Dawn Forever

An hour lead, it wasn't much. He had the cash that Roark gave him and other than his determination to escape, nothing else. He tucked the bills into his swim trunks and disappeared into the crowd swarming around the drink stand. An hour. And then his time ran out.

Chapter 5

Janine hummed a little nonsense tune as she flipped the shop's sign from closed to open. The day was shaping up to be fantastic. Over night the humidity had dissipated and the sun shone brilliantly in a cloudless, clear blue sky. Her job wasn't much. At first she took it to help out a friend, not for the money. Patrick kept a steady flow of green in her pocket. Now, that she was on her own, she'd turned over the bankcards and wads of cash. It didn't seem right to expect Patrick to continue providing for her when she wasn't involved with him anymore. And she'd moved out to proclaim her independence.

The ice cream shop cleverly named 'What's the Scoop' was Robert and Danielle's legacy to their only child Robbie. Robbie inherited the shop but lost interest. The place simply held too many happy and painful memories for her to fully dedicate all her time and attention to the shop. And Janine, desperate for something to prove her worth, had eagerly stepped up to lend a hand.

The paychecks were small, barely enough to keep her fed. But, she was getting by. Not having to pay rent and holing up in Robbie's childhood home certainly helped. And borrowing Chris's car saved tons of money. By the time the shop closed for the season, she could have enough cash saved up to move back to the city, land a job worthy of her MBA, and rent a cracker jack sized apartment. She hated to leave her friends behind, but her empty pocketbook was going to force her to.

She smiled at Robbie, who at hearing her off key attempt at a song poked her head out of the office. "Hey girlfriend. What's up?"

"You certainly look better today," Robbie said. She was relieved to see the dark circles under Janine's eyes gone. The woman was vibrant this morning, practically bouncing in her Keds.

"I feel good," Janine confessed. She leaned on the counter and winked at Robbie. "How are the newlyweds doing?" Since she didn't live at the compound anymore, she missed out on most of the gossip.

Robbie scoffed and rubbed at the counter with a damp dishrag. "Anna and Toby haven't emerged from their love nest yet."

"Oh, I'm so glad they're putting all of our hard work to good use," Janine teased. Her BFFs and she had busted their butts for weeks before the wedding packing and unpacking Anna's things. Moving them from her house in the city and into the newly designed suites intended as a wedding gift.

"I hope the bed holds up," Robbie snorted. She slid her neon pink 'What's the Scoop' t-shirt over her tank top, hiding the hilt of the dagger she had strapped to her hip. Coming to work everyday, while productive, was a ruse. And a bit too much like all the summers past. It was easy to fall into the familiar routines again and pretend that her parents were still here with her. Sometimes, she almost could forget that the ding of the bell over the shop door wasn't her dad coming in for work, or her mom, popping by to check the books.

Robbie was really here to keep watch over Janine. Make sure she stayed safe and kept out of trouble. And that Patrick didn't cause any problems. This was a business, even though, if Janine hadn't offered to run it, she wouldn't have opened this summer. It was still a business not a soap opera. And Robbie didn't want any dramatic bullshit on her watch. She secured her unruly red curls into an elastic band and adjusted the lightly tinted lenses over her sensitive green eyes.

Robbie's day would end when Janine's did. Once Janine left at the end of her shift, Lori would take over the counter. And the brothers would resume their careful watch over the shop and Janine. Robbie glanced up when the bell above the door sounded, announcing a customer.

Janine didn't have to paste a smile on her face. Grinning as the delivery lady from the flower shop approached the counter, carrying a vase stuffed to overflowing with fragrant sprigs of lavender and fragile white roses. She knew who the flowers were for and eagerly snatched the card from the blossoms. "Oh, I wonder who they're from." She opened the envelope with her thumbnail and turned away from Robbie, peering nosily over her shoulder, to read it.

Robbie resented Janine's huff and determined twist of her shoulders to prevent her from peeking at the note. Of course, Janine had no cash to tip the delivery woman. Or she'd become so engrossed in the flowers and the card that she'd forgotten. Robbie made and ice cream cone, with a perfect curlicue on the tip, added a cherry, and a few dollars out of the cash register and slid them into the woman's hand as compensation for her trouble. Licking the ice cream like a cat with a bowl of cream, the woman left the shop.

