Page 85 of Shades of Silver City

“Why haven’t you turned me in?” Tasia whispers, confused.

I sift through the sounds of their autonomic nervous systems, checking for anything amiss, anything that might alert me to lies or fear or nervousness, but I detect nothing of the sort.

“Because you’re one of us,” Stace finally says. Fabric rustles, as if one of the women is pulling in another for a hug.

“Even if you hate us for no reason,” Alisha murmurs.

“Oh, I have reasons, but we’re not hashing them out now,” Tasia says. I bite my lip to keep from chuckling. She clears her throat. “Thanks? I mean, thanks. Really. I guess I owe you.”

“Just pay your rent until we get a new roommate and we’re even,” Alisha says.

The trio chuckles awkwardly, and the energy between them seems to lighten. I relax a bit. My abilities aren’t a foolproof way to tell if someone’s lying, but most average humans aren’t trained in regulating their body’s systems, so I assume the women’s intentions with Tasia are honest.

Five thousand silvers is enough for most people to rethink their friendships. It’s a mystery why they’ve not turned Tasia in, considering how strained their interactions seem to be, but I don’t know enough about their history to speculate.

Their apartment door whines open, and a few people spill out, talking loudly. Tasia tells her roommates goodbye.

“I’m serious,” Alisha says. “Pay your rent!”

Gripping Tasia’s bag tightly, I jog toward Godric’s SUV, open the trunk, and place everything inside.

“I sent out a message to the Crawlers. They’re posting up around the city like you asked, boss,” Godric says.

“Don’t call me that.”

He chuckles.

“Thank you. Now I need to recharge,” I tell him. “We have to stop by the greenhouse.”

“With her?” he asks.

I nod, and he meets my eyes in the rearview mirror before raising a brow and smirking. “Too much exertion, heh?”

I flip him off, and he howls with laughter before saying, “What would Sofia thi—”

I slam the trunk shut to muffle his smart comment.

When Tasia approaches, I lean against the SUV and run a hand through my hair, acting casual as if I’ve been here the whole time. After all the glamouring I’ve done tonight, I’m stretching my energy thin. Relying on my heightened senses to keep an eye on Tasia tapped into the last of my reserves.

My magic isn’t endless. Just as my body requires food for fuel, my abilities need to recharge with fuel of their own.

“Let’s go,” Tasia says, emerging from the stairwell.

I open the back door for her, and she tilts her head up, giving me a soft smile. “Thanks.”

She slides in, and I go around to the other side of the vehicle. When I enter, she gives me a questioning look. “You’re a menace, you know that?”

A laugh bursts out of me. I’m not sure what I expected her to say, but it wasn’t that.

Instead of replying, I take a risk and reach for her, palm-up. She bites her lip, looking from me to my proffered hand. Godric starts the engine and pulls out of the apartment complex. Finally, she accepts my hand, interlacing our fingers and scooting closer. The warmth of her skin radiates through my hand, sending an excited tingle through my veins.

It’s such a simple, innocent gesture, but it’s so full of meaning that it inflates me with joy.

The rest of the world melts away. It’s just me and the woman who makes me smile in a city that breeds misery.

“Hey,” Tasia says after we’ve been riding in silence for a few minutes. “Where are we going?”

We wind through the city, steel and brick buildings blocking our view on either side. Instead of going north, to Sweetcreek, we’ve gone deeper downtown.

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