Page 86 of Amber Gambler

The hotel I lived out of while recovering from a sprained hip Lyle gave me courtesy of his front bumper.

Chicken that I was, I loved the idea of postponing the inevitable. But Matty wouldn’t wake without help. I couldn’t bear the thought of Josie changing clothes where anyone mightsee either. No. I had to do it. In person. There was no other way that wouldn’t leave me feeling dirty afterward.

Kierce read the answer before I could string the words together. “Would you like me to pack for us?”

Us.

He and I were anus.

The change in my relationship status caused my breath to hitch, but not for long.

“Yes.” I pounced on the offer. “I’ll get Josie and Matty then meet you back here.”

“All right.” He traced the curve of my jaw with his knuckle then we exited the wagon. “I’ll be quick.”

A fierce cry above us startled me before Badb landed on my shoulder, tucking herself tight to my neck.

“Thanks.” I kissed her cheek. “I needed that.”

As fast as she came, she left, cutting through the dark night to keep watch over our evacuation.

Matty was the harder of the two to wake but the easier of the two to convince he needed to pack fast. It had been drilled into him, into both of them—intoallof us—nothing was permanent. Nothing but us. As I had always dreaded, Josie was the problem. She wanted answers.Right now.An explanation. A reason.

“If you love me even a little bit, Mary,” I growled, loath to share a second longer with our watchers but equally determined they didn’t get to watch her fall apart, “get your ass downstairs.”

A change overtook her immediately. She dashed for her closet, still in her tee and panties. She snagged a canvas bag, slung it over her shoulder, wiggled into shorts, and left without another word of protest.

For some reason, her acquiescence—that punch of doubt—hit me harder than her pushing back.

Haunting screams assaulted my ears, rattling my bones as the slumbering dead woke to my fury, their volume dialed uphigher than ever. Never had it been this bad, let alone struck me while I was at home. This was my safe place. Or it had been. Apparently, not anymore.

The episodes were escalating. Coming on more often. Increasing in strength. Gnawing at my sanity.

I had to get help. From Vi or Kierce or someone.Anyone.

Clutching my head, I struggled to turn the mental knob in the other direction. Failing, I crashed into the kitchen counter, knocking over a vase. I hit my knees. My palms. My cheek.

“Enough.”

Power rolled through the room, the spirits quelling at the command, and then firm hands lifted me.

“Rest.”

I wasn’t sure if the order sent my lids sliding down or if exhaustion caused my world to go black.

And then I didn’t wonder anything at all.

“Tell me what you know,or I’ll send you back where you came from with my foot up your ass.”

“Then you’d be hopping through life on one leg, Mary.”

“Shut up, Mary.”

“Frankie will tell you when she wakes.” A finger skated across my cheek. “Give her time.”

The familiarity of theloudvoices roused me as surely as the crackle where Kierce’s skin brushed mine.

“I’m awake,” I mumbled, wiggling into the softness beneath me. “Now stop yelling.”

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