Robbie looked over her sunglasses at Janine's excited expression and exuberant bouncing. "Patrick?" she hazarded a guess. Patrick wasn't the type to send flowers. He was more likely to send Janine a highly polished dagger with engraving on the blade, classy and understated. Not flowers, so obvious and over the top, cliché and commercial. That simply wasn't his style.

The card was just as lovely as the flowers. At first, Janine was disappointed. Thinking they might be from Patrick, which they weren't. She snorted to herself. She should have known better. The flowers were from Bryce, and the note a 'thank you' for the kiss. She clutched the card to her chest, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet. He wanted to see her again. She knew it was wrong of her to accept the flowers and his request for her company. But, nobody had ever thanked her for something as simple as a kiss before. He was so sweet. And she needed to see him face to face to thank him for the flowers and to explain all she could offer him was friendship.

"Nope." Janine blushed, shoving the card into her hip pocket. She lowered her nose to the flowers inhaled the sweet fragrance of the fragile blossoms before setting them out of the way of the way of the customers. She bit her lip in debate. Should she tell Robbie who the mystery sender was? Oh, what the heck, there were really very few secrets kept between members and she trusted Robbie with her life.

Robbie was a vampire, and beyond that, a capable warrior. If she didn't trust her, she wouldn't be standing shoulder to shoulder, working with her. "Bryce."

"Oh." Robbie lifted her brows in curiosity. "He's a nice guy." Robbie hadn't had many dealings with Bryce. The trackers were their own special breed. But, she knew him well enough by reputation. He was one of the better trackers and was pretty good in a fight. As evidenced by the ass kicking he'd delivered Patrick last night. He was reliable and trustworthy. She doubted if his finer qualities were enough to keep Janine interested for very long. Janine craved some level of unpredictability in her life. She needed a man who kept her guessing and on her toes. Bryce was the exact opposite of that.

"He's very sweet," Janine corrected, defending Bryce.

"Are you sure sweet is enough?"

Janine shook her head and frowned at Robbie. "They're flowers, nothing more. It isn't like he's proposing to me. We're friends."

"Yeah, friends," Robbie grumbled, dropping the subject like a hot potato. She so did not want to spend her morning debating Patrick versus Bryce with Janine. What the woman did with her love life was her business. And Robbie had seen way too much drama to get caught up in it. "I'll be in the office if you need anything."

*****

Patrick spent the morning in the woods, thinking. He didn't want to lose Janine for good. But, he couldn't give her what she wanted. He thought about it...months ago...and went so far as to buy her a ring. The ring was still stashed away in his dresser unopened in the box it'd been shipped. Ultimately, in the end, he'd chickened out and settled for the earrings instead. He couldn't risk her life. And couldn't risk loving her as she was, so fragile and breakable.

Last night, Anna had him almost convinced to confess his feelings for her. But, then Bryce got in the way. Maybe, in some twisted, knife in the gut kind of way, it was for the best. Bryce certainly didn't seem to have any hang-ups when it came to Janine's humanity. A shadowy figure blocked the patchy sunlight filtering through the trees overhead, looming over him like the Grim Reaper incarnate. Great.

"It sounds like a bee's nest up there." John Mark thumped Patrick's skull with his index finger and squatted on the ground next to his brother. He could not judge Patrick's mood with the dark sunglasses and thick fall of sandy brownish-blond hair hanging over his eyes. But, if his mind were any indication, not all was well in Patrick's head.

"Chris saw the busted fireplace this morning. She is not a happy woman." John Mark snickered. Dane thought delegating the task of delivering Patrick and Bryce's punishment would build character. What a crock of shit. "You should be lucky she's in your corner and for some reason she likes you. Dane wanted to do far worse than the punishment she managed to talk him into. He mentioned something about having you hand polish every rabbit turd in the tri-county area. The only thing she wants is for you to repair the damage you caused. Immediately."

"Why should I do it on my own?" Patrick grumbled. He kicked at a rock embedded in the soil with the toe of his boot and refused to be grateful for the ease of the punishment Chris doled out on his head.

"Funny you should mention that." John Mark braced himself for a fight. Patrick wasn't known for his cooperation. "Actually, you're not. The both of you are."

