Page 53 of Amber Gambler

Once Kierce entered the building, she locked up behind us. As she caught my eye, I understood what she was doing and felt even worse. Harrow couldn’t get in without her, not until he finished training, but she was guaranteeing there were no surprises.

“Thanks.” I waited on her then walked to the cold room alongside her. “I didn’t mean to snap.”

“You being here? With me?” She turned serious. “That’s more than I deserve.”

“You’re not the problem.” I wished I could magic cheddar puffs out of thin air so I could offer her a snack-sized bag of confidence. “I don’t hold your nature against you. Besides, Armie set you up. It’s not your fault he triggered your instincts.” He planned it that way. “You’re not the problem here, okay?”

“Yeah.” Her eyes shone before she turned her head. “Okay.”

Aware it might not end well for me to push an emotional redcap, I let it drop and followed her in.

I reached the center of the room before noticing I had lost Kierce somewhere along the way. I found him standing in the doorway, clutching the frame. His eyes were screwed shut, and he swayed on his feet.

“Kierce?” I rushed to loop my arm around his waist and supported his wobbly gait into the waiting room. “Talk to me.” I eased him into the same chair where Carter broke the news to me about the existence of the 514. “What’s going on?” I framed his face with my palms, forcing his head up and his gaze ontome. “I shouldn’t have taken you shopping. What was I thinking? You’re still recovering. You overdid it?—”

“The dead.” He gripped my forearms to steady himself. “They’re screaming.”

Hitting my knees in front of him, I let him hold on tight. “I don’t hear them.”

Given how fond they were of yelling at me lately, that struck me as odd.

“I can’t block them out.” He thrashed his head. “They’re so loud.”

“Let me try something.” I wriggled loose and unslung my bag. “I’m going to set a ward around your chair.”

Quickly, I cleared the others away, leaving Kierce sitting in six feet of open space. I dug around in my bag until I located a small jar of black salt. As the grains slid through my fingers, I drew a circle around him. It shimmered with unfamiliar energy, crackling as I closed it with a murmured chant.

Power flared across my senses, and I threw up my hand to shield my eyes while arcs of electricity rippled across the surface of the dome enclosing Kierce, the effect reminding me of the plasma balls sold as toys to mimic lightning in a globe that struck your hand if you touched the glass.

“Thank you,” he rasped, bracing his elbows on his knees and resting his head in his hands.

“Do you want to wait here for me?” I repacked my kit. “I can take you to the wagon, if that’s better.”

“I’ll stay.” His chest expanded with slow, deep breaths. “It’s quiet in here.”

“I’ll leave the door open.” I dragged a chair over to act as a prop. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Take your time.” The tension slipped from his shoulders. “I haven’t heard absolute quiet in…”

“…a long time,” I supplied gently, stomach tight as I stepped into the hall.

Turning back once, I watched him savoring the silence then returned to the cold room to Carter.

Guiding me to the drawer she had opened in my absence, she asked, “What was that about?”

Certain she overheard the problem, given her constant scanning of the drawers, I recentered myself.

“I’m not sure.” I pushed a stainless tray beside the victim. “I don’t hear anything.”

“No offense.” She pressed her back to the wall. “But it’s fucking creepy knowing there’s another realm of existence superimposed over our world that I can’t see.”

“Think how humans must feel.”

“Some days I’m not sure humans think or feel, but I catch your drift.”

“Hey, some of my best friends are formerly human.”

Rallying my courage, I peeled back the sheet to expose a fifteen-year-old girl with dark hair and milky blue eyes. Her skin was pale, made paler by her time spent in the water, and bloated. It hurt to see someone young and with so much potential cut down before she had a chance to truly live.

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