Page 85 of Dead Heat

“Sit down,” she said. “Tell us all about it.”

“Where do I begin?” I kicked off my shoes and stretched my legs on the ottoman in front of me. “I had a dream last night that I was back in the abandoned church with my parents.”

“Oh, honey, that’s hard. I’m sorry,” Cam said.

“It’s okay. It’s nice to see them again, if only in my dreams.”

“Do you ever dream about kicking the ass of every god in The Corporation?” Gun asked.

I laughed. “I’d need more than one night for that one.”

“It doesn’t have to be a dream, you know.”

I turned and squinted at him. “What do you mean?”

He plucked a stray thread from his trouser leg and flicked it aside. “Have you considered revenge?”

“Why? Are you offering your services?”

He scoffed. “Against The Corporation? Hell no. That would be a suicide mission. I’m just curious whether vengeance is at the top of your agenda.”

“Staying alive currently occupies the number one spot.”

“What would revenge even look like?” Camryn mused. “It’s one thing to kill an individual, but how do you wipe out an entire organization?”

“An entire organization comprised mainly of gods and goddesses,” Gun added.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I haven’t given it much thought.”

Gun gazed at me in wonder. “You and I are cut from different cloths.”

Cam snorted. “No kidding. You’re leather; she’s lace.”

“She isn’t even lace. More like cotton twill.”

“Okay, I know there’s an insult buried in there, even though I have zero objection to cotton twill.”

“Seriously, though,” Gun said. “How have you not stared at your ceiling in the middle of the night and plotted revenge against the organization that murdered your parents in cold blood?”

“I’m preoccupied with making sure they don’t murder me.”

“Why not attack first?” Cam suggested. “They won’t be expecting you to play offense, only defense.”

“Attack how? I’m one goddess. They’re a whole team of deities. My best move is to shore up my defenses and hope they eventually decide I’m not worth the effort.”

“Because of them, you never knew your parents and your grandparents were forced to lie to you. You ended up in foster care and then spent your adulthood avoiding other people.” Gun clucked his tongue. “The Corporation didn’t just rob your parents of their lives; they robbed you of the life you were meant to live.”

I stared at him. “I’m confused. Do youwantme to launcha suicide mission? Why are you so hellbent on having me exact revenge?”

“This is what Cam and I do when we have too much time on our hands. We muse.” He fluffed the cushion behind him and adjusted his head.

“Trust me, if there was a simple way of bringing them down, I’d do it in a heartbeat, but I don’t want to spend my life focused on them while I simmer with rage and resentment. My family wouldn’t want that for me either. They’d want me to find a way to be happy despite everything.” I truly believed Pops lied to me, not only to hide me from The Corporation, but also so that I wouldn’t seek revenge as an adult.

Gunther shook his head. “You’d make a terrible assassin.”

“No kidding.”

Camryn’s voice dropped to a whisper. “While we’re on the topic of revenge, I heard a dozen demons tried to follow Dantalion through the crossroads and he killed them all.”

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