More Than Flesh & Bone

Chapter 15

OOPS

"I… uh… I was…" I scrambled for words as I shoved the stuffie into my purse. "I was looking for my earring." I dropped to my knees despite being on the stairs and started patting the carpet.

"Addison, you're a terrible liar," Zed said on an exhale.

"Well, maybe it's because lying is bad, and contrary to what my brother thinks, I'm a good Adds," I said, blabbering on from the nervous energy zinging around inside me.

"Get up," he said, motioning with his hand.

I let out a sigh, my shoulders deflating as I climbed back to my feet. "Okay, look… I tried to get ahold of you for days, but you wouldn't even send me a 'new number. Who dis?' to let me know you're tired of me. So I went to see Eliza to ask her about Trace. Want to know what she told me? She said his soul was shredded. Shredded," I repeated for good measure, in case he missed the implication. "I didn't fuck up the summoning. One of your zombie buddies… probably Bucky… did it. This just proves I was right to begin with," I said speaking in a rush to get it all out before he interrupted me.

"Are you done now?" he asked, sounding both more and less annoyed than I'd predicted.

"Is that all you have to say?" I asked, throwing my hands up.

"What do you want me to say?" he replied, anger quickly leaching into his tone. "I lost my phone shortly after the summoning, but things have been crazy here. Another kid died three days ago and I've been stuck dealing with that, so excuse me for not having time to drive over and tell you what was up. I was going to come by your place this afternoon, but you couldn't manage to hang tight for three fucking days…"

"Uh uh," I said shaking my head. "You don't get to spin this on me. We did things your way and you refused to listen to me, only for Eliza to tell me I was right to be suspicious to begin with. Look, you may not have had your phone, but it's the twenty-first century. Get on Facebook and send me a message. Ghosting me because you don't wanna talk is a pussy move."

"A pussy move?" Zed repeated. "Addison, someone dies three days ago," he said, his voice rising.

"And my brother died a month ago," I snapped back. "Something that only one of us seems to be remembering. I'm trying to catch his killer before he kills more people. Meanwhile, you're being obstinate and refusing to see reason…"

"See reason?" he asked, leaning in, our faces were only inches apart. "You're sneaking around in the single worst place for you to fucking be right now. What part of lie low do you not understand?"

We were both breathing heavily. The scent of aftershave and spearmint hit me. I stared at his face, at his eyes, into the depths of warm brown so deep I half wondered if it was his soul.

Then I kissed him.

It wasn't a tentative kiss or even a gentle one. I pressed my lips to his and grabbed both sides of his face with my hands. My heart beat frantically in my chest as I waited for him to respond.

Just as I started to pull away, a growl slid from his lips and he kissed me back. Strong arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me to him. Our chests hit and passion collided.

He kissed me back without abandon. Despite the lack of practice he claimed he had, the way his tongue slipped between my lips and twined with mine left my legs feeling weak. I clutched him harder, matching him touch for touch, stroke for stroke.

He tried to control every little aspect of my life and yet it seemed the only thing that wanted to listen was my body. Go figure.

We turned, and my back hit the wall. Strong fingers hoisted me up by the waist, and I wrapped my legs around him, having no idea where this was leading but enjoying the ride all the same.

"I still can't stand you," I moaned as he released my mouth to run his lips along my jaw.

"You're such a brat," he whispered, kissing the sensitive skin beneath my ear.

The insult did nothing to cool the heated flame in me as I moved to wrap my arms around his neck and arched my back.

The creak of a door, however, did.

"What the hell?"

Oops.

Maybe I was a bad Adds.

Zed pulled back, his forehead resting briefly against mine before he gently lowered me to the floor. As I slid down his body, I could feel every inch of his response to our kiss.

A grin stretched across my face.

No, I wasn't bad at all. According to Zed, I was still a good Addie.

Very, very good.

"Bucky, you remember Tracey's twin," Zed said, turning away from me, his voice surprisingly even despite the rise and fall of his chest.

The smile dropped from my face, and my eyes narrowed as they landed on Zeta Omicron Mu's president and my main suspect. He was standing a few stairs away from the top, his arms crossed over his chest, his expression livid.

"You know better than to bring a bitch up here," he said.

"Who you calling a bitch, dickwad?" I asked, taking a step forward.

