I recite the order on rote and then stash the menus back in their plexiglass holder. He totals the meals, adds a tip even though there’s nobody to fucking earn it but him, and puts the transaction through. And all the while my head’s lost in a cloud of Devil’s Breed making, imagining a world where Jenna was a part of that and somehow not at the same time. How the hell did her mom keep her a secret when Jenna would have gone to the same school as the other brats? How the heck did nobody know?
Is that just another lie?
“Sir?” The employee holds my buzzer out to me, waggling it a little.
“Thanks.” I take it off him and book it back to the booth.
Jenna and Molly are deeply involved with the maze on the back of the paper placemat, the spot-the-difference image already dotted with pencil circles. Would they notice I was gone if I walked out, right here, right now?Probably when their food doesn’t show up.
“Winning?” I slide back onto the seat.
Neither woman answers me.
Loki’s stare burns in my periphery.
Fucking peachy.
“Here.” Darko slides Jenna a new phone without looking away from his. “It’s set up the same as the last one.”
Her gaze briefly flashes to mine before she responds to him. “How did you know?”
“Tracking stopped refreshing.” Darko looks up. “So I went and looked at the last known location.”
“It was an accident.” Her tongue softly wets her bottom lip.
He shrugs a shoulder. “Doesn’t matter a shit to me, bro. Just tell me next time.”
“Okay.” Her lithe fingers cover the device, and she slowly drags it toward herself.
There’s a resignation in her gaze, as though destroying that phone had bought her a glimpse of freedom by cutting the final tie to her father. But there’s also understanding. Jenna can’t pretend his presence doesn’t still demand resolution. That she doesn’t have an obligation to finish what she started—whether that’s continuing to be his puppet or making a clean cut from his control.
The buzzer beside Loki’s arm goes off, vibrating across the table. “That was quick.” He snatches it up and heads for the service counter.
“It’ll be fine,” I tell Jenna quietly.
She nods, pasting on a smile for Molly and clapping softly when my daughter finally figures out the maze. “Good job.”
“Look.” Molly proudly presents it to me.
I knock her cheek with the back of my finger and find a smile, too. “Too smart.” I open my mouth to ask if they do puzzles like that at school when a growl and flash of movement in my periphery draws my focus to the front of the store.The fuck?Apickup truck speeds toward the window, lights blinding me as the front end bumps up over the curb. With no time to get out of the way, I twist my body to protect Molly—my arms around her—and lock onto Jenna’s startled wide eyes as the vehicle hits.
Glass shatters, people scream, and I can’t tell if the scrape of timber is furniture scattering or the truck mowing shit down.Motherfucker.
Something hard hits my back.
My ears ring.
One steadying breath, two, while I keep looking at the woman who shields my daughter also.
Tires squeal followed by the crash of something smaller as it smashes onto the floor when the truck reverses back to the street.
Jenna’s gaze shifts from mine, moving over my shoulder. I almost miss the whispered, “Holy fuck,” that falls from her lips.
“You okay?” I drop my gaze to Molly, tucked against my chest.
“Yeah.” She tries to peer around me, voice shaking when she asks, “What was that?”
I glance to Darko. He has his phone to his ear, half standing on the seat as though he’s ready to jump over the table.
