Page 73 of Fire
Toby pressed his lips in a thin line before he answered. “No, I left that part out.” His voice had become as clipped and emotionless as hers.
“Ah well,” Kayla said, “we only getsomeof what we want, right, Tobias?”
Toby’s eyes flickered to Jake, and he answered, “I have everything I want.”
“Good. You did me a big favor back there, but you owed me plenty, and I don’t have everything I want yet. Think we’re even?”
Toby let out a choked, incredulous laugh. “You lured us into a suicidal firefight that should’ve killed us. I don’t call that even.”
“Call it lucky.” She cocked her head, and glanced over the table, including Jake’s second slice of pizza, Toby’s handful of leftover fries, and both their Cokes. She might have been trying to see their weapon hands through the table. Then she raised her eyes. “You remember Lucky?”
Toby looked wary. “No.”
Her intent eyes never left Toby’s face. “Crusher was always trying to bribe us shifters to turn into you. He never got over you. You were his favorite.”
Toby’s expression had not changed, though his face had drained of color. He stared at her, with pinched lips, and did not ask.
“I’m not that stupid,” Kayla said. “Lucky was the only one dumb enough to take him up on it.”
Jake couldn’t breathe. Toby’s throat worked like he needed to swallow to get enough saliva to talk, then he asked, tone as remote as hers, “Did he survive?”
Kayla shrugged, a slight movement of her shoulders. “Not long.”
In the utter stillness that followed, she glanced over at Jake’s plate. “You gonna eat that?”
Jake pushed it across to her, and she fell on the half-eaten pizza, shoveling it into her mouth with unabashed efficiency. Jake took the time to regroup, moving his hand slowly under the table to find and squeeze Toby’s knee. Toby flinched and did not look at him, and Jake pulled his hand back.
When she had finished the last bite of crust, Jake asked, “What are you going to do now?”
Her mouth moved into a smile. “I’m going to kill some hunters.”
Toby’s breath caught, and he leaned forward. “Kayla... you can’t... You can’t kill humans.”
Her smile widened, no fear in her face. “Don’t be stupid, Tobias. They’re not humans, they’re hunters.” She glanced at Jake. “I have a list of capture teams and fucks who used to love working at the camp. Addresses too. They’ll keep me busy for a long time, especially if I take my time.” She looked almost happy.
“Is Roger Harper or Alejandra Rodriguez on your list?” Jake clenched his bad hand into as much of a fist as he could manage with the cast. His gun wasn’t loaded with silver, but there was a silver knife in his boot. He didn’t know if he could get to it in time, didn’t know if he could kill someone who was clearly Toby’s friend in front of him.
Her eyes followed his hand, narrowing. She lifted the fork Toby had left on her side of the booth. “Reach for me, and I’ll bury this in your gut.” It sounded less like a threat and more a bald statement of fact.
“The fuck you will,” Toby snapped, shifting into Jake’s space and pulling her attention away. Kayla gave him a coolly appraising look, then turned back to Jake.
“Independents like them are on the Director’s shit list. I don’t give a fuck about them.”
“Don’t do this, Kayla,” Toby said, quiet but intent. “You’re not that kind of monster.”
She huffed out something like a laugh. “Hell yeah I am. And so are you two, right? Or did you just throw a party for everyone inside the camp?”
In the silence that followed, she pushed herself out of the booth.“Don’t take this the wrong way, Tobias, but I hope I don’t see you again. I’m going to try to stay out of your way. I’ve called in my favors.” She glanced once more at Jake, then back to Toby. “He doesn’t hit you much, does he?”
Expressions flickered over Toby’s face, too quick for Jake to pin down amid the lurch and nausea in his own stomach. Whether it was the overall tension and the leftover queasiness from his damned concussion, or just that question alone, his pizza was about to make a reappearance.
“No,” Toby said. “No, he doesn’t.”
Looking satisfied, she gave Jake a fractional nod. “Keep watching out for him, Hawthorne.Out of all us monsters, he’s the one who most deserved to get out.” Then she turned her back and thumped away with heavy steps.
* * *
Jake waiteda full minute after Kayla left the restaurant before he let out his breath. “No offense to your friend, but I am really fucking proud you turned out the way you did.”
“She’s not my friend,” Tobias said, automatic. His brow remained knit, attention fixed on the fork and empty plate across from them.“She didn’t have anyone to get her out,” he said quietly. “If you hadn’t... I could have been the same way.”
Jake snorted. “No fucking way.”
“You put a lot of work into me.” Six years, to be precise. Tobias glanced out the window, remembering how that street had first looked to him when he had been terrified every moment of the day, certain there would be no happy endings.
“You put a lot of work intome,” Jake retorted, and it sounded both knee-jerk and like he meant it.
Tobias took Jake’s good hand, their palms fitting together. “Here’s to all the miles ahead.”