Page 63 of Amber Gambler

“Those flames are a byproduct of my power. They were safe for you to handle if you got curious.”

“Me?Ha.Badb would have been smoking like a barbeque chicken if those leaves packed heat.”

Her connection to him must have nulled the wards Moore set. Following that logic, the summoning token on my forearm must have been enough of a bond to allow me unfettered access too.

“She knew they wouldn’t harm her.”

Under the rustling leaves of the elm, or whatever it was now, Kierce examined the lowest limb.

As if sensing his nearness, the leaves burst into flames, fizzling and popping above us.

“The fruit isn’t ripe yet.” He caressed the bark. “Maybe in another day or two.”

For that to be true, the ripened fruit would be half the size of a normal pomegranate.

“Does one eat the fruit? Plant the seeds? Hurl them at one’s enemies?”

“One could do those things, but the seeds won’t germinate, and your enemies would be more horrified by the stains than harmed by the impact.”

“Ah.” I stroked the trunk. “This is primarily a snack tree.”

“Yes.” He strangled on a laugh. “A snack tree.”

“Are the fruits’ superpower being extra tasty, or do they have divine energy like Moore told me?”

Fingers tracing the brand on my forearm, he said, “You’ll have to eat one and find out.”

“Can’t you give me a teeny-tiny hint? Just one?”

“Once you taste the fruit, you’ll have me at your fingertips.”

Emboldened by his claim, I pressed my palm to his chest. “Is that a promise?”

“If you want it to be.” He rested his hand over mine. “Then yes.”

Nothing in life was ever that simple, but as a line? It definitely worked on me.

Afamiliar rumble announced Carter’s arrival as her truck purred into the parking lot of The Body Shop. It was dawn o’clock, but I hadn’t been able to sleep, so I was in a pair of waders out back in the garden with Kierce and Josie when a honk summoned me. Just me. I had already arranged for Kierce to remain with Josie until I returned to avoid the potential for Harrow to act on his revenge fantasies.

“Girls these days.” Josie, who wasn’t about to pass up free labor and had risen early to make good use of us, clucked her tongue. “They can’t even walk to the door to pick up their dates? Is chivalry truly dead?”

The announcement earned me Kierce’s attention, and he dusted off his gloves before removing them.

“Do you like girls?” He shoved them in a rear jeans pocket, nudging his pants down a solid inch and revealing a strip of pale skin. “Do you like Carter?”

Had the crackle of energy sheathing his fingers not given him away, I might have believed it was an innocent question. Had I not already been in enough trouble from my last Carter prank, Imight have pulled his leg to tease him. “I don’t hold hands with Carter, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“Only with me,” he said in a borderline growl.

A flush tingled across my scalp at this more possessive side of him. “Only with you.”

“Come on, Birdfriend.” Josie tossed him a wide-brimmed sunhat. “We’ve got beans to plant.”

“I’ll be back soon,” I promised them, wishing I didn’t have to go. “Stay hydrated.”

As I rounded the corner, heading for the bench, I heard him ask, “What’s a birdfriend?”

Although it was all kinds of wrong, I tucked myself against the building and eavesdropped like a fiend.

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