"You want me to be in the same room with him?" Patrick spat out the question with a fiery indignant hiss. He couldn't possibly occupy the same space as Bryce. Not for a second and definitely not without wanting to throttle the man. He'd rather hand polish every turd than endure any amount of one on one time with Bryce.

"You are brothers. Whether you like it or not, you have to cover each other's backs. He is responsible for your life and you are responsible for his. That's kind of how this whole thing works. The both of you have to get over yourselves. Our lives depend on it."

Patrick groaned. John Mark, the bastard, was right. Patrick had a duty to the brothers. That duty had to surpass any personal bullshit. "Fine," he grumbled, exhaling a labored sigh as he rose to his feet. "I'll do it. But, if he starts something, I'm going to finish it."

"No, you're not. The two of you are going to be polite and respectful to one another. And you're going to repair the broken rock in the fireplace," John Mark said, standing. He moved through the woods, leaving Patrick to pout over his punishment. John Mark was only kidding about Dane's idea. In actuality, this little exercise was a test. As pissed as Dane was when Marcus pulled his little stunt and blew the Rogue Master's house to kingdom come, Dane hadn't truly considered banishing him from the Sons. If Patrick and Bryce couldn't pull it together and at least finish one simple task as a team, they had no place in the brotherhood.

"Whatever." Sure they were. "Shit," Patrick hissed, dragging a hand through his disheveled hair. The punishment didn't fit the crime. Turd polishing aside, Patrick expected Dane to come up with something worse than just a simple fireplace repair. Chiseling out a few rocks and replacing them with new ones was far too easy. Yet, it'd be the hardest thing he'd ever done. He'd have to swallow his pride. Move beyond the insult and betrayal his brother inflicted on him and get the job done. The punishment for failure was far worse than being trapped in the same room with Bryce for hours. On a side note, and with a crooked shit-eating grin, Patrick wondered how Bryce's balls were this morning.

*****

Bryce stared at the carpet beneath his feet. Lance spent the remainder of the night, in between replacing the ice packs Bryce clutched to his swollen gonads, lecturing him like he was his mom. This morning, Dane wasted no time hauling him into his office and with nothing more than a hard scowl, made Lance's non stop nagging seem like cheers from the high school pep squad.

He got it. He really did. But, he didn't feel the least bit of regret for throttling Patrick. Especially not today, when his balls were still swollen to the size of grapefruits and the soft brush of the silk boxers under his leathers brought tears to the corner of his eyes. Some parts were just a little quicker to heal than others. And his poor testicles might never be the same.

Dane scowled at Bryce, driving home his point with his hard, relentless glare. This man should be kissing Chris's feet for saving his ass, for he personally had no such measure of pity on either of them. Decades of service did not make up for the idiocy these two displayed last night. He'd give them their chance. Their one and only chance to prove themselves to the brotherhood. And if they failed, he would not hesitate to send them packing. He'd invoke his rights and enforce the rule that had never been enforced before. No son had ever been banished from the brotherhood before.

Bryce shifted from foot to foot like a little kid called in front of the principal. Dane could have reduced him to ash with the weight of his stare. Instead, he gave him the second chance he didn't deserve. Patrick didn't have to cooperate. And the two of them didn't have to be buds. All they had to do was tolerate one another long enough to get the job done.

He hauled ass once Dane was done with him. Completely ignoring Lance, who casually leaned against the doorframe, waiting on him. And steeled his resolve in grim determination. He might lose the girl to Patrick. Maybe. And he could accept that when it came down to it. But, lose his place in the Sons because of Patrick. Not happening.

Chapter 6

Bryce was busily chipping away at the stubborn mortar that held the cracked and splintered stones in place. This was some punishment, being forced to work along side Patrick. He understood the rationale, but questioned the wisdom behind Dane's decision. The job forced Patrick and he to work together as a team. And it was a miracle that they hadn't killed each other yet.

He chiseled and Patrick gathered the bits of stone and mortar. They walked to the creek bed and spent time, Patrick searching one side while he searched the other for the perfect stone to fit in the broken stone's place. Then Patrick held the stone in place while Bryce sealed the gaps in the rock. And sometimes, when Chris stopped by to monitor their progress and felt they'd failed to hit the mark. They had to start the process all over again and chip out the stone they'd just replaced in hopes a suitable substitution would make her happy.

