“It pulls pretty hard.” I picked up my coffee cup but didn’t drink. “I can stay ahead of the hunger. I can stay ahead of the push to use it . . . let it use me. So far I haven’t done anything . . . certifiably evil. Food helps. Small destructions are good. The rings help.” I lifted my hand to show him them.
“Are you in control right now?”
“Yes.” I was not lying. I wouldn’t lie about this. Zay knew it.
“Good. Finish eating. The Overseer is waiting.”
I shoved the rest of the bacon in my mouth and took another drink of coffee. It was almost cold now. I’d been draining the heat from it while it was in my hand.
I drank it down cold, then nodded. “I’m good.”
He took one last hard look at me. I must have passed muster, because he opened the door and got out of the car.
I left the plate and cup in the car, mostly because I knew it would bother Terric, and pushed my sunglasses closer to my eyes. Looked around.
Huh. We were in the parking lot of my mother’s restaurant and inn. There weren’t any cars here that I didn’t recognize, which meant we were having a private meeting. Zay stopped next to me, a mountain of heat and life.
Man burned like a torch. More so now because he was tied to Allie, to her life, and to the new life inside her.
It was beautiful, really. Rare to see. And I was determined not to let that fall apart because of me.
We walked across the gravel to the door. I paused before opening it.
“How do I look?” I asked him.
He knew what I was asking. Was I throwing death vibes? Was I leaking Death magic?
Zay put a hand on my shoulder. Heavy. Wide. Hot.
I didn’t pull on the life in him. Not a single drop of all that gorgeous, rich life. His life.
He waited a second, then nodded. “You’re good, Shame.”
“Good? Come on, now. You know I am the best, Z.” I gave him a grin.
One eyebrow rose. “You’re all right.”
“The lies coming out of your mouth.” I pushed on the door. “I do not know how she puts up with you.”
“It’s a little thing called love,” Zayvion said so quietly I almost didn’t hear him. “Can’t run from it, can’t deny it.”
“Sure I can.”
“Now who’s lying?” he said.
We were in the main room. Warm. Smelled of breakfast food, bread, and pies or something sweet being baked for the afternoon crowd, with just a note of sausage or bacon.
The tables that lined windows and filled the high-ceiling and wood-beamed dining area were covered in dark green cloths, and centered with flowers. Chairs were wooden, floor was the original from when the old place had been a train station.
Sitting at one of the larger tables was the Overseer, Terric, Allie, and Victor.
“Morning, everyone,” I called out cheerily. “How goes the plotting and planning?”
“Good morning, Shamus,” Victor said.
Victor was old enough to be my father. I thought of him as my uncle, really. Gray haired, he wore heavy glasses that let him mostly get around on his own since he’d lost nearly all of his eyesight from the magical showdown before the apocalypse.
He had on a suit jacket, shirt, no tie. Looked like he was drinking tea. At his left was Terric, who gave Zay a look, then turned to watch me. Next to him was Allie, and she was beaming.
I didn’t know how I had missed it at the meeting just yesterday morning. But the woman glowed—literally. The life and, yes, magic, inside her was luminescent.
I gave her a big smile. “Al, you little vixen, you. What’s the good news, love?”
She pushed away from the table and walked right on over to me. Unafraid, that woman. She never disappointed. “Did Zay tell you?”
“He did. You’re going to be a mum, eh?”
She nodded, and the smile lit her eyes. “I am. How do you feel about being an uncle?”
“Over the moon.”
“Good,” Zayvion said. “How do you feel about being a godfather?”
That, I did not expect. “What? Are you joking?”
“No,” Allie said. “We are not. Would you be our child’s godfather, Shame?”
“Yes,” I said. “Of course. If you want me to be.”
And then Allie put her arms around me and gave me a hug.
Lord.
I clamped a fist around my hunger and put my arms around her like she was made of eggshells. I was determined I’d drink the life out of the building and every tree for an acre around before I so much as touched the life in her.
My heart slowed to a low, dragging beat. A beat I controlled.
Zay, just behind Allie’s shoulder, watched me. That look told me he’d take me down before I hurt her.
Good man.
She let go of me. Was still smiling as Zay stepped up and put his arm over her shoulder.
“We should celebrate,” I said, letting go of my control enough that my heart stuttered through a beat or two before it got its rhythm back. “Whiskey all around!”
“It’s six o’clock in the morning,” Terric said. “How about we have coffee and pie?”
“Spoilsport,” I said.
“What kind of pie?” Allie asked.
“For you and that godbaby of mine,” I said, “any pie you want.”
“I’ll see what they have,” Zay said.
And then he walked off to the kitchen, leaving Allie behind with us.
Correction: leaving Allie behind with me.
He hadn’t given me a higher compliment in years. It stilled me.
I would not let him down.
Allie and I walked over to the table and she took her place beside Terric, an empty chair on her other side for Zayvion, then Victor and the Overseer.
Eleanor floated over to her favorite perch in the dining room—the bar at the far end.
I sat off to one side of the table, putting as many chairs as I could between me and the living.
“Small group,” I noted.
“We’ve already spoken to the other Soul Complements,” the Overseer started. “So now it’s just the four of you.”
Zay came back from the kitchen with two pies in his hands. Set those on the table. Cherry and apple. Not a bad score.
He applied a knife to the apple pie.
“And what have the others decided?” Terric asked.
The Overseer shook his head. “I’d rather not say. If something happens, I don’t want any of you to have information that might harm the others.”
“So why have all of us here now?” I asked. “Do you expect me to cover my ears and hum while Zay and Allie talk to you?”
“Shame,” Victor said, “please. Show some respect.”
“All right: respectfully,” I said. “You do know we can hear each other?”
“Victor and I agreed it would be best,” the Overseer said. “Since you’ve all decided to stay.”
I turned my gaze to Allie. “Really?”
“This is our home,” she said. “And our home ground. If something comes our way, we know the place and people better than anywhere or anyone in the world. I’d rather fight or hide here.”
I didn’t have to ask Zayvion what he thought about that decision. His heartbeat was steady but hard, just a little too much adrenaline pushing through his veins. He didn’t disagree but he knew they were in for trouble. Fight. Flight. Maybe both.
And they had a baby to protect.
Hell.
Terric and I had already made our decision to stay put. Now there was even more reason to do so.
“Are you staying at your place?” I asked. “There’s room here at the inn if you want.”
“Thanks,” Allie said. “But we’re staying home. We’re close to the well of magic out there.” She nodded. “So we can access that pretty quickly if we need to.”
I didn’t ask her if they were accessing it because it was a powerful deposit of magic or because there was something about the St. Johns well that seemed to make healing with magic even easier. If they were hurt, being near that well might be the best for them. The best for Allie.