Page 72 of Killer of the Bells
I laughed because there was no way I was ever punching some guy in the head again. There was no amount of cleaning that would be enough to convince me I got all the dead guy goo off them.
I have to use my hands to eat! Gross!
“Seriously, though. Echo,” Baz insisted, “you have to tell us how you tamed the bitch. It has to be mind control, right? Vix has been having a hell of a time with his mind control research, so if you mind-controlled Vale, you should ‘fess up and help Vix harness it.”
I gave ahmmphand set to ignoring Baz, because I didn’t mind-control jack shit. I was naturally beguiling, and it had been inevitable that I would reel in someone amazing once I decided to stop trying to exit the world.
That whole situation would be a work-in-progress. I’d still have bad days, but I officially had an entire weird-ass, extremely hard-to-kill family to live for, so having a reason to stick around was going to help a lot.
“The bitchis sitting right here,” Vale said without heat. His head was lolling backward sleepily as I brushed his hair. It hadn’t actually gotten too dirty in the fight. Maybe it was due to how fast Vale was, but for the amount of killing he did, his hair was surprisingly clean.
“This is my hair now,” I informed Vale. “I’m taking care of it from now on, so it’s mine.”
“Anything you want, my love.” Vale closed his eyes and leaned his head against my chest, forcing me to change my brushing technique due to my limited range of motion.
“This is exactly what I’m talking about, Echo. What the hell did you do to him?” Baz leaned forward, disturbing both Trixie and Delilah into giving him low growls of warning. He’d been their pillow, and they didn’t seem to like being woken up.
I shrugged in asorry, can’t tell you, don’t talkkind of way, and pulled out the pack of wipes I’d stolen from Gareth’s magical supply chest. He has everything in there.
Like, EVERYTHING.
You know that mom friend we all have who we joke has everything in her bag? Yeah, no. She would be acid-spittingly jealous over what Gareth has in his war chest. Gareth is the über mom friend.
I used the wipes to make sure every strand of Vale’s (our) hair was spotless, and he was fast asleep before I was satisfied.
By that time, Vix was curled up asleep on top of Paris, and Baz was sleeping in a pile of two dogs and one cat.
Vix had insisted we bring Oda Nobunaga with us, because he claimed Oda Nobunaga had twisted his ankle during the attack on the house and couldn’t be left alone. Dude is serious about his parenting responsibilities.
And, folks? Vale is absolutely obsessed with that cat. He was as worried about Oda Nobunaga as he was about me when he tore (literally) into the Humvee after it was breached. He’d held both of us in his arms, covering us with gore, but in a loving way, so it was okay.
His hair may stay fairly clean, but his hands get super messy when he kills.
After a change of clothes and some barely acceptable spot cleaning in the tiny portable shower Gareth had, we’d all settled into the smaller Humvee for the long ride back to town, with Love controlling the wheel.
It was coming up on night as we entered our town, and I was reminded of the bells when Vale stiffened in his sleep and curled close to me.
Gareth watched as I stroked Vale’s forehead soothingly, and Vale blinked sleepily at me with a ghost smile as he relaxed.
“Well,” Gareth said after a moment, “I suppose now that you have Echo, there’s no point in having the bells anymore, Vale. He’s taken away all of my fun.”
Vale bolted up from my lap, suddenly wide awake, and he and I both gaped at Gareth (me from the corner of my eye because he still wiggs me the fuck out if I look at him for too long.).
Finally, Vale hissed, “You. It wasyou???Youdid this to me? To the entire fae community? Why would you do that?”
Gareth quirked his mouth into a brief smile. “Guess.”
Gareth was the Patron of the Bells? What the fuck?
He and Vale had a stare-off, and it seemed like they were communicating far more than anyone but them could comprehend.
Eventually, Vale said stiffly, “I’m sorry. I just wanted one of us to escape that horrible place. I didn’t need it to be me.”
“Well, I needed it to be both of us.” Gareth glared coldly at Vale.
“Whatever. Are you happy with yourself, you vindictive fuck?”
“Very.” Gareth crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back. He wasn’t smiling, but he still gave off an air of smug satisfaction.
