Page 32

32. Advice on Cherishing

Rome

The next morning, I waited beside the Oldsmobile’s trunk for Kerry to bring the first load of gear and saw Mira coming toward me. She’d taken time to braid her hair, I noticed, but not grab her new coat.

“Where’s your coat?” I frowned. “It’s cold out here.”

She ignored me, as I could have predicted.

How dare someone try to care about her .

“I’m gonna make some armor for you and Kerry.”

“I don’t know if we have time for that.”

“We aren’t leaving until after lunch. I’m pretty quick. And I’ll make Kerry’s first and work on yours later.” She stopped talking and let out a small shriek, diving into the depths of the trunk. “George is still here! Yay! I thought I’d lost him!”

She brandished a massive sledgehammer, grinning like a cat, and I raised my eyebrows.

She certainly is an interesting girl.

Next, she levered a sheet of metal out of the trunk and I watched her biceps flex under the thin material of her shirt.

“Can you grab George, please? I haven’t forged anything interesting in months. Oh, this is going to be so much fun! Can I use your room to work in? Gigi has stuff spread all over ours and John’s sleeping in the other one.”

Unprepared for her to smile at me with such happiness lighting her face, I was easy prey and fell into the trap of her eyes.

Like aged whiskey.

“Sure.” I fished the pass key out of my back pocket and handed it to her. “Move whatever you need to out of the way.”

She took the pass key between two fingers and bounded off, and I watched her twin braids swing with the sway of her hips.

“You like her, don’t you?” a voice came from right behind me.

“You must be joking.” I turned and glared at Kerry. “Where’s the gear?”

“No, I don’t know how to joke.” He shook his head. “But I’ve seen the way you watch her. And Gigi said we’ll pack the car after lunch.”

“She’s a temporary ally. That’s all. And why are we waiting?”

“Don’t be embarrassed. And I dunno. You go ask Gigi. I’ve learned to roll with that stuff.”

“I am not embarrassed!” I slapped my palm over my face and groaned. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about! And roll with what stuff?”

“You’re right. It isn’t embarrassing to like someone.” His face was as open and honest as a child’s. “And I roll with stuff that matters to the girls, but not to me.”

“Stop. Just stop,” I said through gritted teeth. “ Please stop. And fine! We’ll load the car when Gigi’s ready.”

“Okay, okay! I can see you’re shy about it. But you should know she watches you, too.”

With a strangled howl of exasperation, I spun on my heel, told him to grab the sledge, and stomped toward our room. I waited to hear his laughter, but he only followed quietly.

Then my brain started to work again.

Kerry doesn’t know how to pretend or prevaricate any more than he understands sarcasm.

I paused at the door and glanced back. He was right behind me, the hammer slung over his shoulders and held in place by a hand on either end.

“She watches me?” I murmured.

“Yeah. When she thinks no one’s looking.”

“Hmm. How should I handle this?” I didn’t realize I’d spoken aloud until he answered.

“As you know, I am the wrong person for advice on cherishing, but I can tell you one truth I’ve learned about dealing with girls in the past few months.” “Oh, no. Can you not ?”

I cringed to think of what he might say. The kid’s brain-to-mouth filter was either broken or had been removed entirely, and there was no such thing as subtlety in his world.

I stopped for a second. How hard would it be to explain that concept to him?

“It’s useless to fight against puppy dog eyes.”

“What?”

“That’s what I’ve learned. Don’t bother to fight against puppy dog eyes. They win every time.” He shook his head. “Every. Effing. Time.”

I snorted with laughter. While we were hiking, I’d seen Gemma give him big ole doe eyes a couple of times. Jax had ribbed him about how easily he’d caved to her, but he’d only shrugged with an unabashed smile and did whatever she wanted.

I tried to imagine Mira making puppy dog eyes, but could only see her getting in my face with a hot glare.

She has a spine of steel. She’d break before she begged.

“And I have a tip for you,” he continued in a secretive voice and I rolled my eyes. “When she cries, you gotta hold her. Even if it slimes up your shirt and takes a long time, you gotta man up and do it. Especially if you’re the reason she’s crying. You’ll get tons of bonus points for it.”

I burst out laughing.

“What’s funny?” His brows came together in an angry frown.

I held up my hand in peace.

“It’s a great tip. Uh, look, I do have experience with dating. I don’t need any help with this part. Thanks, anyway, buddy.” “But you said—”

“I was thinking out loud.” I could be patient now that I knew he wasn’t mocking me. “I just met her. I don’t know anything about her, except she’s brave. And strong. And interesting. And has beautiful eyes.”

I shut my mouth with a snap, my teeth clacking together.

You’re saying too much . Stop being an idiot!

“Rome, I hate to tell you this.” His grin was wicked. “But you’re in trouble.”

#

Mira

I heard talking outside the door. Wondering what was taking the guys so long, I went over and pulled the door open. I didn’t know what had put the looks on their faces, or why they were simply standing at the threshold.

Boys are so weird.

I took George from Kerry, ushered them in, and closed the door behind them.

“Thanks.”

Kerry nodded, then followed Rome over to the table by the window. Rome pulled out his phone and began walking him through a map of the journey to the gulag. Looking at their bent heads, one dark and the other light, I felt I understood them pretty well.

