The elf patted the door. “No worries. Have a good night.” They looked past Carmine and nodded. “You drive safe.”
Atticus’s voice came out a little lower than normal when he replied, “Wouldn’t dream of doing anything else.”
“And Miss Safi?”
“Yes?”
“You need anything, you go to Patrol. Ask for Captain Bennet. They’ll find me. Understood?”
Carmine’s throat went tight with gratitude. “Understood.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Safi?”
Carmine startled. It was the first word Atticus had spoken to her since they pulled through the gate. It was nearing dawn and they’d pulled off the main road. She assumed the stunning overlook up ahead was where they’d wait for Michael, but he hadn’t told her one way or another.
She had to swallow hard before she could reply. “That’s my last name.”
“I thought you didn’t know your last name.”
“I couldn’t remember it,” she replied, unable to parse his tone. Was he angry still? He didn’t sound very friendly, but he didn’t bark at her, either. “I didn’t know it until Captain Bennet scanned my chip.”
Atticus still didn’t look at her. The corded muscles of his forearms, covered with tattoos and exposed by his t-shirt, strained beneath his skin. He looked like he was holding onto the wheel for dear life as he slowly guided the RV and trailer off the road and onto the overlook.
“What was that about being a mortician?”
Carmine rearranged the folds of her dress over her knees. Her lungs went so tense with panic at the thought of leaving himthat she almost couldn’t get the words out. “That’s what I did for the crypt. I tended the dead. Repaired bodies. Cleaned them. Got them ready for families to sit vigil and then bury them or send them to be cremated at Glory’s Temple.”
Atticus’s jaw worked for a moment before he asked, “Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“Um… I thought you would assume that’s what I did. I wasn’t hiding it.”
“Do you like it?”
“Yes?”
“That sounded like a question.”
“I’m confused about what’s happening right now.” She risked another peek at his expression, but it was unchanged. “I love tending the dead. It’s my favorite thing.”
Second favorite.Now she had a new favorite thing, but she wasn’t certain she’d ever be able to do it again. Her stomach cramped at the thought.
“What did Captain Bennet ask about?”
The hair on the back of her neck stood up. Carmine got the distinct impression that she was being tested. Speaking slowly, she answered, “They asked me if I needed help and offered to get me away from you.”
Atticus turned his head so fast, she momentarily worried about the integrity of his spinal column. “And you saidno?”
Carmine’s eyes went wide. “Was that wrong?”
He slammed the brake. Luckily they weren’t going very fast. She only rocked in her seat a little as he engaged the parking brake and unclipped his seatbelt so fast, the buckle hit the window with a jarringclack!
Heart leaping into her throat, she gasped, “What’s going?—”
She yelped when he reached over the console to unbuckle her. He hooked his hands under her arms and dragged her over the cupholders. She scrambled to accommodate him, notwanting to bang her shins, and before she’d really processed what was happening, she was seated in his lap again.
He keeps doing that,she thought, dazed, as he arranged her legs out over the console.
