Sequel: The Misadventures of Kade and Celine ›
The Princess and the Bootlegger
Sixteen
Kade didn’t know what to do. Celine looked so broken, and he was sure it was his fault. If he hadn’t been so reckless about arguing with MacIntosh in public, she wouldn’t have had to come tell him he was in trouble and involve herself. Now the dearest person to her was dead.
He couldn’t blame her for telling him to leave. He’d done plenty of damage already. When he made his return of shame back home, Mrs. Redfoot came out to greet him. The first thing she did was ask where Celine was and when Celine was coming back, and Kade didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth. All he could do was force a smile and shrug. The elderly dwarven woman then disappeared into her apartment and returned with a plate of cookies she wanted to give Celine. Salty ones, like before.
As he paced back and forth in his apartment, he felt like he was running away. A cowardly, meek human like everyone said. He couldn’t just let Celine continue to be hunted down, just because of him. He sighed and checked himself once more in the mirror. He looked sloppy, but he supposed it didn’t matter anymore as he headed out the door.
The Wolf Den was a bar, but it was also home territory for the MacIntosh pack. There was some menacing growling and glaring as Kade walked in, but no one attacked him right away. He warily tried to keep his gaze straight ahead as he approached Wes MacIntosh, the pack alpha. Wes sat at a sort of VIPs table away from everyone else, in a haze of cigar smoke. When he saw Kade, a cruel and toothy grin formed on his face.
“Well, well,” he said. “Look who it is.”
“I just want to talk,” Kade told him, holding up his hands in surrender. “I know you think I did something awful. It wasn’t-“
“Is ‘awful’ how you would phrase the gruesome murder of my son?” Wes growled. “Only a human would use silver against a wolf. It makes up for your weak arms and small mind.”
“I didn’t kill Brutus,” Kade insisted. “And Celine had nothing to do with it. She was seen leaving my pawn shop because she was pawning some jewelry. That’s it.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Please, leave her alone. Just do whatever you need to with me and let her live her life.”
“The girl is Christophe’s problem,” Wes said. “He’s the one trying to catch and cage her. We want to make an example, and regardless of what happened, everyone associates you with this murder. So you’ll have to be our example.”
“Christophe?” Kade frowned. “What do you mean by ‘catch and cage’? I thought -“
He didn’t have a chance to answer before he was sucked punched in the face. He felt his nose crack and blood stream down his face, falling back s few steps. Then came another punch to the gut that sent him flying into the walls, this time cracking ribs. Wes loomed over him menacingly as the other wolves began to close in and cheer Wes on. Kade couldn’t fight back, even if he wanted to. For these guys, breaking his bones was like snapping twigs in half. It was kind of unfair, really.
He felt blood on his face and soaking into his clothes as Wes grabbed him by the hair and dragged him out of the bar and into the freezer in the back. Kade was shoved roughly into a rack against the wall and he slumped to the floor with a wince. A couple others flanked Wes, but a woman hurried inside after what felt like ages.
“Wes, someone is out there,” she warned.
“Who, the Watch?” he smirked. “Just flash a mirror in front of them and they’ll forget what they wanted.”
“Not the watch,” she said. “Vampire, I think.”
Now Wes was more interested. Kade weakly lifted his head to listen, though he was barely conscious.
“Who, the one from that flashy lounge who thinks he’s fancy?” Wes said. “Tell him we don’t care about his personal life and to stop bothering us.”
“No, it’s a woman.”
Kade felt the slightest amount of energy return.
“Celine,” he mumbled. “She’s not part of this, leave her-“
He was kicked in the stomach again and he wheezed, slumping back down. He made a weak attempt at grabbing Wes’s pant leg, but he shook Kade off like a small child.
“Stay here,” he snapped. “Don’t even think about doing anything, because you can’t hide from us again. I’ll handle this.”
