“You heard her?” I shook my head. “Sorry.”
“Kya had me up. She had a nightmare. I’m making her hot chocolate, and I guess that’s why you’re here too,” Inglorious replied.
“Is Kya okay?”
“Yes. Kid misses Heat and sometimes remembers Manda doing cruel things. Nanci and I reassure Kya as best we can that she’s protected now.”
Heat was Kya’s dad and a brother who’d fallen in the Venomous Fang war. Kya had ended up with Manda, her abusive mother. Inglorious, while drunk, had forgotten he was Kya’s legal guardian. Luckily, Nanci had come along, and now Kya was safe. But the kid still had nightmares.
“Here,” Inglorious passed me a mug of hot chocolate. I smiled at the whipped cream, sprinkles, and marshmallows. “Amy strikes me as someone who’d appreciate that.”
“Yeah.”
“Claim her gently, Vortex. Amy’s more than halfway to being yours already, but go easy with her. It’s going to be a long timebefore Amy’s one hundred per cent herself, if she ever is. Losing her friend like that, it scabs over but never heals,” Inglorious said softly.
Suppose anyone knew that it was him. I nodded in acknowledgement.
“Amy won’t allow the dark to suffocate her, because she has you to pull her through,” Inglorious added.
“Do you wish me, Hercules, and the others were there for the war?” I asked.
“No, because I’d have buried you too.” Inglorious looked at me and left the room. Those few words held a wealth of meaning.
I carried the mug back upstairs to Amy. She peeked out from her duvet, and her eyes widened when she saw it. A small smile crossed her lips as she rubbed her tear-stained cheeks.
“You made that?” she asked in wonder.
I hesitated. Should I take the credit? Better not. “No, Inglorious did; he was making one for Kya. She woke up with her own nightmare. But I would’ve made the same as him.”
“Oh.” Amy looked a little disappointed that it hadn’t been me.
“Next time you’ll know it’s me. I add cinnamon to mine.”
Amy smiled softly, but there was grief in it. Without even second-guessing myself, I shunted Amy over and climbed into bed. Amy gazed at me wide-eyed.
“Drink your chocolate and go to sleep. I’ll keep the nightmares away,” I murmured, kissing her forehead.
My cock immediately sprang to attention. The little fucker. It was in bed with the girl who’d been starring in all his dirty dreams lately. I willed my cock to chill and had to think of Kyleah to make it behave. Jesus. Amy didn’t need to worry that I was going to jump her bones when she was grief stricken. My cock and I would be having serious words.
???
The next morning, I woke up with Amy plastered against my chest and my arms hooked around her waist. It had made me want more mornings like this. Amy was sound asleep, so I left her in bed after her rough night and headed down to grab her breakfast.
I had been thinking of taking her out riding, but the weather had turned nasty. Now I was kicking my heels. Unfortunately, the morning went tits up when Monroe and Sully walked in. Their timing was impeccable, as Amy had finished breakfast and was showering.
“What now?” I growled out.
“We’d like to see if Amy can identify someone,” Sully stated.
“A suspect?” I asked. Ten days had passed since the crash. If they’d just discovered a person of interest, there was a fuckin’ big problem.
“Need to see if Amy recognises him,” Monroe insisted.
“I’ll fetch her,” Nanci said as she passed. I nodded and sat down at a table and waved for the two Feds to join me.
“How is the investigation going?” I inquired.
“We can’t discuss an active inquiry,” Sully replied.
