“It’s in Shamrock,” I said.
“I know where the stone is, Brogan.”
I adjusted the vent. Swampy air that smelled of asphalt puffed against my skin.
“Love,” I said quietly.
She pressed her lips together, then lowered her shoulders and relaxed her hands. “I do know where Shamrock is.”
“I know.”
“I know where the Blarney Stone is.”
“I know.”
We were silent, the rumble of the engine and rush of air through the windows filling the space.
“What just happened?” I asked.
“You barged in before I could get information out of Hatcher is what happened,” she said evenly. “Like I didn’t know what I was doing. Like I can’t take care of myself.”
She threw a look my way. “You don’t need to come riding to my rescue every time I’m doing something without you.I’mnot the fragile one.”
I inhaled through my nose, exhaled through my mouth. Counted to ten.
“Fragile.” I pointed at my chest. “Six-four and built like a brick house. I’m not fragile.”
“It isn’t—” She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and made a point of paying a lot of attention to the next turn in the road. “You know what I mean.”
“I don’t.”
“Don’t do this, Brogan.”
“No, you said I didn’t understand. Enlighten me. You don’t want me to help you when you’re in danger? I know you can fight. I’ve watched you take down everything that’s come your way for nearly a hundred years. He tried to kill you, Lula. He shot Lorde. How am I supposed to stand aside and let you fight alone?”
“I just meant. You aren’t like me.”
“How? Because I’m fragile? Because my being here, solid in this world, is dependent on Cupid’s mercy, and without him I’d be nothing but a ghost?”
“No. It’s not…you’re not a monster. I am.” She wet her lips, unwilling to meet my gaze. “You’re human. No, listen. You are. Mostly. More than I am. It makes you…breakable.”
I did some more breathing, letting that settle between us. “You can be hurt too, Lula. He had a gun. He tried to shoot you before. You can be killed.”
“But Ihaven’tbeen killed. Not in all these years. You have. Twice. And I’ve only had you back for two months.”
I leaned an elbow on the edge of the window and stuck my head in my hand.
She shot me quick glances, trying to read my anger.
“We have gods following us,” she said in a rush. “Three. More than three, I’d guess. And a demon, and…I can’t, Brogan. I can’t see you hurt or dead. Not so soon. Not again. Not ever again.”
“This is new.” I chose my words like each was a round rock on a pathway and my feet were made of ice. “Me being here with you, alive, is new. It has only been a short time. I understand it’s different now that I’m alive. I know it must be harder.”
“Not harder,” she said quickly. “I want you with me. I always want you with me. But I need you to be safe. To keep you safe.”
“Okay.” I waited until she had pulled back onto Route 66, the narrow concrete road cutting through flat land only interrupted by split rail fences and barbed wire.
The windows were open, but even forty-five miles an hour couldn’t cool the air, though it did make it damned loud.
