Page 5

Chapter

Five

GRACE

I nstead of leaving Lyon entirely after the bank incident, Bones took us across the river Sa?ne, through a quieter neighborhood, to a little boutique hotel called étoile du Matin.

Morning Star.

The name was as lovely as the centuries old building housing it. Though the hotel also offered valet, Bones drove a block over and booked a slot in a parking garage. It also came with a charging station for the car. Smart.

He passed me his blazer to carry over my arm. It hid the blood on the shirt sleeve. The weapon, he tucked into a larger tote that would double as a purse for me.

Bags in hand like a pair of travelers, with Goblin walking with us, we made our way back to the hotel. A light rain had begun to fall, the clouds crowding out the thin sunlight. It was almost as depressing as the day had grown.

“Ask her to book the suite on the top floor?” He handed me a black credit card and a passport.

Having a task grounded me. The woman’s cheerful greeting made me smile. I asked her about the suite on the top floor and she checked to see if it was available.

"Oui, on a cette chambre de dispo. Vous comptez rester combien de nuits ? Et vous serez bien que deux ?"

“She said the suite is available. How many nights?”

“Two,” Bones said, his cool gaze seemed to constantly be on the move, sweeping the area, though he rested it on me at the moment. “We might need to extend to three.”

I nodded, then looked at the pretty receptionist with her warm smile and well-styled hair.

She looked so put together and I felt like a bag lady.

“Oui, nous serons deux, avec notre chien. Nous aimerions rester deux nuits, peut-être même une troisième si tout se passe bien.” I made sure to include Goblin in the booking.

Because he was definitely going to the suite with us.

Her smile warmed. “Je vais laisser une note pour la troisième nuit et on pourra prendre un dép?t pour la réserver, que nous pourrons vous rembourser si vous n’en avez finalement pas besoin.”

That would work. Not that it was my money, but a deposit they would refund if we didn’t need the third night made sense. Because Bones had already handed me the card, I passed it over along with his passport. The name on both read Caylon Gwyar.

She took both and began the booking process. When she asked for a phone number and email address, I blanked for a moment. Bones, however, offered me two easily enough and I translated.

Once she had us all checked in, she provided two cards to access the room, then asked, “Souhaitez-vous que je vous fasse monter une bouteille de champagne ? Nous pouvons aussi vous proposer un repas si vous préférez vous concentrer l'un sur l'autre.”

Why would I want her to send champagne up to the room? But her playful nod toward Bones and conspiratorial smile had heat scorching my face. Apparently, I’d been a little too suggestive in saying we might need a third night if all went well.

"Non, merci beaucoup. Peut-être demain. Pas d'interruptions ce soir." I almost stuttered the words, but my nervous laughter seemed to garner me some sympathy.

She passed over the cards, along with Bones’ passport and credit card. “Sois patient avec celui-là. Les plus silencieux sont souvent les plus observateurs et cachent le plus de passion.”

This time, I didn’t have to pretend a smile or a laugh, but rather than respond to her advice about how passionate the quiet ones could be, I just thanked her. “Merci.”

Thankfully, the ride up in the gated elevator passed swiftly. The suite was the only room on the top floor. His desire for it made a lot more sense when we let out on that floor. The building narrowed toward the top.

The hallway smelled of lemon cleaner and a hint of rain. The windows at either end were closed, but they’d likely been open earlier. The door opposite the elevator was the only one on this floor. The sky had darkened even further while we’d been checking in and the rain fell steadily.

I swiped the card and the door unlocked. Goblin went in first and wiggled his way around sniffing. Thankfully, he’d peed on our way from the parking garage to the hotel itself. Though in fairness, we needed to get him some food and water.

Probably a real walk too.

Bones locked the door once we were inside. Deadbolt, privacy lock and a lock for the handle itself. He set our bags down then moved across the sitting room area of the suite, closing the blinds and the curtains before he disappeared into the bedroom.

The blinds snapped closed in there and a soft yellow light came on before he returned. All the cheer and amusement from downstairs bled away. It was like I’d been playing a role but I didn’t need to anymore.

Setting aside his blazer, I glanced down at the gun I was still holding. My right hand seemed permanently shaped around the grip. Goblin came back from his sweep of the room and looked up at me, tail wagging.

It was those soulful eyes that decided me. I put the gun down carefully on the side table and then crouched to remove Goblin’s leash.

A toilet flushed from beyond the door to the suite’s bedroom. Water came on, then off and a moment later, Bones reappeared sans shirt, hair wet, and drying his hands with a towel.

“Can I take off his harness?”

Focus on Goblin, I reminded myself. Leering at Bones was not cool.

Particularly because, he hadn’t really had time to change since we’d begun this odyssey.

Of course, he’d take the first chance to clean up.

The broad muscular frame of his hadn’t changed, though he seemed almost as wiry as he was thick in the chest. The muscle definition reminded me of how he’d taken people down with his bare hands.

