Page 20 of A Wolf After My Own Heart
That,she thought,was true yesterday. And they’re still not out the door. Though the signs of departure look promising. Also, I might be having a series of small strokes.
“Thanks for the pizza,” Sally said, her small hand swallowed in Ox’s much larger one. “And for listening to me.”
“Sure.” Lila couldn’t think of anything to thank Sally for, so she kept quiet.
“You’re the first one of your kind I’ve spent any real time with.”
“Okay.”
“I can’t wait to tell my folks!” the child added. “They’ll besosurprised.”
“Okay.”
“Great seeing you again,” Ox added.
“It was?”
“Yeah, it was. Don’t forget to put your gun up.”
Lila snorted. Might as well tell her not to forget to breathe.
“Listen, Lila, maybe I’ll see you around.”
“Don’t threaten me,” she warned.
“That wasn’t—do you think you’d want to get coff—never mind.”
“Wait! What? Were you about to—” What was she doing? They were leaving! She must not hinder the leaving! “Never mind.”
“Right. Exactly.” He nodded. “I’m on the clock. So.”
And then they were gone, not quite as abruptly as they came.
Chapter 10
At the sharp knock, Lila stopped unpacking and went to the door. “It’s upon a midnight dreary,” she said to the peephole. “So of course there’s someone gently rapping at my chamber door.”
From her porch: “It’s Oz. From before? Oz Adway?”
Thank goodness he clarified, or she might have gotten him mixed up with the other Oz who’d broken in. She ignored the way her pulse picked up and opened the door. “’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door.”
He waved like a dork. “Hi!”
“Only this and nothing more.”
“Poe?” he guessed.
“Had to memorize the whole thing for speech class my senior year. No matter how much I drink, I can’t dislodge it. You can’t come in.”
He froze halfway across the threshold. “No?”
“It’s midnight and you’re a bumbling B&E guy I barely know. Of course ‘no.’”
“Fair.” The foot that had gotten halfway into her house retreated. “I just wanted to check on you.”
She ignored the spark of pleasure his words ignited. “At midnight.”
“Your light was on.”
