount to anything –”

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Vex’s curled fist raise. It was midway between him and Slug before I could lift my hands and cover his angry fist. “Don’t.”

“Let me beat the shit out of the little douche,” Vex snapped fiercely.

“That would be really nice to watch, and you know, I’m wearing my steel toes so I’d even love to join in. But if you hit him you’ll probably break his face and go to jail. You’d look hot in an orange jumpsuit, but I’d like to see you more frequently than four hours a month.”

“I can’t just let him walk away,” Vex said with a pained expression. He looked torn, which only added to Slug’s jubilant aura.

“Listen to the bitch,” Slug shrilled.

I tightened my grip on Vex and turned to my former friend with narrow eyes. “Watch your mouth, asshole. I learned a thing or two in Waseca. You think it’s wise to threaten someone who was in federal prison? I can make it so your body is never found.” I lightened my voice and added on a more flippant note. “I
also
have a whole photo album of you with your pizza face, soul patch, and nasty ass goth kid clothes. I’m sure Discover would love to see those. Or maybe I’ll make a Tumblr and dedicate my blog to unflattering pictures of you.”

His eyes turned to ice. “Whatever. Have fun with the rest of your life. Don’t cry too hard when you see me on TV living out our dream.”

It was never
our
dream. I never wanted fame. Ghost and monster hunting was never about money. When we were young, there weren’t any reality television programs that followed crews around. Horror movies like
The Conjuring
didn’t exist. The adrenaline rush of hearing branches snap in the woods on a hunt for some unknown cryptid was what drove me. Snapping Polaroid pictures in abandoned mental institutions and gathering evidence of spirits drove me. Not fame or money. When the things that Slug and I had been made fun of for our whole lives hit mainstream we started having problems. I wanted to stick to what we did best, and he wanted to essentially scam people and ‘purge’ their homes of ghosts. So while what he was doing was his dream, it never was mine.

Slug walked away before Vex could pull himself from my grasp. He yanked himself away from me with ease, leaving me to question if was ever even holding him back in the first place. There was a darkness clouding his obsidian eyes.

“I wanted to break his jaw.
Nobody
talks about you that way.” The cords in his neck were visible and tense. Despite all the telltale signs that made Vex appear like he was going to lose control, he seemed relatively cool on the surface. “Rat bastard. God dammit, if we weren’t here to see your dad I’d follow him out there and kick his ass. I’d do more than kick his ass. I’d rip his fucking throat out.”

I swallowed hard. Despite my appearance and demeanor, I wasn’t a fan of brutish displays. I didn’t actually know how to kill a person or dispose of their body, but I knew Slug was a jerk and would take the bait. Violence usually was a deterrent. So why was Vex’s growling threat such a turn on?

His nostrils flared and I watched a lump slide down his throat. He took a step towards me. And then another. I was on my way to being corralled against a cold wall in the empty hospital corridor. “I don’t want to meet the rest of your family with a King Kong sized erection. It’s been too long since I’ve had you, Acacia, and I’m dying for another taste. The minute I get you to myself I’m going to do unspeakable things to your body.” He tilted his head down. His lips grazed my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. “But right now I need you to stop thinking naughty things, baby girl, because if you don’t stop I won’t be able to control myself.”

I loved when he called me baby or sweetheart. The little pet names were rarely spoken and overall generic, but they made me feel so fucking special. Nobody had ever called me ‘baby girl’ before. And the only time a man called me sweetheart was when he was being condescending or forgot my name while we were fucking in an a motel room (the months after I left were dark, dirty, and something I’d like to forget). Vex had lied by omission, but he was never anything but honest with me… or he was just a really great actor. He made me feel like I was a diamond in the rough.

“Broom closet sex is a no go then?” I joked awkwardly. Though Vex made me feel alive, I was upset about my encounter with Slug. And there was still the fear of losing my dad. He was two floors above me and I was trying to get some stress relieving hanky panky.

“Don’t tempt me, woman.” He pulled back, but laced our fingers together. “The nurse said the ICU is on the fourth floor. Do you remember what room he’s in? 402?”

“Something like that. I’m sure we’ll hear my mom.”

We walked down the hall until we found the elevators and called for the cab. After clearing ourselves at the nurse’s station and finding out that my dad was in fact in room 402, we took the short trip down the hall. The door was propped open, and I heard chatter the second we left the elevator.

The room was packed. It took me off guard – almost like I walked into an unwanted surprise party. Instead of streamers and party hats I got to see my dad in a hospital gown, my mom fretting next to him, and all of my siblings leaning against various pieces of furniture.

“Aiden! James!” I exclaimed at the sight of my brother. I hadn’t seen him since Christmas. He and his partner James didn’t get to visit Montana very often, and though we connected after I got out of Waseca, chatting over Skype or texting wasn’t the same as seeing them in person.

My brother was a few years younger than me, but when we were younger people always thought we were twins. He didn’t have a body full of tattoos or crazy hair and instead opted for a stylish hairdo and a wardrobe full of tailored pants and fancy shirts; but we still had a striking resemblance. James, whom he had met his first year of graduate school, was tall and thin with perfectly mocha skin and a profile fit for a high fashion runway model. James was only a year away from taking his bar exam. He always had funky socks, and Aiden told me he made the best risotto. He loved vampire dramas, and never missed an opportunity to text me about
Vampire Diaries
or
True Blood
. We’d only met a few times in person, but I felt more of a connection to him than I did to Jade’s husband who I’d known nearly a decade.

“Hey, Cia.” My brother gave me a tight hug. He looked and sounded exhausted. They took a flight from DC to Missoula and then drove the four and a half hours to Miles City. I embraced James next.

And then I brushed Jade aside and sat on the bed next to my dad. I was expecting him to be hooked up to a thousand machines and be on his deathbed, but besides an IV and a little device on his finger he looked normal. He was smiling, even. I didn’t want to cry, but I felt myself tearing up with relief.