The skin over his right pec and to his shoulder seemed mottled and discolored compared to the rest. There was also a tattoo off a dagger dripping blood on his side under his left arm.

“Go ahead, I’ll take him out later for a walk but we should stay in for a while.” Outside, sirens passed by. A reminder that the city was still out there. The city with its bank robbery and jittery robbers and the man I killed.

Yanking my mind from that path, I focused my trembling fingers on unsnapping the harness. Once I took it off him, Goblin went a little wiggly nuts. He raced around the room and rolled, rubbing his back against the carpet.

It was just so—canine.

I laughed. Still wiggling, Goblin flopped over and bounded back to me. I barely got to pet him before he slurped me and raced away. He dashed past Bones and into the bedroom. Then he was back.

More laughter escaped me at his antics. It was like he needed to shake off all of his own tension and, God, did I understand that.

“Here,’ Bones said, holding out a hand to me. “I want to look at those cuts.”

Cuts?

I frowned and reached up to touch the one hidden by the shirt on my collarbone, then spotted the one on the inside of my arm. It was a slice along the side of my arm. I hadn’t even realized I had cut it, but the moment I looked at it, it stung. Clasping his hand, I let him pull me to my feet.

“Come, sit down.” He tugged me over to the sofa. His gruff tone wasn’t unkind in the least.

“It’s really nothing,” I told him, but he just opened one of the duffels and pulled out what looked like a small first aid kit. He set it on the table as Goblin finally settled from his running around to lay there panting as he watched us.

Boring humans, not playing with him. I shot him a sympathetic smile as Bones disappeared back into the bedroom. The water kicked on again and he returned with a fresh towel, a damp washcloth, and a glass of water.

“Drink this,” he told me and knelt after I took the water. He cleaned the cut with quick, efficient movements. I sipped the water, and it showed me just how dry my mouth was. The cut stung and I still couldn’t figure out when I did that.

“This wasn’t part of the plan,” I murmured.

“Neither was you stabbing a guy in the neck with a pen.” He flicked a look at me briefly before returning to the cut on my arm. “Effective though.”

I huffed out a laugh though the humor dried up when he undid the belt followed by the buttons on my shirt. “Um…”

“Just getting to the cut here.” He didn’t tease or soften the words, just kept it straightforward and blunt. It wasn’t like I was naked under the shirt, the bikini top was more than enough coverage but…

A hiss slipped past my teeth as he continued cleaning the cut.

Why it was stinging so much now, I had no idea.

My back and my shoulders were starting to hurt too.

He replaced the cloth with his fingers, and applied some ointment with gentle touches.

It didn’t erase the pain, but it definitely helped to lessen it.

“Why didn’t you stop me from taking the gun?” I was staring at it sitting on the side table. Not once after we left the bank had he tried to take it away or keep it from me. Even when we got here, he put his coat over my arm so I could hide that I still had it.

“Because you didn’t freeze.”

“That’s it?” It seemed almost too easy of an answer.

He spared me a look, something moved behind his pale gray eyes. Something… I couldn’t quite define. An emotion piercing the cool veil, but what precisely it was, I had no idea.

“And I don’t need a passenger—I need someone who’ll fight.” Of all the things I half-expected he would answer with, those words were not it.

He finished with the ointment then lifted my wrist to study the shallow cut on my arm.

“You don’t trust me,” I said. It wasn’t a question. Not that I could blame him.

“Not yet,” he said, adding the ointment to my arm now. “But I don’t trust anyone. You’re not special.”

The most indelicate snort left me as I scoffed at him. “Liar.”

He just shrugged then eased back before he rose. The steely silence had been replaced by something more brittle, and then a deep snore punctuated it and we both looked at Goblin. The puppy was out.

All at once, worry for Alphabet, Voodoo, and Lunchbox slammed into me. They were still out there. We still didn’t know how they were or where they were. “Do you have another plan?” I had to know.

“Not yet,” Bones answered as he turned away. There were more scars on his back. Whiter slices that seemed weathered into sun darkened skin and dotted in places by rough puckers of flesh that made me think of bullet wounds.

Yeah, no comfort in that either. But I would rather he told me the truth even if I didn’t like it.

“Can I do anything to help?” At my question, he stopped at the doorway to the bedroom.

“Don’t open the door. Don’t call anyone. Try to rest. I want to shower. I imagine you want one too. For now, we lie low. You can do that to help.” The rough tone was back, but it didn’t seem as cold or as distant as it had before.

“Okay.” I rose and retrieved the gun before I went back to sitting on the sofa. Goblin had cracked an eyelid at my motion, but he closed them again once I was seated. “I can do that.”

Silence rushed back in to fill all the empty spaces between us, drowning the cracks and fractures, but not quite filling them in.

“I’ll be quick,” he said, the three words almost startled me and I jerked my head up. I hadn’t realized he was still in the doorway. “Thank you, Grace.”

Then he was gone.