Page 199 of Malice and Surrender
I glanced out the plane window and watched Raine talk to Kai. He looked panicked, scared she would get on the plane with me and never come back. If he really knew her, he’d know she wouldn’t leave unless forced to. She was so much like Avro with her loyalty and undying positivity. Those two were meant to be in each other’s orbit, and I was hoping that Raine could get him through his surgery when I couldn’t be here.
Kai glanced up at me as they hugged, and our eyes locked. The usual anger brewing in their depths wasn’t there. It freaked me out when someone’s personality did a one-eighty like this. There was always a reason, and Kai didn’t change for sweet, fluffy bunny reasons. He would only have a personality lobotomy if something seriously bad happened.
I looked away first—this was their moment—and answered Allen and the list of questions he was firing at me. They were mixed in with reminders about everything for this evening.
We were supposed to do a concert in Nashville two days ago, but Damon caught the flu and couldn’t keep anything down. Not that I wanted Damon to be sick, but I wasn’t complaining about the extra time I got. This was the longest stretch I’d been home in years.
“Hey,” Raine said, smiling as she walked along the aisle and dropped her carry-on before hanging the garment bag on one of the lockable hooks.
“Hey,” I said back. I glanced out the window again, and Kai was still standing in the same spot, staring up at the window. “Did he want to come?” I pointed my thumb out the window. “I mean, he can’t come to the awards or anything. But if he’s that freaked out about you going to this with me, he can babysit me, I guess.”
Raine shook her head before sitting down. “No, I’m not even going to give him that option. He’s been…how do I put this?” She bit her lip. “Do you find Kai is acting strange? Like more protective than normal?”
“I have noticed it,” I said.
“I wondered if it was because we talked about me moving in with you and Avro, but he said he was fine. In fact, he said it would be safer than living at the old farmhouse so close to the MC property, and he liked that, so I don’t know.”
She shrugged. “Now that I think about it, they’ve both been weird. I don’t mean they have a thing going on kind of weird,” she said quickly, which made me chuckle.
“They’ve been weird in different ways. I’ve tried to get them to talk, but neither will say what’s bothering them. You’re the only one acting normal. You must have some idea what the hell is up. I hate being in the dark.” She looked stressed as she stared at me. “I know Avro’s knee has been sore. Are we doing too much?”
I sighed and crossed my arms, annoyed that Avro still hadn’t talked to Raine, and now I would have to tell her. Probably his damn plan all along.
“If you know anything, please tell me, Jace.” She rubbed at her chest. “I’m worried, and it’s freaking me out that I’m met with a door slamming in my face the moment I bring it up.”
“I know what’s going on with Avro, but Kai, I have no clue.” I rubbed the back of my neck as I debated whether I should tell her. It should come from Avro, but I wanted Raine to be able to enjoy this experience.
“Avro is acting off. I didn’t know if anyone else saw it, so I didn’t want to say anything.”
The roar of the motorcycle firing up echoed into the plane's cabin, and we watched silently as Kai pulled out into the dark. It was very early, and I wanted to throw my phone as it dinged three more times in a row. Fucking Allen.
“Jace, please tell me about Avro.” Raine reached out and placed her hand on my knee.
“I shouldn’t. It’s not my place to say,” I said, and Raine leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. She was giving me some serious ‘fuck you’ face, and it was kinda hot. “I’m serious. Avro doesn’t like anyone to worry, and I shouldn’t say if he hasn’t mentioned it yet.”
“Jace, are we or are we not all in this together? You made it very clear to me that anything that happened to any of us individually affected us all. I have the right to know.”
“Fuck, I hate it when my words are tossed back at me.” I leaned my head back against the seat. “Fine, but he may kill me if he finds out I told you.”
“I doubt he’s going to kill you,” she said, shaking her head. “So out with it.”
“You know about his knee, right?” Raine nodded. “It started to twinge a few months back, nothing big, just now and then when he’d move too fast the wrong way. He didn’t think much of it, just leftover pain from the original surgeries. Then the pain became more frequent. He went to the doctor for testing a couple of weeks back, and he got the call the other night that he needs another surgery. This time they are doing a knee replacement and ACL reconstruction surgery.” Raine covered her mouth and swore under her breath.
“What’s going on with the knee? Do they know?”
“I don’t have technical terms for you, but basically, the bone is breaking apart in the joint.” I used my hands to demonstrate Avro’s knee and the joint breaking. Raine looked like she was going to cry.
“Oh my god, why is he still dancing at the bar? That has to kill. And why doesn’t he want me to know?”
“It’s not that he doesn’t want you to know. He doesn’t want to become someone’s problem, and...honestly, I think he’s avoiding the topic. The less he talks about it, the less real it becomes.”
“So he’s opting to stay quiet and pretend he’s okay? Jace, come on, that’s not healthy,” Raine said, and I shrugged.
“I’ve tried getting him to talk. He’s very stubborn when he wants to be. The doc is talking six weeks with zero weight to start and then re-evaluate. That means he is most likely in a wheelchair, then on crutches if all goes well. If it doesn’t…I don’t know. But stairs will be nearly impossible, so he’s been setting up the spare room on the main floor. He definitely won’t be able to work behind the bar, and he won’t be able to dance. As far as sex goes, I’m guessing that he will be out for a few weeks and can only sit or lay down, so that will bother him too.” I ran my thumb across my lip as I pictured the kiss he gave me before I left. I could feel his heart breaking.
I hated that he was going through this for a third time. He didn’t like me to know how much pain he was in. When I was home, he’d sneak off to another room. I’d find him silently crying but refusing to take more than one painkiller a day. He was terrified that he’d become addicted. Avro was stronger than he realized, while he always thought he was weak. I didn’t get it, but it was another thing he and Raine had in common.
“Anyway, Avro’s not taking it very well. That accident was horrible, and his knee was a mess. I was in Germany at the time and didn’t get back until two weeks after it happened, but he was…lost, I don’t know how better to describe it.”
