Crow stared out the side window and seemed peaceful. Like he wasn’t trying to stir up trouble. Like he was a guy who had known me since I was born and who cared about the state of my heart.
Odin might think I should never trust a god, that no one who was a vessel for such great power could also have the capacity to care for a lowly mortal like me, but I didn’t think that was true. Crow had always been fun to be around, kind to me, or certainly not cruel in his teasing. He and my father had gotten along well too.
That meant something to me.
“Do you love him, Delaney?” Crow turned to study my profile as I eased down the main road.
“If that made any difference at all, we would still be together, I think. He’s not the same guy who left this little town eight years ago. I’m not the same girl, either.”
“So you do still love him.”
He tipped his head a bit, his eyes telling me I could lie, but he’d know it if I did.
“It’s not that easy.”
He chuckled. “No. Love isn’t. There are the few—very few—who fall into love and never quite break the surface back into the real world, but for most people, for most beings, love is not an easy road.”
When I didn’t say anything, he brushed at a non-existent speck of dust on my dashboard. “I don’t often offer advice.”
I laughed, one short bark. “You’re always telling people what to do.”
“Sure, but I don’t offer advice. Not real advice, not really. Understand?”
Wow, I was currently witnessing a miracle right here in the front seat of my Jeep. Crow was being serious.
“All right. I’m listening. Advice away.”
“I’ve always thought you and Ryder would find a way in this world. Together. I’d thought you’d tell him about the gods and creatures in Ordinary a long, long time ago, but you’ve kept that secret, haven’t you?”
I nodded. That was part of being a Reed. You knew all the secrets of the town and didn’t share them.
“Your father liked him, you know. He thought you and Ryder would have tried dating after high school.”
“Ryder went to college out of state.”
“I know. In the long run it’s probably a good thing. Let him broaden his horizons, stretch his mind and conceptions of the world. But he came back here, Delaney.”
“His house is here.”
“He didn’t come back for a house. He came back for you.”
“Well, if that’s true, he had a weird way of showing it. He dumped me, Crow. He was the one who called it off, not me.”
“Because there are things he doesn’t want you to know about his life.”
“What?”
“You aren’t the only one who has secrets, Delaney. Ryder’s been gone from this town for eight years. He’s lived a life you know nothing about—a life no one knows anything about because if you listen to him, you’ll realize he never really goes into detail. He brushes away any pointed inquiries and changes the subject. That is the behavior of a man who has something to hide.”
“Are you telling me I should love him and trust him or I should take him in for questioning?”
“I’m telling you love makes you vulnerable. It strips away all the shields and safety nets and leaves you open for great joy, and occasionally a lot of pain. Sometimes, when someone loves someone else with everything they are, they will do stupid things. Like not telling them something about their past. Like not telling them the secrets they are afraid will hurt the other person.”
“What secret could he have that would hurt me? I’m a cop.”
“What secrets do you have that could hurt him?”
I had a lot of secrets. Pretty much half of my life was something I didn’t talk about to anyone in town except the deities, creatures, and my sisters. It had always been that way. It was better for the creatures and the deities that their existence not be discovered. It was better for the mortals too.