“Wait-“
Kade was ignored and they walked out, shutting the freezer door on him. Against his better judgement he wobbled to his feet, but his leg must have been broken because he only made it a couple steps before he fell to the ground again. It was cold and he was in pain, but all he could think about was how fucking useless he was. Celine didn’t need him to save her.
He couldn’t blame her for telling him to leave. He’d done plenty of damage already. When he made his return of shame back home, Mrs. Redfoot came out to greet him. The first thing she did was ask where Celine was and when Celine was coming back, and Kade didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth. All he could do was force a smile and shrug. The elderly dwarven woman then disappeared into her apartment and returned with a plate of cookies she wanted to give Celine. Salty ones, like before.
As he paced back and forth in his apartment, he felt like he was running away. A cowardly, meek human like everyone said. He couldn’t just let Celine continue to be hunted down, just because of him. He sighed and checked himself once more in the mirror. He looked sloppy, but he supposed it didn’t matter anymore as he headed out the door.
The Wolf Den was a bar, but it was also home territory for the MacIntosh pack. There was some menacing growling and glaring as Kade walked in, but no one attacked him right away. He warily tried to keep his gaze straight ahead as he approached Wes MacIntosh, the pack alpha. Wes sat at a sort of VIPs table away from everyone else, in a haze of cigar smoke. When he saw Kade, a cruel and toothy grin formed on his face.
“Well, well,” he said. “Look who it is.”
“I just want to talk,” Kade told him, holding up his hands in surrender. “I know you think I did something awful. It wasn’t-“
“Is ‘awful’ how you would phrase the gruesome murder of my son?” Wes growled. “Only a human would use silver against a wolf. It makes up for your weak arms and small mind.”
“I didn’t kill Brutus,” Kade insisted. “And Celine had nothing to do with it. She was seen leaving my pawn shop because she was pawning some jewelry. That’s it.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Please, leave her alone. Just do whatever you need to with me and let her live her life.”
“The girl is Christophe’s problem,” Wes said. “He’s the one trying to catch and cage her. We want to make an example, and regardless of what happened, everyone associates you with this murder. So you’ll have to be our example.”
“Christophe?” Kade frowned. “What do you mean by ‘catch and cage’? I thought -“
He didn’t have a chance to answer before he was sucked punched in the face. He felt his nose crack and blood stream down his face, falling back s few steps. Then came another punch to the gut that sent him flying into the walls, this time cracking ribs. Wes loomed over him menacingly as the other wolves began to close in and cheer Wes on. Kade couldn’t fight back, even if he wanted to. For these guys, breaking his bones was like snapping twigs in half. It was kind of unfair, really.
He felt blood on his face and soaking into his clothes as Wes grabbed him by the hair and dragged him out of the bar and into the freezer in the back. Kade was shoved roughly into a rack against the wall and he slumped to the floor with a wince. A couple others flanked Wes, but a woman hurried inside after what felt like ages.
“Wes, someone is out there,” she warned.
“Who, the Watch?” he smirked. “Just flash a mirror in front of them and they’ll forget what they wanted.”
“Not the watch,” she said. “Vampire, I think.”
Now Wes was more interested. Kade weakly lifted his head to listen, though he was barely conscious.
“Who, the one from that flashy lounge who thinks he’s fancy?” Wes said. “Tell him we don’t care about his personal life and to stop bothering us.”
“No, it’s a woman.”
Kade felt the slightest amount of energy return.
“Celine,” he mumbled. “She’s not part of this, leave her-“
He was kicked in the stomach again and he wheezed, slumping back down. He made a weak attempt at grabbing Wes’s pant leg, but he shook Kade off like a small child.
“Stay here,” he snapped. “Don’t even think about doing anything, because you can’t hide from us again. I’ll handle this.”
“Wait-“
Kade was ignored and they walked out, shutting the freezer door on him. Against his better judgement he wobbled to his feet, but his leg must have been broken because he only made it a couple steps before he fell to the ground again. It was cold and he was in pain, but all he could think about was how fucking useless he was. Celine didn’t need him to save her.