Page 45 of You Can't Fight Lightning
My hand shot out and caught the keys. “Stop it.”
“Hey, man.” He gave me sad eyes, his hand out.
I wasn’t buying it. “She thinks she’s the curse?”
Hypnos nodded, his eyes on my hand still holding the keys. “She does indeed. She’s sure she’s the modern-day version of the Reaper. So she’s afraid. And you and me, we both know what happens when the mortals get afraid.”
I tossed the keys back to him. “It’s time for you to leave.”
“Alrighty, Sparky, but now you’ve been warned. And when you finally bag your lady, remember who helped you out.”
Hypnos disappeared in a silvery flash. It reminded me of his mother. Forgiveness aside, I would never have the warm and fuzzies toward him that I had with Nyx.
Then I walked toward the window, thinking about what Hypnos had said. She was worried she was cursed. That she was a curse on the men she’d dated. Because they’d died.
I had to admit, I could understand her hesitancy.
But I couldn’t die.
So that aspect was solved. Now the challenge was how to tell her about this. How to let her know that her fear would never happen with me, not as long as we were together?
The thought consumed me as I got ready, taking the time to choose something nicer than the tee shirts Roxy had seen me in so far. I had an olive button-down shirt that I felt was a better look.
It looked even better with my leather jacket than the tee shirts, and that was saying something. I winked at myself in the mirror. “Looking good, Z. Tonight’s the night.”
For what, though?
Something. A change. A shift. A move toward greater commitment.
At least, that was my hope.
The night was clear, and I could smell the sage in the air. I felt amazing as I drove toward Café Roka. I thought that if Roxy and I came to an understanding, I’d love to have her come with me on the rest of my trip. To the Grand Canyon I’d read about, or to a place called Yosemite. Or Yellowstone. Or both. Motorcycles were the best way to travel this realm. The guide book liked all these parks.
It didn’t matter, if Roxy were with me.
I found a parking spot a short distance from the storefront of Café Roka. On Tombstone Canyon, although not as far down as where I’d been when I met Delilah and Tuesday, the restaurant had a striped awning, an artsy looking door, and didn’t really look like one of the best restaurants in Bisbee. But Roxy said it was—so I’d withhold judgement.
When I walked in, Roxy hadn’t arrived yet.
“Can I help you?” The hostess was young and pert.
“I’m waiting for someone. I have a reservation under Olimbos for seven o’clock.”
She stepped back to her podium and checked a large book. Her finger ran down the columns and then stopped. She looked up and beamed. “We have you right here. Let me know when the rest of your party gets here, and I’ll be happy to seat you.”
“Thank you.” I gave her a brief smile as I turned to look out the window, feeling like it had been too long since I’d seen Roxy. Now that she’d agreed to spend time with me, I wanted all her time.
Which was unreasonable. I knew this. At least, at a logical level. She couldn’t be with me all the time.
But why not?
I pushed these thoughts aside. I was getting ahead of myself. I didn’t even know if this would make it past our date tonight. I mean, I hoped it would. I was working really hard—the conversation with Hypnos aside—to be closer to human, to make my life here based on being more human.
Roxy appeared on the sidewalk and then came in. When she saw me, she smiled. “Right on time.”
“I was here early. I didn’t want to miss a moment.”
“Whoa, whoa. Stop with all the cheese.” She held up a hand.
