“She told you to go after your man.”
I did not have enough brain cells available to figure out what that hot look of his really meant, much less the words he said. He pushed the coffee out again and half nodded toward Bertie. “She’s expecting you to say something.”
The coffee was in my hands now, and I looked back at Bertie. “Okay. Thanks. Keep me in the loop with the, whatever this whole thing is.” Did that make sense? I was having a hard time corralling my thoughts as they slipped through me too fast and liquid.
Her stern gaze caught my attention. Anchored me somewhat, a rope thrown out into the storm of my thoughts. “I think you have enough on your hands without dealing with the yarn crafters. Yarn walk, Yarn amble, Y’all?”
“Yarn Y’all? That’s what you’re going to call it?”
“I don’t know yet. But I’ll have it decided before the end of the day.” She waved a gold tipped hand at me. “Go. Have your coffee. I have work to do.” She paused halfway through turning away from me and gripped my wrist, her fingers strong and pointed and surprisingly tight. “Don’t jump to conclusions. I saw you go pale as a sheet just now. Ryder isn’t a lost cause. Neither are you. Just don’t lose hope in the ashes. Love is a power that does not yeild as long as you return to your heart.”
There it was again. Those words. “Who told you to say that?”
“No one tells me what to say.”
“‘Love is a power that does not yeild?’ That’s not something you just rattle off in farewell.”
She frowned. “I think it perfectly suits this situation.”
“Does it?”
“Doesn’t it?”
“I don’t know. I don’t even know what it means!”
Understanding clicked on behind her eyes. “Just because the demon has your soul, doesn’t mean it isn’t yours.”
That made less sense.
“Careful,” Bathin murmured. “Tell all my secrets and I’ll tell all of yours.”
“There are none I regret.” Steel in those words, an absolutely uncompromising confidence.
“Oh, I’m creative,” he said.
“I can see that. And I see so much more. All those within you.”
Bathin did that uncomfortable thing where he sort of blushed. What was it with Bertie? What dirt did she have on him? I really wanted to know.
“Couldn’t hurt to let me in on some of his secrets,” I said.
Bertie winged me a tight smile. “Let’s have lunch then. Soon.”
Bathin scowled.
I smiled, even though the feeling didn’t last long enough for my mouth to get securely in place. But still there was something so normal about this. Bertie being her typical overbearing self, my vampire-bitten, soulless, demon-bound, break-up filled life making little to no impact on her plans and her busy schedule.
Plus, she was never one to shy from the opportunity for a good gossip.
I liked it. Liked knowing that I wasn’t the center of the universe. That the people of our little town were going forward with fences and bowling leagues and yarn bombings all without any input from me.
“Good. I’ll call.” And with that, Bertie was off, taking the straightest line to intercept Chester before she made it past the cage of plastic bouncy balls near the doors.
All in all, that had gone a lot better than I’d expected.
I lifted the cup to my mouth automatically, but paused to stare at the plastic lid before it
could touch my lips. “What is this?”
