“Are you even listening?” Kit pursed those lips and scowled at her.
She waved a hand. “Yeah, there’s another bunker about two miles outside the Jumper base. Samar will get me there. Loud and clear, hun.” She didn’t even try to notsounddismissive.
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Maybe I shouldn’t have let you be in charge today. You’re full of yourself.”
His chastisement startled a laugh out of her. “I didn’t hear you complain earlier,” she teased, liking this turn in conversation far more than the contingencies of a world where Kit no longer lived. That she would not tolerate.
Although… an unpleasant thought occurred as she glanced at that horrible bloody star on his neck. “What would happen to you if I died? Would the Favor dissolve?” That note had felt so trivial over the last few days as it had collected dust in her bag, as she now knew that controlling Kit was the last thing she’d ever wish to do. He’d always protect her, coerced or not.
Kit frowned, the expression pretty and uneven because of his scar, “I believe,” he dragged the word out, “that it would remain out in the world. Whoever tears the thing is who I’m indebted to.”
Something heavy settled in Gentry’s stomach and she immediately stood up. “That won’t do,” she said as she took the damned piece of paper out of her bag. “I’ll just tear it and ask you to do the dishes.” She flexed her hands in an effort to do just that, but then her fingers wouldn’t move. Shocked, she looked up to see Kit’s palm held out towards her. “What?” she asked in disbelief. “Don’t tell me youwantto keep that bloody thing on your neck.”
“Not really,” Kit said, his eyes steady on hers, “but something is telling me that we’ll need it. I always listen to my gut. Keep it on you. I trust you to use it only if you need it.”
She could think of nothing less that she wanted to do, but his pleading tone of voice did something to her. So she nodded, sitting back down and pocketing the paper. Time was too precious to waste on arguing about a damn piece of paper.
It was already pretty late in the evening, and she knew Kit was leaving soon. Then she’d be stuck with her Cobalt research until Adrienne and Wren arrived for her procedure. Her stomach twisted. She wasn’t sure who was more unlucky — Kit, who’dbe slaying Netherton witches-for-hire to save his siblings, or herself, who was about to have a chunk of her soul ripped out.
Regardless, it ends tonight.It had to. She’d been cursed for far too long, and had lost too much to live like this any longer. Despite her earlier fears, ones she was sure would resurface, there was something nice about breaking her curse to save witchlings. It almost felt like an apology to her father for her misguided prejudice.
Gentry cleared her throat. “I wanted to thank you, you know.”
“For what?” Kit tilted his head at her.
“For showing me that not all witches are bad. There were countless opportunities the last few days for you to leave me for dead, but you didn’t. So… yeah, thank you,” Gentry ended awkwardly.
Kit shook his head in disbelief. “How you could crawl all over me earlier like a little demon and now act shy is beyond me. And, baby, you don’t have to thank me for doing the bare minimum.I tried to kill you.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t.”
They both started cracking up then, all the tension and shyness replaced with an incredulous joy that they’d somehow ended up where they were. That quickly came to a halt when Kit looked at his phone, all happiness gone. “It’s time to go, hun.”
Together, they stood up, and Gentry walked him to the door. She was the one who dragged him down for a kiss. It was a sweet, drawn-out plea for connection, and he gave back everything she hadn’t known she’d needed.
When she pulled away, she was panting, her face red. “Come back to me.” It was a far cry from what she wanted to say, but words had been failing her all day long.
He smiled at her, all polite gentleman again. “Of course, ma’am.”
Then he was gone.
fifty
Kit
Excerpt from Gentry’s research notes:
4th notebook — page 422
Coven 109: The Spinners
Yet another coven with a long, convoluted history. The Spinners were founded by another in Darisius’s unit — a trapper simply called Dirk who’d beenwell regarded for his charms, but nowhere near as expert as Siobhan Netherton had been.
However, unlike Siobhan, Dirk didn’t hoard his knowledge to accumulate money. He instead trained apprentices and worked well with the growing witch population of Skadra.
This coven has followed their leader’s example over the years in terms of congeniality. They supplement rather than compete with other covens. I would dare label them a peaceful group of witches, if such a thing exists.
Because of their non-competitive nature, the Spinners have lost influence from their heyday. It seems as though this is changing a tad because of an influx of fresh talented recruits into the Spinners’ ranks, but no business dealings point towards any wrongdoing.
