God, I loved this man.
“No, not like that. But what he’s offering you might just make you one.”
“Not a chance. I don’t give in to my hatred just because some wrinkly old man in a hoodie tells me to.”
I grinned and he grinned back.
Mithra sighed and tapped his fingers on the table. “I believe we were having an important discussion? The fate of your town and these god powers depends on it?” He jiggled the water bottle.
“Hold your horses,” I said to him. Then to Ryder: “Favorite Star Wars.”
“Empire,” Ryder said without hesitation.
“‘I love you,’” I said.
“‘I know.’”
Then it hit both of us what we’d just said. Ryder’s eyes went wide, but his shoulders were set, ready to take the fall out for what he’d said, and not back down.
My mouth felt dry and my heart thrummed in triple time. I swallowed and my throat clicked. I’d just told Ryder I loved him.
But it was a movie quote. That didn’t count did it? Did movie quotes count?
“Why are you so red?” Mithra asked.
Ryder’s eyebrows were popped and he had this smug little smile on his face that I wanted to kiss off of him.
“Sunburn,” I said.
“The sun hasn’t broken through the clouds in two months,” Mithra said.
“Rain-burn.” I winced. “I have a rare condition. Allergic to rain. Get rain-rash.”
“I don’t think that’s a thing,” Ryder noted.
Was that laughter in his voice? That was definitely laughter.
“I don’t even know what conversation we’re having,” Mithra grumbled. “But you will both return here, in twenty-four hours and one of you will bow to me.”
That snapped me right back into the discussion at hand. The other discussion.
“No,” Ryder said. “We won’t.”
I opened my mouth, but Ryder turned to Mithra. “I’ll do it. I’ll be Ordinary’s warden. Now give the powers back to Delaney.”
The sheer hard delight that shone through Mithra’s eyes was only equaled by the terror racing through me.
“No,” I said. “He didn’t mean that. You don’t mean that. You can’t. Don’t do this, Ryder. Nothing comes without a price and you don’t know what he’ll make you pay.”
“Done.” That single word was filled with Mithra’s power. I could feel the agreement finalize between them, like the hard crack of a jail door slamming shut.
“Shit,” I said.
Ryder looked a little glossy-eyed. A little stunned.
Mithra handed me the bottle of powers. “Pleasure doing business with you, Delaney. Now leave. I have other things to attend.”
One minute Mithra was there, apparently solid, real, breathing. Then...nothing. Ryder and I were sitting on one side of a booth and the seat on the other side was empty.
