“No, the bastards were in an alley close to her home and had a human trapped. I had no choice but to kill those fuckers.”
“As it should be,” Thrase agreed.
“Except, she followed me. Why the fuck would she do something so stupid? And now she thinks I killed humans!”
“Yeah, about that…” Reynner rubbed his nape with a wry look. “They always have this senseweneed saving. In my case, I actually did at the time, not that I would have admitted it.”
Indeed. Aerén remembered the vindictive goddess, Inanna, and her obsession with Reynner.
“But Eve knew. They always know.” He eyed Aerén contemplatively. “I don’t think all is lost—”
“No, it’s not.” He cut Reynner a pissed-off stare. “I will seek her out this evening and make her listen.” He stalked off to the wooden pier.
“You can’t make them do anything,” Reynner called out, his tone rife with amusement again. The damn pain in his ass!
“We’ll see about that.” He toed off his boots, removed his socks, then unbuttoned and shrugged off his jeans. Naked, he stood on the pier, letting the chilly air coast over his heated skin. The sun slipped behind the tall tree, casting shadows over the lake.
A quick swim, then he’d go see her.
He dove into the freezing water and struck out.
Aye, he’d have to deal with her cautiously, and he would. Because ‘no’ wasn’t in this equation, not when it came to saving his world.
* * *
A dozen more bags, and then she’d be done for the day. Blowing out a tired breath, Leya tossed a compost bag onto the truck bed. Her head throbbed from lack of sleep, haunted by what she’d witnessed last night; Aerén so ruthlessly slicing the man’s throat, blood gushing everywhere. God!
“I know it’s tough, Leya,” her father’s voice broke through her turbulent thoughts as he explained again why they couldn’t employ new staff.
The heavens knew she was aware of their financial problems. Sighing, she swiped back her damp hair with her forearm, her body dripping with sweat while dust and grit coated her from shoveling compost and planting saplings at today’s last home job.
Sometimes, she wished she could take off for a few weeks like Hana did, but she couldn’t leave her father stranded. And Hana? She would probably collapse into a deadfall without Leya to bump her back onto her feet.
“Maybe in a month or two, we can see about employing someone, okay?” He smoothed his palm over his short, graying hair, his trimmed beard sporting the same salt-and-pepper look. In his mid-fifties and of average height, he still bore a haunted look since the passing of her mother three years ago.
“It’s okay, Appa.” She smiled, hiding her weariness. “Just get Hana to move her ass and help with work while she figures out life again.”
Her father frowned at her cussing but let it pass. “She went to meet a new client.”
“Good.”
“Put something on your bruise,” he urged. “Be more careful, Leya.People’s runaway pets, a menace on the road. You could have broken your jaw.”
Guilt swelled at her lie, but she refused to have her father worrying over her, too.
Then he said, “I am thankful you and your mother escaped uninjured from that horrible car crash years ago.” Pain darkened his eyes. “I could have lost you both…”
Oh, she remembered. Her father had just started the business when Hana fell sick, diagnosed with severe iron-deficiency anemia. Things had been scary and tough financially with Hana’s treatments and no cure in sight. They finally settled on a blood transfusion.
Leya and her mother had been on their way to the hospital to see her when the collision occurred. The sounds of tires screeching, the loud bang…
Their cab slammed into the car in front, going into a horrifying tailspin… Her mother cried out as Leya’s head rammed into the side window, rattling her brain… The driver speaking to them, then sprinting to the wreckage. A girl scrambled free from the smashed car, reaching into the front of the burning wreck for the people there…
Even a decade later, the scene haunted Leya.
It hadn’t felt right to leave the girl trying to save her parents, but her mother’s mind was only on her sister. She’d been terrified Hana would end up with leukemia even though the docs reassured her it was unlikely.
Thankfully, after the transfusion, her sister had recovered from her anemia and hadn’t had a recurrence since. Then three years ago, their mother suffered an aneurysm…