Zed stopped me with a hand to my stomach. My body was struggling to remember that we weren't still in the middle of grinding on each other up against the wall because the warmth of his hand sent a flood of liquid heat spiraling through me.

Before Zed could respond, Bucky spoke again. "I thought you were searching for the intruder…" he trailed off, his eyes flinty. "Unless you already found her."

I was pretty sure my lost earring excuse wasn't going to do me any favors here, so for once, I remained silent, letting Zed answer.

"Cool the hostility, Bucky. The is Trace's sister you're talking to. Addison was in my room when the alarms were tripped," Zed said smoothly, simultaneously impressing me and concerning me once again with his ability to lie. "I told her to stay put, but she got nervous and ran up here not realizing there weren't any windows for her to climb out of."

A muscle ticked in Bucky's jaw. It didn't take a genius to realize he wasn't buying it. "Tracey's sister? In your room? Right… You've been acting strange ever since she showed up and you expect me to believe there's not more going on here? Everyone knows she's paranoid. She tried to get the whole place shit down a few years back when her old man died."

Zed shrugged. "It's the truth. She has no reason to break in."

Bucky's eyes drifted back to me, and he shook his head. "Doesn't matter what I think. Rules are rules. Any non-brother found on the premises when an alarm has been triggered has to be taken before the council for interrogation."

"Bucky…" Zed protested. The thread of panic I detected in his voice kept me silent. The last thing I wanted to do was have to deal with the Council.

"No way, brother. I'm not about to break the rules for your fuck buddy. Especially not with everything going on."

"Prez, you up there?" Another voice called from below.

"Yeah," Bucky said, not looking away from Zed and me.

"We caught her. It was a succubus. She was trying to charm Bonzo into letting her go when we found her."

My eyes shut briefly. Fuck. Bree.

His brows lifted at that. "Well, would you look at that? Either you two were telling the truth, or your girlfriend has a partner."

Zed didn't betray me, not even with a flicker of his eyes, but I could tell he was pissed. I just didn't know if it was with me, or the zombie shooting daggers at us with his eyes.

"Aw, come on," Bree's voice drifted up the stairs. "I can think of much better things we could be doing with those hands…" I could just see her batting her eyelashes, playing the role of vixen like that would get her out of trouble with the reapers of all people. I rolled my eyes and snorted. And they thought I was the problem?

Zed turned and gave me a look, taking my hand to haul me down the stairs. I tugged back, not about to leave my purse, or Trace, behind. Bag in hand, I followed Zed. Bucky stepped aside, clear distaste on his face when I walked past.

Given we were already caught, I didn't resist the urge to flip his off.

He let out a huff as I turned my head, using my middle finger to pretend I was putting on some of my Maneater lipstick before mouthing, "Fuck you."

"Addison," Zed said. I turned, blinking my eyes innocently even though he totally just saw that. "Please go wait in my car."

"What?" I asked, looking back and forth between Bucky and Zed. "Why?" I demanded.

"I have to bring you before the Council. Please just get in the damn car," he said quietly, trying not to elicit an argument.

"I'm not leaving Bree to ride with them," I said. "I don't trust them."

Zed's jaw clenched. He didn't like it, but I think he knew I was right not to trust them.

"The succubus will be unharmed," Bucky said in a brisk tone.

"Your face won't be if you lay a hand on her," I snapped back.

"Addison," Zed groaned, and not in the good way. "Get in the fucking car before you make this worse for everyone."

I pressed my lips together, eyeing Bucky with hatred.

"If it makes you feel better, I'll be riding with you instead of her," Bucky said, clearly not trying to make me feel better.

"I got this," Zed said. "You don't need to…"

"Actually, I do. I'm not giving you two time alone to get your story straight before the Council questions her."

I swallowed hard, and I think he saw because the bastard grinned.

"You clearly don't know Addison if you think she can lie," Zed said, already defeated.

"Well, we'll find out. Won't we?" Bucky said, moving to stand beside me in the hall. He motioned to the staircase that led down to the first floor where Bree was standing. She stood at the bottom of it, staring up at me with solidarity. Behind her was the lumberjack from my first time here. He was holding her arms behind her back. Relatively speaking, she seemed unhurt.

"After you," Bucky said with a smirk.

"Oh, go choke on a dildo," I muttered, brushing him off.

No one laughed.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm sure nothing bad could come out of Addison being hauled in front of the council...