She laughs, quick and bright and the first real one I’ve heard from her today. “Wow. Upgraded to situation. Be still my heart.”
“You know what I mean,” I say.
“I really don’t,” she says. “But keep digging. This is fun.”
I stare straight ahead, jaw tight.
“Most of theproblemsthat come up…I either have to protect them or…uh…”
“Kill them?”
There’s no judgment in her voice. I nod.
“If it calls for it, yeah. Get rid of it, at a minimum. Obviously you fall in the first category. Most of the people I protect,” I say slowly, “just want to hide. You don’t. You lean forward. You grab the knife by the blade on purpose. And I—”
“You what?” she pushes.
I exhale. “I like it.”
The truck fills with that confession.
I shouldn’t have said it. But it’s out there now, hanging in the space between us like fog.
She goes quiet.
When I risk a glance, she’s looking at me with an expression I can’t categorize yet. Not mocking. Not angry.
Soft, almost.
“You know that’s going to make things worse, right?” she says.
“Yeah,” I say. “I know.”
The road curves. Up ahead, Cotton’s place sits at the end of the lane, lights warm in a battalion of windows, wreaths on every one and the door. The kind of safe, domestic scene that shouldn’t exist in the same world as mountain graves and anonymous handles.
I realize, distantly, that some part of me is relieved she’s going to be inside that house, surrounded by people who love her, where Henry can’t reach through glass without someone seeing.
“You are not allowed to die,” I say, voice low. “Just so we’re clear.”
She snorts. “You’re very bossy for someone I technically met yesterday.”
“Yesterday or not,” I say, pulling into the drive, “I’m still the one catching you when you slip.”
“On ice,” she says. “Once.”
“Once is enough,” I say.
She unbuckles, half turned toward me now in the seat, knees drawn up. Her hair’s fallen out of whatever knot she tried to tame it with, a curl brushing her cheek.
“Is this the part where you tell me to stay in the car while you check the perimeter?” she asks lightly.
“Yes,” I say.
She smiles, slow and sharp. “Good. Because I was going to ignore that too.”
Of course you are.
I should be annoyed. Kael sent me here to keep a lid on a live wire.
