Page 86 of Wicked Deeds

I grabbed the photo and headed for Damon.

He came to his feet when he saw my face. “Something wrong?”

I waved the picture. “Usuriel’s still watching me.”

“What?” He grabbed the photo. “This is today?”

“Yes. He knows Gwen’s here.” I’d known he’d find out sooner or later. I just didn’t count on it being sooner.

Damon’s face darkened. “Well, he can’t get to her here.”

“I don’t know that he wants to.”

He held up the photo. “If he doesn’t, why does he have people following you?”

I waved a hand in frustration. “How am I supposed to know? I’m not the Lord of the Nichtkin.”

“I know.” He tossed the photo back onto the desk, but I got the feeling he wanted to tear it to pieces. “I hate this.”

“Trust me, you don’t hate it more than me.” We both stared down at the photo. All my happy endorphins had vanished.

“So, what do you want to do?” Damon asked after a minute, his voice calmer.

“Ignore it. Anything else seems like unhelpful escalation. I’ll tell Cassandra.”

“Are you going to tell Gwen?” Damon asked, not disagreeing.

“No. She’s just starting to settle in. Let’s leave it for now. Can you put this somewhere she won’t stumble across it? And askAmy to hold any mail that might come for Gwen? We should make sure Usuriel doesn’t send one to her.”

“Yes and yes. I’ll put this in the safe,” he said. Something in his tone suggested he’d like to lock me away in a safe, too. I had half a mind to let him.

Worrying about Usuriel and Jack made it hard to focus on work. On Friday, I found myself checking the security logs and the camera feeds, instead of concentrating on what I was supposed to be doing. Just before twelve, I gave up and went to find Gwen.

She was in the game room lying back in one of the game chairs, headset on, eyes closed, engrossed in whatever she was doing.

I hesitated on the threshold. Opportunity for sisterly bonding, or should I give her space? I didn’t know, but blowing up shit in a game might make me feel better.

I crept across the room and slid into the chair next to hers. She didn’t react, which told me she was deep in the game.

I put my wrist against the control panel.

:CONTACT:

The foyer formed around me. “Madge, I’m do-not-disturb for an hour. Unless Damon calls.”

“Of course, Maggie,” came the reply.

Good. I didn’t want to be interrupted if I could avoid it. Not when our sister time had been going smoothly. I waved a hand to summon the menu, delving into the admin system to see what game Gwen was playing.

Serenity Falls. Again. It seemed to be turning into her favorite. Fine with me. Better than Archangel. Which I still avoided. Too many memories of my demon.

And we were doing well inSerenity Falls. We’d fallen into a rhythm working together without having to try too hard. She was more impulsive than I was, but I chalked that up to her being younger and less experienced. I knew more about the pitfalls in the game. She was still exploring. Which she did in a systematic and thorough way that reminded me of, well,me.

Maybe there was something in this genetics business after all.

Though I was less certain of that every time I watched her running on the treadmill before breakfast. I mean, I ran, too, but I did it so I could make it through my lessons with Callum without puking. Gwen enjoyed it. She even sang along to the songs she got Madge to pump through her earphones. And sounded good doing it.

I was happy if I could keep my breathing mostly under control. I’d chase endorphins in other ways. The naked-Damon-involved kind of ways.

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