“All right,” she said. “I like that you could hear them and see them. That’s good. I’m fine, remember?”
“You’re bleeding.”
“For the last time, Brogan, I can take care of myself against one little wave of monsters.” She pushed stray strands of hair off her forehead and looked away for a long moment before digging up a small smile.
“I’m not bleeding. Not anymore. You scared them off.”
I scowled at the road and rubbed the back of my neck. “That wasn’t me. That was Valentine too.”
“Okay, so maybe having him around is a good thing. Another set of eyes, another skill set to help with this stuff. Keep us both safe.”
“One good deed does not a soul measure.”
“It was two.” She chuckled. “I didn’t think you could scowl harder.”
I pointed at her. “Just because he does a couple of nice things doesn’t change my opinion of him. If we leave now, maybe he’ll stay behind.”
“He wants to be your friend.”
“You don’t know that. You can’t hear him.”
“I do know that. Because everyone wants to be your friend.”
I opened my mouth, then closed it.
“Whatever that attack was, whatever those creatures were,” she said, “he helped us. Both of us. Plus, he’s going to help us find the rabbit, so let’s not ditch him yet, okay?”
“Those creatures were old magic,” I said. “Maybe even the Hush. Lots of caverns and caves in these hills.”
She pushed off the truck and tugged on my hips, bringing me close. “Hush from the legends? No one has seen them in hundreds of years.”
I ran one finger down the links of the chain on the unscratched side of her throat. “Things come back, get stirred up. Might be Hush. Might be some other old magic.”
My finger slipped under the chain and followed it beneath the collar of her shirt. She shivered from my touch. I tried not to ask her if she was okay again, tried just to trust that she would tell me if she wasn’t.
“What about Val?” she asked.
“What about him?”
“He shoved you. For a good reason. It isn’t easy for a ghost to manifest physically.”
I grunted. “He gets a pass this time.”
She tucked her hands in my back pockets. “You like him.”
“I do not. But he helped you. Helped us.”
“You should thank him.”
“He’s not here.”
“Love the jeans,” she said.
I smiled, and knew it was wolfish. “You loved me stripping beside the road to put them on even better.”
“I do enjoy a free show.” She squeezed my ass, then stepped back. “Wanna drive?”
“All right.”
