Page 9 of The Gathering
“In the Creole kitchen where you told me to be,” she said.
Seer waved Bacon over and he hurried toward him. “I’m coming, don’t go anywhere. I love you.”
He hung up and pocketed his phone, dodging the traffic of bodies between him and asereneSeer. Fuckin’ right, he forgot he was the swamp’s grade A informant. Just hope he didn’t want one of hishandshakes. He was barely a teenager last time he had one and he was damn sure by now life had cooked up plenty of sins for the Seer tosee.
Wait, what was he worried about? He wasmarriednow. To a saint.
“Walk with me,” Seer said, turning down the hall behind him when Bacon arrived.
He fell in beside him, shoving his hands in his leather jacket, glancing back one more time while wondering what Seer needed with the useless Hordecook.
“What you been seein’ these days?” Bacon fished discreetly as they made their way. “I don’t get much action aside from the promise of a looming food shortage.” He shot him a glance to see his reaction to that.
“Shadows in the Hatches,” Seer murmured, turning down another hall like he knew the place well.
Shadows. “Like real ones or… what?”
He reached an exit and paused, hand and blue gaze on the glass. “Not sure.”
Fresh adrenalin rode in at this news. But why tell him?
“I need you to go have a look around Nitro’s Hatch. See what you can see.”
Bacon got yanked into the prison of his blue eyes, getting pinned to some crazy mental wall. “Yeah brother, I can do that.No problem,” he said quietly to his stare, reminding himself he was guilt-free in it.
Seer suddenly tilted his head, eyes narrowing on him.
Shit, what?
Fear took a dump in his bloodstream as he waited in the gallows.
“How’s married life?”
Bacon smashed his fists deeper in his coat pockets with a light shrug, trying to remember whatcool-headedlooked or sounded like. “Amazing,” he said, glancing behind him then out the door. “Fate decided I needed a fuckin’ saint, I guess?” He forced himself back to his gaze, finding a slow smile creeping up on his brother’s mouth. “Inside and out,” Bacon added quietly, his guts loosening. “Yeah, somehow I ended up with the most beautiful human being on the planet.”
Seer turned a full grin to the door and pushed it open. “You sound surprised.”
A blast of cold sucker punched him in the lungs as he followed him out. “Surprised? Nah, man, I’m shocked out my fuckin’ mind. Where we going?”
“Somewhere quieter.”
And fucking colder. Bacon matched his stride, looking for a way into the conversation he wanted to have without sounding like a teenager desperate for a small piece of the action. “When you want me to check on this uh, shadow business?”
“Soon as you can,” he mumbled, heading for a covered bench at the edge of the parking lot.
“Hell yeah, I’ll put everything on simmer,” Bacon said, his blood all lit up as Seer closed his wool coat tight and sat on the bench. Bacon sat too, his own breaths adding to the sharp air between them.
“What you want to know?” Seer asked, gaze swinging around to his.
Bacon froze at hisknowinglook. “Me?”
Seer stared at him, grin threatening.
Bacon released his breath all in one go at realizing what this was. Seer had just opened the candy jar of nitty-gritties and offered him whatever his heart desired. “Iseverythingtoo much for the humble cook to ask for?” He palmed his chest. “Nothin’ but darkness on my end, brother. I getupdatesbut…” He dropped his hands with a sigh, glancing around. “It ain’t like it used to be.”
“That’s part of why I’m here. You been wandering into my dreams.”
Bacon eyed him for hints. “Really,” he muttered, only barely worried as Seer nodded. “What am I doing in them?”
