Page 11 of Moonlight Hearts

One of the cooks leaned on the counter.“Sir, if you’d rather try the dill sauce, it works quite well with them too.”

I nodded.“I think I’ll do that, thanks.”

“Dill sauce.”Soyer clicked his tongue.

“What?I like dill.You’re the weird one here.”

There was more cackling from the cooks, then what sounded like one of them kicking the other, and I wondered how many legs they had.

“Hmm.Is that so?Amory, this is not the way to get more answers out of me.”

The grumpy cook flipped the potato cakes, making the oil he was cooking them in sizzle anew.On a whim, I decided to be a lot more bold than I was comfortable with normally.But if anything Elias had said was true, well, then I was well known, maybe even here.And maybe I could use that.

I tried looking sad.“Oh.In that case… Hey, are you willing to answer a question for me?”I asked the nice cook who’d started chopping a bunch of dill.

He stopped and looked at me.It fell into place then.It was like he had one face next to the other, all of them placed around his head.Realizing that made the eye contact easier.

“I guess?Sir, I mean.”I saw his Adam’s apple bob, and the grumpy cook was glancing at Soyer.

I opened my mouth to ask what they were.I stopped.That would come off as rude, I was pretty sure.Soyer, who was still holding my arm, stroked the back of my hand.Phoenix mind reader that he was, he had probably already guessed what I’d wanted to ask them, but he generally didn’t mind being rude, so he wasn’t likely to stop me.

“Right.How’d you get the truck down here?”I asked the cook instead.

He visibly relaxed.“Oh.There’s an elevator.They use it for construction too.Just had to schedule it and tell them the weight and measurements, and then we had a permit to drive here.Slowly.”

“A permit.”

He nodded.“Yup.She’s road-worthy.”

“Obviously,” the grumpy cook added.

The nice cook kept a set of eyes on me without staring, but he went back to his dill, and our hash browns—or potato pancakes—were done before long.The nice cook put a lot of applesauce on Soyer’s; almost more applesauce than potato pancake.

They served the food in biodegradable dishes, which surprised me, given we were, well, in the underground.

“Do you want to sit or keep on walking while we eat?”Soyer asked.We’d moved a few steps away from the truck, and the winged guy and his buddy were getting back in line.

“If you don’t know those two, why did they give up their spot in line as soon as you showed up?Is that a Black Shuck thing?”

Soyer grinned from ear to ear.“Ah.Your final question, and I’ll grant you the extra.Yes, it is a Black Shuck thing, and yes, they let us go first because they are kind, considerate people.Table or walking, Amory?”

“You’re cute when you’re trying to be scary.Table.”

I wasn’t really sure that was true.I’d seen Soyer when he was scary, and it wasn’t cute.But it was worth saying that.His eyes went wide, and he pursed his lips while I grabbed one of the small round tables to the side of the food truck and sat.

“My heart, you’re playing with fire.”He took the other chair and shoveled some of the applesauce with potato pancake into his mouth, crossing his legs.

I frowned and tried some of my own food.The thick dill sauce was good, and the pancakes were crisp, perfectly golden, and thinner than I was used to.

“Wow.These are delicious.When you say I’m playing with fire, are you talking about your libido again?”I said the last bit in a whisper.

Soyer grinned.“Mmm.You know me so well.Would you like to try a bite of mine?”

He held up his fork for me with a big bite covered with applesauce on there.I shook my head.

“I’m good.You can have some of the dill sauce if you want to try something normal.”

“No.That’s sacrilege, but you don’t know any better, so you’re forgiven.You’re in a good mood today.I like it.The things the threat of a vacation can do to a man.I’d have done this sooner if I’d known.”He ate the pancake bite himself.