They had to work together and rely on each other. Move beyond their personal feelings to get the job done. Sometimes, it took over an hour of fastidious searching to find the perfect stone. Sometimes, a stone just wouldn't fit in the gap left behind. And sometimes, the stone they'd so painstakingly chosen, slid into the space perfectly, but the shade was wrong or there was a flaw hidden they'd missed.

The work was tedious. The tension between them was thick enough to cut with a knife. And the unspoken, hung heavily in the air between them. Bryce gritted his teeth and kept out of Patrick's way. Patrick huffed and did his best to pretend Bryce wasn't there. Working side by side, it wasn't easy. And Dane had been kind, or had enough foresight, not to leave them with power tools. Or the work might not have happened at all.

Patrick didn't say a word that he didn't have to. He picked up his tools and began working diligently on the masonry. Prying out a broken stone, he tossed it into a pile. Finally, the silence and stress between them became thick, palpable, and unbearable. "Man, why are you doing this?" he asked, looking up at Bryce.

"Because Dane ordered me to," Bryce replied, looking down at Patrick from his perch on the ladder. He dropped a stone into the pile where it landed with a loud clack against the other rocks and returned to coaxing another jagged piece of stone free from the wall.

Patrick ground his teeth in irritation and dodged the stone Bryce dropped into the pile. Asshole, Patrick thought, brushing a powdery spray of masonry off his shoulder. "That's not what I mean. Why are you chasing after Janine?" He grunted and returned to filing away at the rough mortar to widen the space in preparation for a replacement stone.

"Why aren't you?" Bryce countered. He tossed the stone he'd finally managed to work free into the pile. This time making sure he took the time to aim before he threw it.

Patrick bit his lip and sorted through the rocks Bryce and he gathered from the creek bed. He didn't have to explain his motives to anybody, especially not Bryce. "It's complicated," he mumbled. He held the stone in his fingers and pressed it into the hole.

"Didn't seem too complicated last night when you were planting your foot in my balls." He nodded in approval of Patrick's choice of stones and climbed down the ladder to select one to replace the rock he'd managed to work free. "Enlighten me."

"She wants something that I can't give her," Patrick reluctantly admitted. He held the stone in place with his fingers while Bryce applied the finishing touches to the masonry around the edges.

"Hmmm," Bryce grumbled, smoothing away the excess mortar with a fingertip. "And what would that be? A stable relationship? Respect?"

"No." Bryce was back up the ladder, leaving him to hold the stone in place while the mortar hardened. He groaned, sputtering as a spray of loose, powdery mortar that showered down on his head as Bryce filed away at the edges of a wide gap. "You don't get it do you?"

"I don't suppose I do." Bryce frowned at Patrick and began working faster. "Don't stop. I need to finish this. I have a date tonight."

Patrick winced, grinding his teeth to restrain his temper. "With her?"

"Yes." Bryce held the rock he'd chosen to the hole and grunted when it refused to comply with his desires and simply slide into place. He climbed down the ladder and riffled through the meager pile they had left trying to find one that would fit.

"She wants me to tell me that I love her."

Bryce crouched on his haunches and stopped sifting through the rocks long enough to stare up at Patrick in disbelief. The man's expression was grim. Bleaker than anything he'd ever seen. "Is that what all this is about? Is that why she left?"

"Yes." Patrick hated to admit his one true weakness to his enemy. And as long as Bryce pursued Janine, he was an enemy. He plopped down on the hearth and rested his forearms on his knees, staring at the scattered heaps of broken rock and powdery piles of mortar.

"Do you? Do you love her?" Bryce was curious. In all the time he'd known Patrick, he'd never seen him look so broken, divested of his cocky mask of arrogance. He cautiously eased down to sit on the heart beside Patrick. They weren't exactly friends and the man would probably just as readily throttle him than confess his feelings.

Patrick reluctantly nodded. "I want to."

"Then what's the problem? Tell her and end our collective suffering." Bryce ran a hand through his thick, dark hair and uttered a confession of his own. "I want her to be happy. No matter what or whom she ends up with as long as she's happy that's the most important thing."

"I told you it's complicated." Patrick sighed and lifted his hazel eyes to meet Bryce's stare. "I can't tell her that I love her. I can't do it. I can't offer a ride into the sunset on a white steed. If I love her, I have one of two choices. Either transform her or watch while she slowly dies, little by little, each day."