“Yeah. It is.” I hugEmmaagainst my chest. “And now I have Nick to deal with.”
“He’s kinda cute, don’t you think?”
I raise an eyebrow at Gemma. “I guess so.” With a sigh, I setEmmadown. I haven’t told Gemma that this Jason Trent guy is also after the guys. She’s been a trooper through all this, but I don’t want her to freak out. I need her help.
“That was really smart thinking about the salt,” I tell her. “Thanks for saving us.”
“I couldn’t just stand back and watch you get squished to death. We’re low on salt, by the way.”
“I’m going to start ordering in bulk.”
She smiles and steps forward, wrapping her arms around me. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
I hug her back. “And I’m glad you are too.” I let go and see the incredulous look on her face. “You’re my friend. Stop acting so surprised that I care, okay?”
“I know.” She lets her arms fall and steps back. “I guess it’s still hard to believe anyone cares, ya know? Especially after what I did.”
“The past is in the past. I forgive you. Anyway, I’m sure I’m going to fuck up and say something bitchy soon enough.”
She laughs. “I’m surprised you haven’t yet.”
“Hey now.”
Pushing her hair back, she looks out in the direction of the front living room. “What are we going to do with him?”
“I don’t know. He’s been seen, though I don’t think they know who he is.” I grab the end of my braid and twist it around my fingers. “I don’t want to put him at risk, but I don’t think he’ll give up easily and go home. Do you happen to know of any sort of memory spells?”
“Lyra might, but honestly, Ace…that sounds dangerous.”
“Yeah. I don’t want to give him amnesia. I don't have time to recreateOverboardor something.”
Gemma tips her head. “I’ll volunteer to recreate it. I wouldn’t mind pretending he’s my husband for a little while.”
I chuckle and link my arm through hers. “Maybe just start with talking to him. He’s a little freaked out.” My chuckle turns into a frustrated moan. “I don’t know what to do about Nick. I can’t lie to him, but I don’t want to tell him everything.”
“Would it be helpful to have another cop that knows about magic?”
“Oh, it would for sure. He’d be able to help research stuff and look into cases that wouldn’t usually pertain to me.”
“Then maybe we should clue him in.”
I hesitate. “I don’t want to force him to lie. He’s a good cop. But he already knows too much.”
“I think your options are to tell him or to kill him.”
“Thanks,” I say dryly. “Or pretend like none of this happened and he’s just crazy.”
Gemma raises an eyebrow and motions to the sitting room. Nick is standing by the window looking out where we had been standing.
The creaky old wooden floor gives us away and Nick whirls around.
“Hey,” I say. “Are you doing all right?”
He responds with an incredulous look and a shake of the head. “That girl…she’s been missing. We can’t not do anything, Ace.”
“I will do something,” I promise. “You have to trust me.”
Nick holds up his hand. “Trust you? After you just told me you’ve been lying?”
“I haven’t been lying. There are just certain things I couldn’t tell, but it’s not that I didn’t want to. Having to lie about this…having to bend or stretch the truth…it sucks. And that’s why I think it’s better for you not to get involved. The less you know the better.”
“You really expect me to be able to turn around and leave like nothing happened?”
“Of course not. But I think it would be best.”
Nick looks from me to Gemma and back again. “No way. I told you, Ace, we’ve got your back. Whatever I can do to help, I’m going to do it.”
“Okay.” I swallow hard, pushing the lump in my throat back down. This is a bad idea. It’s going to lead to him getting hurt. Or killed.
