Page 25 of Midnight Auto Parts

He was kind. Adorably clueless. A vault of ancient knowledge. And he liked cemeteries.

That last one might not seem earth-shattering, but it appealed to the taphophile in me.

“I like when you think about me.”

“You must cruise through life with a grin then,” I joked, kind of. “What do we do next?”

Willing to let me off the hook, he planted his palms on the dirt. “Do you remember when I told you that we could draw strength from grave soil?”

Perking up, I leaned closer. “Yes.”

“This ground has been touched by death. That means we can consume its power.”

“Isn’t its power tainted?” I scrunched up my face. “Is chowing down on that healthy?”

“The blight is too weak to harm us. We’ll metabolize the residual magic and convert it to clean energy.”

“Then the blighted soil goes back to being regular dirt?”

“It will be cleansed, yes.” He hesitated, over the verbiage or the idea. “Would you like to try?”

Mirroring his position, I calmed my nerves. “I’m full of death-y energy, so what’s a little more?”

“You’ll only need this skill when you’re injured or have burned through your magic.”

“When?”I swallowed past a lump in my throat. “Notif?”

Life since we met had been bumpy, sure, but I wasn’t normally attacked by gods and crazy people.

“Master this ability, and you won’t require Aretha’s assistance except in dire circumstances.”

Dollar signs flashed before my eyes when I recalled how much work she had put into keeping me alive in the last few weeks. She was worth every penny, but ouch. I could only hope having already died, I would cost less in the future.

“You should have led with that. I’m nothing if not cheap.” I bit my bottom lip. “I meant to saypractical.”

More of that hesitance seeped out of him. “Can I make a confession?”

Wary of what he wanted off his chest, I still owed him the chance to unburden. “Sure.”

“I erased your debt with Harrow.”

“You…?” I wobbled back, landing on my butt. “You did what?”

“He paid Aretha for her services, but that debt never sat well with you.” He set his jaw. “Or with me.”

“I don’t…” I couldn’t get my tongue to work. “But he…?”

“I asked Aretha for an estimate, paid her, and she refunded Harrow.”

“Thank you, Kierce. Really. You didn’t have to do that.” There. Finally. I got the words out. “But I owe the money to you now, and it feels weird having debt between me and my—”don’t say birdfriend, don’t say birdfriend, don’t say birdfriend, “—boyfriend.”

A wave of dizziness swept through me at hearing the claim made out loud. Boyfriend. Kierce was my boyfriend. The actual Viduus was my actual boyfriend. I couldn’t tell if I was about to swoon or vomit.

“That’s why I convinced Pascal to source the cab for a 1976 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40. He says the rest will be trickier, but he’s confident he and his brothers can have it built and running in a few months.” He looked pleased with himself, which proved how skilled Pascal was at convincing people to fund projects on his restoration bucket list. “I have an open tab at The Body Shop, as of yesterday, after Pascal won the auction, and you will charge me as a regular customer—parts and labor—until the debt is squared.”

“You don’t have to let us off the hook that easy.” I gripped his hand, certain my palm was sweaty. “We can afford to pay you back. You don’t have to commission a build you don’t need.”

“I want to learn how to drive and help with your duties, which means I need transportation.”

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