Page 12 of Midnight Auto Parts

From start to finish, I told her. All of it. Leaving nothing out.

By the end, I was breathless, and she was sobbing and blaming herself for not being there for me.

“You couldn’t have saved me.” I squeezed her ethereal hand. “Not against a god.”

“I could have tried.” Her nose was swollen, and her eyes were puffy. “You haven’t told anyone?”

“Kierce was there. He knows. Everyone else thinks I survived.”

The all-encompassing light of the divine had blinded us. That was how Harrow ended up getting shot.

“I taught you better than that. You pour that misery around like bourbon sauce on warm bread pudding. The more you share, the less your burden. That is how you survive what would otherwise break you.” An annoyed tear escaped her, and she dashed it away. “Are your powers different? Do you have new ones? Have any of the old ones atrophied?”

Straight into problem-solving mode. She couldn’t help it. Her big heart always kick-started her brain.

“I did mention the part where I haven’t accepted I’m dead, right?”

“Couyon.”Her palm went through my forehead instead of smacking it. “Since when has ignoring a thing made it go away?”

Weakly, I injected hope into my expression. “There’s always a first time?”

“First time for everything like...” she adjusted the bangles on her wrists, “…dating a demigod?”

“He’s more like a god’s personal assistant.” I gaped as it dawned on me. “Thatwas what you meant?”

Forget the shimmery skin. Forget the blazing aura. Forget death. Kierce was what had caught her eye.

“You haven’t been in a relationship since you came to me.” She twirled a finger in the air. “I’m not blind. I can see the bond forming between you two.”

“On the spirit plane?” I realized my hand had lifted to cover my heart. “What kind of bond?”

Had the summoning mark Kierce placed on me bound us tighter than I thought?

“What do you think?” She thumped my forehead. “Quit distracting me.”

Curious to know more about the bond thing, which was news to me, I let her get back to her point.

“He can teach you.” She cut him a glance. “That man is ancient.” A frown tugged at her mouth. “Anything worth knowing, he can tell you.” Her eyes grew darker. “The aura of death surrounds him.”

“He does work for Dis Pater.” I spat out the name. “The god who killed me.”

“I don’t like this.” She thinned her lips. “You need to find out who possessed his crow to feed you intel.”

More like find out if it had really been Badb or another god, etc., appearing to me in a form I would trust. I might have questioned it more had I not been suffering from a concussion, but then I was dead, and all my curiosity burned up along with the flesh off my bones.

Bitter?

Why, yes. I was. This was not part of my five-year plan.

“Yeah.” I tapped the fuzzy purple dice hanging from my rearview mirror. “I just sort of shut down after.”

“You’ve been through a lot the last couple of months.” She stroked above my hair, and the gesture soothed me. “You’ve got a right to grieve your losses. You’ve got a right to take a moment to breathe. But you don’t get to curl up in a ball and let this ruin you. You’re too strong for that.”

“Thanks, Vi.” I studied the shimmery hands folded on my lap. “I don’t know what to do.”

“You don’t have to do anything except what you’ve always done. Learn how to control your new powers and keep yourself safe.” She leaned forward to catch my eye. “You want to live so close to Savannah? So near those damn necromancers? Then you better be able to take on the whole of the Society and win.” I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Or you could pack up and move your family to NOLA. With me.”

For her to ask, and mean it, tightened my throat. “And see Rollo every day for the rest of my life?”

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