I was suddenly very awake. And suddenly very aware I was wearing an over-sized T-shirt.
And nothing else.
“Ryder? You’re...um...you’re not Myra.”
He leaned a little back on one hip, his hand in his front pocket and the devil in his eyes. “Nope.”
“Why are you here? Is there an emergency?”
“I’m here to apologize, which, frankly, might be now a dozen times I’ve done that in the last few days. I’m thinking of asking for a cumulative discount on your forgiveness.”
“Apologize? What for this time? No, wait. Don’t answer.” I dragged my fingers through my hair which, oops, made the shirt lift a little, then pressed fingertips against my eyes. “All right. I’m gonna need coffee for this. And pants. Come on in.”
“Don’t get dressed on my account.”
I meandered over to the bedroom. “Start the coffee, would you? And make it strong.”He shut the door behind him and I did the same. I gazed at my unmade bed, the soft blankets that looked so inviting, and sighed.
Clothing was a T-shirt and jeans. I brushed my teeth, hair, and put on deodorant. It gave me enough time to guess what Ryder was apologizing for.
For lying. For not telling me who his boss was. For not telling me more about the agency he was working for.
For dumping me?
No, he’d already apologized for that. Several times.
Or there was the possibility he was apologizing for something new. Some problem I’d have to deal with on about a minute and a half of sleep.
Great.
I needed boots for this conversation.
I strolled out to the sound of voices. Myra, Jean, Crow, and Ryder all lounged around my living room, drinking my coffee and chatting away like this was a book club.
Myra looked relaxed and well rested, when I knew she’d gotten the same amount of sleep as I had.
How did she do that?
“Okay. Who decided to throw a party at my house without telling me? And could you please un-invite me?”
Crow chuckled, but Jean stuck her hand straight up above her head, elbow locked. “I did. We did. Before you get all crabby about it, we’re not going to let you do what you did last time.”
“Do what which last time I did what?”
“Get shot while you were trying to solve a case.”
I inhaled against the fist of frustration that clogged my throat. Jean and Myra still hadn’t let that go. I really needed them to stop hovering like I was one brick shy of a Jenga collapse.
“I’m not going to get shot. Have I ever been shot before then? No. That was sort of a one-time deal. It’s not going to happen again.”
“We’re not just worried about guns,” Myra said in a now-now-calm-down voice I sort of hated. “There’s a lot going on in town and I decided we need to talk about it. All of us.”
“No.” I glared at her. There were two people in this room I didn’t want in the middle of the conversation about the missing god power or the ongoing murder investigation. Ryder and Crow.
“We agreed on this,” she said.
“When?”
“Last night when we discussed it.”
