Page 101 of Veil of Death and Shadow

“Not a chance,” Kieran said. “Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed people-watching at your restaurant last night, but I can’t handle another evening cooped up with everyone ignoring me.”

“They couldn’t see you. And it wasn’t like I could talk to you in front of them.”

He shrugged. “Well, still, I want to see this Aidan guy you’re so fond of. See what kind of a night out you can get up to when amongst the living.”

My neck heated at the memory of the kind of night I’d gotten up to amongst the dead just last week. “You do realize that I’ll still have to ignore you? I’ll just be ignoring you in a different restaurant than my own.”

He shot me a rakish grin. “We’ll see how long you can resist my conversation.”

I exhaled, ignoring the teasing look in his eyes—and the way that look made my stomach tighten into knots. “So you think this will work? Going through with tonight, I mean?”

He furrowed his brows. “Work?”

“If I go tonight, if I put myself out there, chase after connections like we talked about—do you think that’ll fix the whole,” I sniffed, “you know, life-audit-dead-stalker thing.”

“Do I think fucking someone is going to spark joy? Only one way to find out, Agony.” He rolled his teeth over his bottom lipand winked. “Though if memory serves, it definitely seemed to sparksomethinglast week.”

“Yeah,” I deadpanned, “regret.”

“That would wound me,” he pressed his hands to his chest in mock pain, “truly, if I wasn’t so very confident in the fact that you’ve been pleasuring yourself to that memory all week.” His face split into a devious grin. “Pretty sure I heard the familiar rumble of a B.O.B. last night.”

“B.O.B?”

“Battery operated boyfriend.”

I glared at him, though it probably had no heat compared to the blush spreading across my cheeks. “You know, you’re a bit insufferable.”

“So I’ve been told.” He smirked. “Twice by you, in fact, just this afternoon.”

I sped up, getting a start on the evening’s most tiresome task—ignoring him.

“What are you doing?”

“Practicing for tonight. Pretending you don’t exist.”

“Oh fun,” he glanced at me from the corner of his eye. “Let’s bet on how long it’ll be until you break.” He pressed his hand to his chest. “Personally, I give it thirty seconds into your date. His company will be so,” he closed the gap between his thumb and his pointer finger until they were less than an inch apart, “bland in comparison to mine that you won’t be able to stand it.” He clicked his tongue. “Bet you’ll be glad I came along then, eh Agony?”

I took a deep breath and did my best to pretend that a tall, tattooed, thoroughly infuriating angel wasn’t glued to my side.

But my thoughts immediately went to the lingering anxiety that had been rolling through me since we left Frank’s.

Ditching the diner was uncharacteristic for Sora. In the months since we’d been manning Frank’s, we hadn’t closed for a dinner service once.

Even more uncharacteristic was leaving without telling me where she was headed.

Phones didn’t really work as effectively as they used to, sure, but we’d made a habit of jotting our whereabouts down on paper, sticking them to the bathroom mirror, whenever plans came up. We kept each other in the loop. That was how we kept each other safe.

What if something was wrong? What if something happened to her?

Was this just me doing it again?

I fidgeted with my ring as I tried to confront the discomfort.

Was this just me making mountains out of mole hills as usual?

Being unduly anxious out of fear?

Imagining hypothetical what if’s until I couldn’t think straight?

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