But only if it thought its host was dead or moments before death.
“And there you go.” The grin in Parker’s voice was unmistakable, and Nick turned to see him staring at Bastian, his eyes crinkled, the joy on his face clear. “Just remember…”
“With great power comes great responsibility?” Bastian said, his expression amused.
“That it’s a lot easier to take care of something. Reviving it from the dead is harder.” Parker leaned forward, brushing a finger over the now vibrantly green leaves. “Indifference is easy. Kindness can be hard.”
Bastian looked down, something dark crossing his expression, mirroring Parker’s own. “I understand.”
He stood, picking up the plant. “Sorry for interrupting.”
He was looking down again, his expression closed and embarrassed.
“Bastian, you’re never interrupting. We like having you here.” Nick tried to say it firmly and calmly, tried to make Bastian believe it, but he knew it was hard because Bastian blushed and practically ran out of the room.
“I’m sorry. I keep saying the wrong thing with him.” Nick didn’t like the uncomfortable tightening in his stomach.
If Parker saw Bastian as his second chance, as an opportunity to change the outcome of someone else’s life, Nick realized he sometimes felt the same way.
Sometimes, he could see a possible future where Bastian had never been rescued from abusive parents. He knew he was leaning too hard on the scale, trying to make up for too much too quickly.
Parker shook his head, hiding laughter keeping his lips closed for a moment before he said, “You don’t say the wrong thing. But remember how hard it was for me to hear things like that when we first got together.”
“Are you implying that you were hard to court, Parker Ferro?” Nick teased. “No. I never would have believed that the man who rescheduled our third date five times was hard to convince he was worth spending time with.”
“Laugh all you want. When you tell him things like that, it makes a difference.” Parker’s smile was sweet, as though he was looking at the father Nick wanted to be, the father whose only expectation of his son was that he grow up safe and happy.
“I had an idea,” Nick said.
Parker stared at him, and then his mouth twisted. “Is this how you feel every single time I say that? Because I am getting a deeply unsettled feeling.”
“I think we have to kill the victims to save them.” Nick wished there was a better way to phrase it, but he couldn’t think of it.
“Now Iamdeeply unsettled. That’s something I would say. That’s something I wouldthink. We didn’t do a body swap or anything, did we? Both of us would have noticed before now if my hair suddenly went as red as Jamie Lee Curtis’.”
“No one has turned into Lindsay Lohan.” Nick smirked when Parker gave him an exaggeratedly shocked look. “Yes, I have seen it.”
“So we need to kill someone. I assume I shouldn’t have Sugar find the shovel.” Parker’s expression was grim.
“We convince the parasite that the host is dead, so it tries to jump. When it does?—”
“We’re ready for it. We give it the full knife suit treatment.” Parker was already nodding, his eyes going slightly unfocused as he considered ways to keep them both safe. “Yes. That makes sense.”
That was another reason Nick loved Parker. He was so fast. They could bounce ideas off each other and come up with a good solution. Or, not agoodsolution, butasolution.
“I need to practice it.” Nick swallowed. “The last time I did it, the fire was eating you alive.”
“And I truly doubt our victims are going to lie down helpfully and let you try to kill them.” Parker looked troubled. “You said that spell was complicated and draining.”
“It’s also deeply unethical,” Nick said unhappily. “What if I do it wrong? What if I actually killed them and I’m not able to bring them back?”
“So we don’t do that specific alchemy. Is there a different one we could do?” Parker looked at him searchingly. “Is there an alchemy circle that would just hide someone’s life signs? Hide their heartbeat?”
Nick started to shake his head but then paused. There had to be. He knew in special ops, combat alchemists were able to hide their team from both magical and physical life sign detectors.
“Maybe,” Nick said hesitantly.
“Maybe like maybe yes, or like maybe my husband is asking for the moon and only willing to pay in Monopoly money?” Parker raised his eyebrows.