Rome was an old-fashioned knight, steady and virtuous and wholesome. Kerry was a firestorm, full of fury and fight and ferocity. I had to agree with Gigi, who had warned me last night that he was dangerous at the best of times and doubly so now that his girlfriend was missing.

When I’d asked about Gemma, Gigi had described her as little and kind, quiet and gentle, and it was easy to see the two were best friends.

Little and kind, quiet and gentle, I thought bitterly as I rooted around in my toolbox. All the things I’m not . I’m too tall, too strong, and too rough around the edges. Boys only like dainty dolls. They never look at anyone like me.

I froze, holding the tin snips in mid-air.

What are you thinking, girl? No decent boy is ever going to be interested in someone who’s tainted, anyway. At least you’re free now. Stop mooning and do what you can to pay your debt. Then, when they rid themselves of you, they may remember you more kindly than you deserve.

I bit into the metal with more force that was necessary. That was one of the advantages of my particular talent. Wrestling with tools and steel offered unlimited opportunities to work the stress outta my system.

“Hey, Mira,” Rome called, “did your devil talk about what’s going on in the Diabolical world right now? What rumors are circulating?”

I glanced over and saw he had pulled a pillow off the bed and was bent over it, favoring his side. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen him do that, either, and I wondered if his ribs were sore.

“Not rumors so much as truth.” I turned back to my work. “A prince put out a bounty on the head of a miracle worker and the ones who freed her. Rome, you asked what I was doing at that gas station. My devil wanted to join a hunting party, and we were on our way to meet it.”

“Do you know anything about the hunting party?” Kerry asked.

“Led by some big shot human who’s tight with the prince. Has a place in western Pennsylvania. I didn’t hear any names or anything too specific, but I know a nephilim is involved behind the scenes. Does the human’s dirty work, as far as I could tell.”

“What’s the bounty?” Rome asked.

“An indulgence.” I finished the rough cut out and put down the snips.

“Ha. I wouldn’t trust what a dark prince offered,” Kerry scoffed. “That kind of thing always comes back to bite you in the butt.”

“Facts,” Rome said.

“But our wild goose chase worked.” Kerry sounded proud of himself.

“Sure did, buddy.”

As they talked, I smiled a little.

I imagine this is how brothers are. Or, at least, I would hope so.

“Mira, how’d you get coerced by a devil?”

Ice went down my back as Kerry’s words filtered through my brain.

“You can’t just come out and ask people things like that!” Rome growled at him. “Do you want her to ask how you were possessed?”

“ No . Sorry, Boots. I know how bad those kinds of memories are. I didn’t mean to upset you. Do you need some space?”

“I’m good.” I kept my back to them. “It was a stupid thing, really. I was—”

“Don’t,” Rome interrupted. “You don’t need to tell us anything.”

“Might as well,” I shrugged. “I was fixing cars at this old man’s gas station. Everyone called him Uncle Putty. One evening just before closing time, a guy came in with the car I’m driving now. I thought he was a junkie. Shaky. Bloodshot eyes. Wasn’t too clean and way too skinny. He wanted to know if he could leave his car overnight for me to look at in the morning. Needed work on the tranny, he said.

“Of course, Uncle Putty agreed, so I parked it in the bay and started locking up for the night. There was a trailer next to the garage and Uncle Putty had turned the front half into an office. When I first went to work for him, he let me clean out the back bedroom and stay there for free.

“Anyway, I was heading to the trailer when the junkie came out of nowhere and whacked me on the back of my head. When I woke up the next morning, I had an ache in my spine and a voice in my head. I opened my eyes and I found myself face-to-face with a grinning little devil.”

I bowed my head and stared at the pliers in my callused hands.

“He was proud of himself. He’d disguised himself well enough, hid his evil long enough, to snare himself a nephilim.”

I just get going in the right direction when life comes along and kicks me in the teeth . I wonder how long this good turn will last before I get knocked down again.

A hand landed on my shoulder and, just that quick, I was back in my small bedroom with a claw digging into my back for the thousandth time—

“I’m sorry you went through that,” Kerry’s deep voice grounded me enough to force the memory away. “And that I made you remember it.”

I turned my head very slowly to find Rome squatted next to me, his huge hand on my shoulder. Kerry stood behind him, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.

“Don’t worry about it.” Feeling raw, I ducked my head. “He was a horrid creature. Thank you for banishing him.”

“You’re welcome.” He spoke with all the solemnity of a funeral director and my lips twitched a little. “And don’t call it a him. That makes it human in your mind. A devil is an it.”

I nodded.

Rome squeezed my shoulder once, then herded Kerry back over to the table.

They’re kind . In their rough, warrior way. Gigi and Travis are, too, and John must be, although he’s been too out of it to tell. Maybe I can make friends here. I’d like a friend again. If they can find something worthwhile in me to befriend.

The boys went back to strategizing and I tuned them out to concentrate. It would have been quicker and less draining if I’d had more tools, but, after a few more minutes of intense labor, I felt I’d made an acceptable cuirass. A little tweaking to fit, some smoothing, and it would be more than acceptable.

I stood and walked over to them.

“Okay, Kerry, let’s gear you up.”

I grabbed his elbow and, next thing I knew, I was flying through the air.