“You told him?!” Jaxson said accusingly.
“Wrong,” Drake smiled. “She casually dropped the comment that Blake was going as Rogue, hoping I would go as Gambit. She forgot two things. One, I know her tells. Two, sometimes I know her better than she knows herself. She saw the opportunity to mess with us, and you guys fell for it.”
I couldn’t help but giggle at Jemmy’s crestfallen expression.
Nadia’s neighborhood was a large affluent one. The children and teens were excited, to say the least, when their bags were nearly full towards the of end trick or treating. I let them pick a few pieces, after inspecting them, to put in their overnight bags. There was no way I trusted them enough to limit the amount of sugar they would consume. The rest of the bags were coming with us.
We hugged and kissed them, telling them we would see them by tomorrow afternoon. They bounded towards Steven, Beth, and Cora’s house, with barely a backwards glance. I felt my heart warm as I watched them laughing and talking up the driveway. Micah, Ella, and Alex had never experienced trick or treating as they had tonight.
Trick or treating for Ella, in the past, had consisted of used or homemade costumes. We would walk or catch the bus to the nearest neighborhood. Half of the houses wouldn’t pass out candy, so that left us with half a pumpkin, if that, of candy. Ella was happy with whatever she got, but I had always wished for more.
I could remember Dad taking me to huge neighborhoods like this growing up. He had let me pick out whatever costume I wanted, and I always walked away like a bandit. I had tried to recreate that experience for Ella on numerous occasions in vein. I just didn’t have the means or way to do it.
From Micah and Alex’s behavior, their experience couldn’t have been that good as well. My brothers didn’t like to talk about their past, too much. Micah regaled us with stories about his veteran buddies, but he never talked about much else. Will had suggested therapy for them, but my memories of the therapy I was forced to go through left a bad taste in my mouth. I didn’t see how beneficial it could be for them.
“Well, I feel loved,” I joked when the door closed behind them.
“I’ll show you plenty of love, if you take your coat off.” Troy jokingly leered at me, wagging his eyebrows.
“Shut it!” I joked rolling my eyes. “So, what you’re telling me is your love is conditional to the amount, or should I say the lack of, clothing I wear?”
It was cold outside, and no matter how many times Noah, Troy, and Jaxson suggested it, there was no way I was traipsing around a neighborhood full of kids in my miniscule outfit. I would shed my coat in the warmth of the restaurant around people my own age range.
“That’s not what I’m saying at all,” Troy nearly tackled me from behind unexpectedly. I could feel myself falling, and a moment of pure unadulterated panic gripped me. I had a flash back of my earlier incident and froze.
“Easy, Blake,” Jace said soothingly as he grabbed my hand and squeezed it reassuringly. I could feel his warmth engulf me, so I knew he had used his gift on me, but I couldn’t be upset at him.
“Sorry, Blake,” Troy muttered as he hugged me close.
I feigned a smile. “It’s fine. I’m okay,” I tried to lie, knowing they weren’t buying it. I was terrified earlier. I knew in time I would cope with it better.
Troy slid into the very back of the vehicle and pulled me with him. He pulled me in close, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “I’m sorry, Blake,” his voice was hoarse as he talked softly to me. “I should have gone with you. I knew you were upset. They wouldn’t have gotten the jump on you if I had been there.”
“You don’t know that,” I tried to reassure him. “I didn’t have to take that route. I could have stayed on the property.”
He shook his head. “I’ve been trained, Blake; I would have seen them,” Troy said confidently. “We would have seen them before they even tried to attack us. We could have handled them on our own.”
I linked my hands with his and leaned my head on his broad shoulders. “It’s all water under the bridge. I’m alive. I’ll get over it.”
He sighed deeply in frustration. “I’ve never been more frightened in my life, seeing you like that,” he whispered hoarsely.
I didn’t know what to say, so I just leaned on him and stroked his arm.
We ? 7 was located on the outskirts of a town that once housed industrial plants. Remy had a good business head on him and saw the potential and growth trend of the area, so he purchased two properties within a reasonable walking distance of each other. He had re-zoned the smaller of the two warehouses into residential. He had gutted and fixed up the larger of the two for his restaurant and renovated it, while keeping the charm of a warehouse.
The property he had zoned for residential was the place he had renovated into his home. The ground level of his warehouse home was where he kept his gym, a bathroom, bedroom, and where he parked his vehicles. The upper levels held enough bedrooms for each member of the family with room to spare. He had put his bedroom and bathroom on the roof of the building. The roof also had a hot tub and gardens.
When we pulled up onto the street, it was clear that Jemmy and Rachel had clearly gone overboard. Vehicles were parked along the street, and the parking lots were completely full. Jace pulled up near one of the entrances.
“Somehow, I don’t think Remy anticipated this kind of Halloween party,” Jace said dryly. “I’ll park the truck at Remy’s and walk over. You guys can head on in now.”
“I told her she needed to cool it,” Jaxson said with little conviction. It was clear that he was excited to get inside.
“I’m sure you did.” Noah ribbed him as he held his hand out to help me out of the vehicle.
I threw my coat in the vehicle before Jace drove off—I didn’t want to forget
it anywhere or carry it around. We walked up to the door and I could hear the music pouring out. We packed turnouts like this when I had been performing in the band. It had helped the restaurant in sales, and we had gained a name for ourselves. People from all over came to watch us sing and perform.