Page 119 of Death and Donuts

“Adriel said he didn’t have the ring,” Shepard continued. “You have my word we’ll keep searching for it, but I can’t guarantee we’ll find it.” Shepard nodded even though Curran couldn’t see it. “That’s my belief as well. We’ll find Orphia. We have to.”

As soon as Shepard ended the call, his phone rang again.

He groaned when he looked at the display. I peeked and saw that it said, “Caution” for the name.

“Effora,” he explained.

“Ah. Maybe she’s just calling for an update,” I said.

Cross laughed, and Shepard shot him a dark look.

“Go ahead, lover,” Cross teased. “Put it on speaker. Let’s see what kind of update Effora has for you.”

Shepard answered on speaker.

“Effora,” he said curtly in greeting. “Do you have an update?”

“I have two bottles of wine on ice and am lying in your bed without a stitch on. When are you coming home?”

If I wasn’t already queasy, the thought of her on his bed where I had just been would do it. Shepard looked like he was getting queasy too.

“We’ll be home in about five minutes, Effora,” I said on his behalf. “And Shepard would very much like you to strip the bed, not yourself. You’ll probably want to burn that bedding too.”

“Oh?” she said with less warmth as Vena swiveled in her seat to smirk at me. “And why would I do that?”

“Because they remind Shepard of everything he did with me in that bed.”

Shepard’s fingers threaded through mine, and Cross covered his mouth to keep from laughing.

“I wish I would have met you first, Everly,” Effora said. “I think we could have been lovely friends.”

“Is there anything else, Effora?” Shepard asked.

“Your home and your people are safe. You can thank me at another time.”

She hung up without another word.

“Did I go too far?” I asked, looking at Shepard.

He smiled and shook his head. Then his smile vanished, and he leaned forward suddenly to look into my eyes.

“Look at Cross for a second,” he said.

Confused, I did as he asked.

“Notice anything?” Shepard asked.

“Yes, before we started driving. I didn’t want to distract you, though. I’ll take her to the hospital after we reach your place.”

I frowned at both of them and looked at Vena, who was still turned around, staring at me.

“Looks like you have a concussion, Ev. Means you’ll get the princess treatment for a few days.” She patted my hand. “I’m sorry you got hurt, but I’m really proud of you for stabbing Vivian like you did. It was the perfect distraction. Without it, I would have never been able to kill Adriel.”

My stomach did a three-sixty flip that had me gagging hard.

“Look at me, Everly,” Cross said.

When I did, my stomach felt instantly calm, and the fact that I was in the car faded away. All I could feel was his fingers playing with the ends of my hair and a sense of calm.

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