Page 83 of Cheater Slicks

Slowly lifting my eyelids, I found him sitting in a chair beside my bed holding a bowl of gumbo.

“Everyone is safe.” He waited until I pushed myself upright, bracing my back against the headboard, then shoved a spoonful of food into my mouth. “The house is secure.” He watched me swallow then resumed his update. “Rollo called in a favor. The bodies have been disposed of. The rear neighbor, Mr. Cranston, says he’ll bill Vi for the damages to his lawn and shrubs. He also wants the skeletons back. Apparently, they’re related to him.”

The words trickled in and out of my ears, none of them sticking. “He’s gone.”

Silence stretched between us as Harrow stirred the bowl.

“He came back once.” He crammed a second spoonful into my mouth. “He can do it again, right?”

That was before he rebelled against his god. Dis Pater wouldn’t forgive him for his disobedience anytime soon.

Throat burning, and not from the spices, I rasped, “He tried to kill me.”

“I know.”

“I didn’t think he would actually do it.” Heat in my cheeks, I sniffled just once. “Pretty dumb, huh?”

“I won’t pretend to understand what you’ve gone through. I know you’re still figuring the god stuff out, but you have to know Kierce would never hurt you if he had a choice. Even I can see that.”

“But he doesn’t get one.” A hot tear slid down my cheek to drip off my chin, just when I thought I had run out of them. “He’s never had one.” I wiped my face dry. “I don’t even know if he was only with me to spy for Dis Pater or if he really cares about me.”

“It can be both.”

“How?”

“The way I heard it, he begged for death to protect you. He wouldn’t have done that if he didn’t care.”

You were…worth it. Worth everything. Always.

Those last words kept circling around and around my head until I grew dizzy from them.

“I want to free him. Let him make his own choices. Whether that’s me or not.”

“Okay.” He took the opportunity to force another spoonful into my mouth. “So, what’s our plan?”

“Ourplan?” I dribbled gumbo down my chin. “I’m not dragging you deeper into this mess.”

“That’s what friends do for each other, right?”

“You’re not obligated to me. Not anymore. Not after what Anunit did to you.”

“Friendship isn’t an obligation. It’s a privilege. And I’ve got other reasons.”

A door slammed deeper in the house, and I quirked an eyebrow. “What’s that about?”

“Carter’s here.” A smile crept up on him. “She came to check on me, make sure I’m still alive.” He twirled the spoon in the bowl. “That was her excuse anyway. She banged on the door until Jean-Claude let her in then hunted down Josie. They were holed up in her room arguing for hours before she came to check on you. Based on that slam, it sounds like they’re about to kick off round two.”

“I’m glad I’m not the only one with a complicated relationship.” I hesitated. “What other reasons?”

“Ankou is back.”

Ankou, who had turned Lyle into a dybbuk.

Ankou, who had twisted Lyle into a monster.

Ankou, who had forced Harrow to kill his own uncle.

“I respect that you might need him as an ally, for now, but the second you don’t…” Harrow looked me in the eye, “…I’m going to kill him.”

---