Knight hadn’t been able to shake what had happened, what he had done to Sue. Perhaps it wasn’t a bad injury and perhaps Sue really didn’t blame him for it, but Knight certainly blamed himself. A few inches higher and he could have taken an eye. Knight had struggled with control his entire life. He had spent years believing that he took after his father that way, but now he knew he couldn’t blame it on genetics. Carlos, the man who had disappeared when Knight was nine, who had bullied and beaten his mom, had always been the ghost haunting Knight.As a teenager, he had struggled not to fly off the deep end over every little thing. His control was something he had worked hard for, something he took pride in. He had never felt more out of control than he did now.He let himself into his grandparents’ house without knocking, as was the norm. He had called ahead to make sure that he and his grandpa would be alone.“In here, Ev,” his grandpa called to him from the living room.There was a se
Sarah’s makeup had helped a lot to cover up the scratches on Sue’s neck. The moment she got home, she had wanted to wash it off, but she also didn’t want the marks to look too bad when Knight saw them.“If he sees them,” she muttered to herself as she made herself a coffee.Over the last few months the two of them had barely spent a night apart, and when they had, Knight had acted weird and possessive the following day. Sue had received a simple text from Knight after lunch.Out of office for rest of day. Call later xSue had assumed that Knight would be back in time for them to go home together, like usual, but no such luck. When Sue had tried calling him, it went straight to voice mail. She just knew the stupid werewolf was off somewhere obsessing over what had happened.Sue had gotten the bus home for the first time in weeks. Even weirder was the fact that she was in her own kitchen completely alone. It had never bothered her before, being by herself, but she had gotten so used to
Sue didn’t wake up in the best of moods. She missed the snoring werewolf beside her and had woken up several times through the night feeling as though something were missing. It was the monthly release day of the magazine and Sue’s first article for it was going to be in there. Writing for a magazine hadn’t exactly been her dream job, instead wanting to take on more serious journalism, but she found herself feeling proud. On the surface, her article looked like a simple piece on the rise of werewolf-focused hotels, but Sue had delved deeper than that, getting into the history of segregation and how vital it was that they not let themselves, as a society, slip backward.It wasn’t until she had her glasses on and was shuffling out toward the kitchen that she remembered her brother was there.Joey was asleep on the couch, his arm thrown up over his head and his mouth open. Like that, Joey looked younger. All his usual bravado was gone. Creeping a little closer, Sue allowed herself to ta
When Knight had insisted on taking her out for dinner to celebrate her first article with the magazine, Sue hadn’t really been too thrilled with the idea. What with Knight having his freak-out and Joey showing up at her place, Sue kind of just wanted a quiet night in with her boyfriend so she could ask how the therapy session went. She wasn’t stupid. She knew that it was going to take a lot more than one session to help Knight with his issues, but to Sue, it still didn’t seem like such a big deal. Sue wasn’t really sure why Knight was having a harder time with her attempted kidnapping than she was.“I did consider clearing out that Howlers we went to for our first date,” Knight told Sue as they drove to the restaurant, “and having the place to ourselves, but that seemed a little too much.”Howlers was the name of a chain of restaurants owned by Knight’s family. The two of them had gone to one on the spur of the moment, right after they first met.Sue smiled at the thought of it. “Wel
After what was supposed to have been a nice, celebratory dinner, a moment of peace after the chaos, Knight drove them back to his apartment. It had been eerily quiet in the car. Sue usually found it hard not to talk continuously, especially when she thought Knight was tense about something, but tonight Knight had found it hard to get two words out of Sue.“Blair’s a bitch,” Knight finally said to fill the silence as he let them into his apartment. “She’s the stereotypical, superficial model type. That’s why I broke up with her.”Sue just nodded and went straight through to the kitchen to get a drink. Knight hung back in the doorway, watching as Sue pulled a bottle of wine out of the rack and opened it.“Are you mad at me?” Knight had to ask. “Do you think I should have handled that differently?”“No,” Sue finally said before taking a long sip of her wine. “I’m not mad at you. I’m not mad at all. I’m sad.”Knight felt a pang in his chest knowing that someone from his past had caused S
The only downside to dating Knight, Sue decided, was coming into work with him. Knight liked to be at the office early, and rather than make her own way there, Sue went with him. The only good side was that Knight stopped for coffee on the way, so Sue could sit in the break room, usually alone, and drink it in peace. There were always a few people at the office already, no doubt wanting to make a good impression on Knight.She sat on the couch with her coffee in one hand and a banana in the other. Ever since she and Knight had gotten serious with each other, Knight had started insisting that Sue eat a little healthier. It kind of annoyed her that she had to eat a banana instead of a bagel for breakfast, but then she remembered Knight’s reasoning for it.“I want you around for a long time,” Knight had told her. “I can’t bear the thought of anything happening to you.”After hearing something like that, Sue couldn’t very well complain. Still, she really was missing those bagels.“Oh.” Bo
Knight wasn’t antisocial, no matter what Sue said. He loved Sue and he loved his family, but it was a Tuesday night and he really just wanted to be at home with the game on, not meeting Jared and Sarah for dinner. It had been a few weeks since that trashy magazine had printed photos of him and Sue, and Knight’s anger over it had only just started to abate. Those at work who hadn’t known about the relationship before certainly knew now.“She’s my best friend and he’s your cousin,” Sue pointed out as they made their way into the building. “Can you at least pretend that you’re having fun?”Knight shot her a big, fake grin, which just made Sue roll her big doe eyes. “Honestly, anyone would think I was making you eat a salad the way you’re acting.”Knight had to admit that it wasn’t quite that bad. At least the place Jared had chosen had good food.“Okay, I’m sorry,” Knight said, taking hold of Sue’s hand. “I promise not to be…”“Grumpy?” Sue helpfully supplied with a wry grin.“Right. Th
It was late by the time they got back to Knight’s apartment. The whole drive home, Knight had been fielding calls from his mom and his grandparents about what had happened after seeing it on the news. It was scary to think how close the bomb had been to them. What was even scarier was the thought that someone he knew could have easily been inside that hotel.“Are you okay?” Knight asked her as he let them inside.“Yeah,” Sue quickly answered. She ran his hand over Knight’s arm before he removed his jacket. “I’m just tired. We were at your grandpa’s hotel just a few weeks ago. I can’t stop thinking, what if it had happened there?”“I know,” Knight said. He kissed the top of Sue’s head. “The world can be a shitty and scary place sometimes.”“You think it was a humans-first group?”Knight shrugged a shoulder. “Or a werewolves-first group who objected to humans being allowed in. Or it could be something else entirely.”Sue nodded and rubbed at his arms.“Here, let me get you a drink,” Kn