Page 87 of Witches Be Damned

“Yes, ma’am.” Tor saluted her and got to work, clacking on his keyboard, bringing up the encrypted spreadsheet of data Knoxe assigned him, his superhero boots well and truly on.

Knoxe swung around to his screen and dove in.

“What do you want me to do?” Astra kicked her legs, unsure what to tackle, since she didn’t take part in this investigation.

“Help me.” I grabbed the back of her chair and rolled her closer to me, needing her to lower my mounting anxiety.

She brushed the side of my face, and tingles skittered across my skin. “You held my hand for almost thirty minutes and didn’t flinch.”

“I did?” I checked the time on the computer. “I beat my record!”

I did better than I gave myself credit for.

She leaned over and kissed my cheek.

I pulled back, whispering, “Not in front of your dad.”

She mouthed the word “Oops” and pretended to be on her best behavior, putting her hand in her own lap. Every nerve in me begged to take it and set it on my thigh, and I reached across, holding her, loving her softness.

Loco glared at me from across the opposite side of the bench. I knew that expression well since many prisoners wore it like a badge of honor. My fingers snapped off Astra and minded their own business.

Loco’s eyes lost their “murderous gleam,” as Tor called it. “What did you do for the thief bozo in exchange for getting this dirt on our enemies?”

Tor wheeled over to him and placed a hand over his mouth. “Shh, Dad. Don’t go throwing around words like that about our god.”

Loco bit his hand, and Tor released him, shaking his hand.

“Dad!” Astra scolded her father.

“Go easy, Dad.” Tor rolled to the first aid kit in the wall mount on the corner. “I was just trying to prevent you from getting smote.”

Loco barked out a laugh. “If the gods wanted me dead, I’d be long gone.”

Knoxe strode over, retrieving the kit for Tor, dropping it on his lap.

“Your funeral, Dad.” Tor rinsed his hand as if he feared getting rabies or something from the rabid Loco.

Knoxe gave Loco the answer he sought. “I cut a deal with Mads, and that’s all you need to know.”

Loco managed to twirl the handle of his cup on his finger the way he would a knife. “I need to know if my daughter and I are going down because of it.”

“You’re good.” That was all Knoxe gave him, and everyone got busy. “I’ll take any heat.”

Loco picked up Cole’s orange USB from Tor’s computer and twisted it. “I’d feel a hell of a lot better with this protected from Vancor. If he finds out we have this, he’ll have us killed in our sleep. Game over.”

“We’ve got that covered.” Knoxe kept the exact details a secret to protect everyone. “This isn’t our first rodeo.”

Loco leaned forward, his eyes adopting their murderous gleam once again. “If it gets discovered, I’ll end you before the warden does.”

I twitched in my seat. I didn’t understand why Loco had a problem, now of all times. Maybe I set him off by holding his daughter’s hand. Whatever the reason, it should have been sorted when Knoxe gave Serena the USB.

“Dad! I thought you made peace with them!” Astra shot out of her seat, snatched the USB and gave it to Knoxe, then grabbed the lip of her father’s chair, rolled him into the corner with his back facing us. “That’s it! You’re on a timeout until you take that back.”

He tried to climb from his chair, but she shoved his shoulders down. “You listen here, kiddo.”

Tor blew out a breath, raised both arms and linked his palms behind his neck, clearly enjoying the show. Knoxe thumped him in the stomach, but that didn’t stop him.

She raised one palm in a stop gesture. “I’m an adult now and I trust Knoxe with my life. He’s saved me countless times, and I’m asking for you to trust him too.”

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