Page 48 of Haunted By the Shadow of Death

He dipped his head lower, his jaw brushing my temple. “You’re sure that’s what you want? A pure business relationship?”

He brushed my hair away from my neck, and his lips grazed the soft, sensitive skin of my neck.

He lifted his head right before there was a knock at the door.

“Ed?” Blondie called from the other side. It was all I needed to snap my sanity back into place. I shifted away from him until I was on the other side of the bed.

Kicks stared at me, shook his head as if he knew the moment was lost, and then opened the door.

Blondie was there with a tray of food. “Those guys said they’d talk to you at breakfast if you’re interested.”

“Sounds good. Thanks,” Kicks said.

“Let me know if you need anything else,” she said, smiling just for him.

“This should be it. Thanks again,” Kicks said.

I was barely able to wait until he shut the door before I said, “You leave this room tonight and I’ll gut you in your sleep.”

He laughed. “You know, you’re very territorial for my little human business partner.”

I glared at him.

He was laughing again as he said, “I’ll take the floor.”

Chapter Twenty-One

This was my first trading negotiation since the end of the world, and I was feeling a little—jittery? Excited? Even though I wouldn’t be doing much in terms of negotiating myself, it was a fun distraction from the current bleakness of my situation.

“They’re waiting for you there.” Blondie pointed to the side room. She was all smiles and roasted coffee as she watched us walk down the stairs. She handed us both coffees. Kicks took his. I took mine but with no intention of drinking it. She was a little too happy today for my comfort. “Everyone else is gone at the moment, so you can negotiate in private. I’ll introduce you.”

She led the way into the side room, and there was no way her hips naturally swung that much. If she swayed any more, she’d go topside. Kicks’ eyes were focused over her shoulder and not somewhere south. Mine should’ve been focused on the two men in the room as well. They both had lean, hard looks to them, but that was probably true of most of the people left today, or at least the ones thriving.

“This is Ed and Julie.” Blondie waved a hand to the two men sitting at the table. “Rex and Trigger.”

Rex, the one with the shaved head and black goatee, eyed me up and down the second Kicks turned his attention to Blondie. That look was enough to double the amount of bile I had already, just from looking at these two. They reminded me of what I’d left behind in the apartment complex back in New York, maybe worse. They might’ve been a few miles farther down the road toward damnation. Didn’t really matter, as I’d probably never see them again.

The other thing I had to keep remembering was that I wasn’t as vulnerable as people seemed to think, or I kept thinking myself. I killed with a touch. The people I didn’t kill, Death killed for me. My biggest problem was keeping people alive. I was turning into some sort of accidental Jacklyn the Ripper. Talk about churning up the bile.

Kicks pulled out a chair for me to sit. It wasn’t as if he’d never done something like that before, but this seemed more calculated. He was demonstrating some significance in our relationship, placing an unspoken value upon me.

I didn’t mind, considering if either of these two stepped out of line, I might add a couple to my body count. I’d like to try to get through a week without killing anyone, if at all possible.

“Heard you want to make a deal?” Rex said, his gaze flickering to me on the last word. “We’d be interested, depending on what you have to trade.”

This guy left a sour taste in my mouth. It didn’t bode well for the week’s target of zero deaths.

“I’m a rancher and I hunt. I also have a lot of connections. What were you in need of?” Kicks said.

Had he missed that signal of Rex’s? He didn’t miss much. He was happy Rancher Ed today—maybe he wanted to play stupid.

“We’d be willing to trade for some grains and meat,” Rex said.

Really? Was I becoming so cynical that I’d read these people so wrong? I relaxed in my chair. I still got an off feeling about them, but maybe they weren’t that bad.

“I’m sure we can come up with an amount that will work for both of us,” Kicks said.

Rex nodded. “One other thing.” He waved his hand toward me. “We want her.”

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