Page 94 of Amber Gambler

He had powers.

Yet he hadn’t used them to save me.

Had he destroyed all instinct to reach for magic in crisis? Or had he abandoned me by choice?

“Call him. Get the ball rolling.” I pushed off the mattress, about to go shower and dress, but I had to ask. “Why didn’t you want Kierce in here? There was nothing on the video he couldn’t have seen.”

“Kierce and Harrow get along about as well as a feral cat and a rabid dog tossed in a pit with a ribeye?—”

“That’s weirdly specific. I can tell you’ve put a lot of thought into this.”

“Not really.” She made a vague gesture. “It’s a gift.”

“It certainly is something.” I prompted her, “You were saying?”

“I didn’t want Kierce going off half-cocked if he saw Harrow colluding with the enemy.”

Thanks to his weakened state, he couldn’t pop over to Harrow’s place then rip out his intestines through his fingertips before we could stop him, but that was need to know.

And, yeah. Okay. It was also graphic. Disturbing even. Maybe I was spending too much time with Carter.

“I’ll talk to him.” I went to fetch him while Carter stepped into the hall to dial Harrow. “Kierce?”

Straightening from his lean, he let me pull him into the room and shut the door behind him. “Yes?”

“Where did you go earlier?” I hadn’t been in the right frame of mind to ask. “When you left?”

“To check Josie’s apartment for your blood. I cleaned up what was there to ensure no one saw.” He swept the room with his gaze, guaranteeing our privacy. “Our gods have many enemies. As do I. As do all those in service. Should one of them think you’re the same as us, they might strike at you, and you won’t survive an attack meant for a god blood.”

A god blood. That was a new term. I filed it away to reflect on later.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I rubbed my hands up my arms, but it did nothing to ward away the chill. “Carter and I have a job for you, if you’re up for it.” I let him take over my efforts, warmed not because of friction but because he cared enough to try. “Do you feel up for covert ops?”

Interest flared in his eyes. “What did you have in mind?”

As I explained first what I had seen and next what Carter and I intended to do, he listened with growing agitation that made me grateful she had let me break the news to him and doubly so that he couldn’t zip away and find himself face-to-face with Harrow.

“The cemetery is a good place to confront him,” he decided in the end. “You’re strongest there.”

“The spirits will be sleeping,” I pointed out. “They won’t be much help.”

“Their power is rooted in the soil in which their bones rest.” He slid his hands down to my wrists. “You can draw strength from it.” A smile tempted his full lips. “I can show you how.”

“I’ll try not to geek out all over you when the time comes.”

He rolled his eyes, which convinced me he was learning how to human better from watching my siblings and me interact. Slightly weird, but he would sand down the rough edges until the expressions fit on his face. Already, he was making strides in his study ofnormal. Though I doubted he would lose his peculiar edge. I hoped not anyway. His otherness called to mine, and I enjoyed being weirdos together.

“Geek out all you want.” His thumbs traced the veins along the insides of my wrists. “I enjoy you all over me.”

“Kierce.”A blush rocketed into my cheeks, stinging me with its intensity. “That’s very forward.”

Glancing away, he dropped my hand. “I apologize?—”

“I’m kidding.” I caught him by the arm. “I like forward.” I scrunched my nose. “From you.”

“You don’t tolerate it from other men.”

“Not really, no.” I burned under his stare. “But I like you.”

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