Stuck with the living in a no-kill zone. Good times.
Dash had somehow talked Sunny into actually trying the food and was talking to her quietly in the corner of the kitchen while they both ate.
She leaned against the counter mostly watching me. I didn’t know what she wanted, but I knew the favor she’d given me.
Back a few months ago I’d killed Terric’s boyfriend. I hadn’t told Terric about it. I hoped I wouldn’t ever have to tell him, but if it came up, I wasn’t going to lie or defend my actions. Jeremy had been a grade-A asshole. He’d hurt Terric.
I’d taken care of that problem.
But Sunny had helped me track him down and had kept her mouth shut about it.
So yeah, I owed her.
I grabbed a beer and strolled into the living room.
Terric was helping Allie move the gifts into the nursery, and I found myself standing around with my hands in my pockets.
Eleanor pointed at a couple of pastel bags left by the couch and pointed at the stairs.
“Fine.” Anything to make this parade move a little faster.
I held up the bags as Allie walked back into the living room. “Want these somewhere?”
“I can take them.” She reached out for the gifts and I took a step back. Her touching me was a bad idea right now.
“I got it. Nursery’s upstairs, right?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Are you okay, Shame?”
“Why?”
“You’re helping.”
“Funny. I’m aces, love.”
“Upstairs, on the left.”
I passed Terric coming down the stairs and ignored his raised eyebrow at the baby gifts in my hands.
Hall, wooden stairs, dark wooden railing. There were a couple of pictures of Allie and Zay on the wall, and an antique table on the landing. Left, second door down to the nursery.
It was a small room, painted a soft yellow with white trim. A couple of wooden birdhouses were attached to one wall, and the shadows of swallows in flight winged across the ceiling. A painted tree anchored the far corner, and sitting out on the branch of the tree was the silhouette of a gargoyle with his arm and wing around a child.
Eleanor floated in and pressed her hands over her smile. She loved this stuff.
It was . . . amazing, really. Like a little world where nothing bad could ever happen.
I hoped that was true. I hoped this kid would have a much better life than any of us. But as long as there was magic in the world, I didn’t think that could ever be true.
Wooden floor, wooden dresser, wooden crib. A pile of stuffed puppies—no, hounds, at least three dozen of them probably given to Allie from the Hounds themselves—was artistically stacked on top of Stone, Allie’s pet gargoyle, who held very still in the corner.
He burbled when I came in.
“Hey, Stoney, you big dork. You been keeping an eye on Allie and baby Beckstrom?”
He was roughly the size of a Saint Bernard, big round eyes, pointed ears, wings on his back. He sat on his haunches, peoplelike fingers wrapped around wolflike back feet. His gaze shifted from me to the floor just in front of his feet.
A pink puppy about the size of a plum lay on the floor.
“You want this?” I bent, picked up the puppy.
Stone hummed, a sort of harmonious vacuum cleaner sound. I grinned and walked up to him.
“Hold still.”
His eyes followed my hand as I slowly raised the stuffed toy and balanced it on top of the other two puppies already on his head between his ears.
I could practically feel him shiver in pleasure.
“There you go, buddy. You look fierce.”
He pulled his lips back away from a collection of teeth that would make a shark jealous.
I put the gifts down on the rocking chair as quietly as I could so as not to spoil the peace of the place somehow.
I turned.
“Hey,” Allie said. “How about that talk?” She stepped into the little room, and I stepped back so there was some distance between us.
“What can I help you with, Al?”
“I need to ask you a question.”
I spread my hands. “All ears.”
“Did you kill Brandy Scott?”
“Eli Collin’s Soul Complement?” I asked. “I thought the doctors said she died of a heart attack.”
“Her heart stopped beating.” Allie leaned against the crib and crossed her arms. “But she was under careful observation in the mental institution, Shame. Constant care.”
“And?”
“And you haven’t answered me yet.”
See, Allie knew how to get right to the point.
“She’s dead,” I said. “I don’t see that it matters how she got that way.”
“It matters to me.”
“Why?”
“Because I think you did it. Zayvion doesn’t think you’d be dumb enough to kill the only bargaining chip we had to get Eli and his boss, Krogher, to negotiate with us so we could get Davy and all those other people they’ve kidnapped back. But I think you did it because Eli killed Victor and Dessa. Am I wrong?”
“What do you want me to tell you, Al? I’m glad she’s dead, even though we lost the bargaining chip.”
“You killed her.”
I didn’t say anything, just stared at her.
She closed her eyes, then opened them again. “Hells, Shame. I can’t believe this. You know he’ll come for you. Eli Collins will walk right up to you and kill you in your sleep the first chance he gets.”
“Let him come,” I said. “I’d be happy to have a little heart-to-heart with him.”
“And that’s why you did it, isn’t it? You didn’t want to negotiate—you wanted to declare war.”
“He killed Victor,” I said quietly. “And Dessa. I’m not sorry Brandy’s dead.”
“Does Terric know?”
“I think this conversation has about run its course, don’t you?”
“So he doesn’t know.”
I hated that she could read me so well, but then, she’d been a Hound for years, and a damn fine one. Plus, she knew me pretty well.
“You and Terric should leave. Out of the country, somewhere safe.”
“Hold on,” I said. “One, I can take care of myself and so can Terric. We’re safe right where we are. Two, I didn’t say I killed her, I just said I’m not sad about her death, and three, you need to let go of this. Put it down completely, Allie. Eli was threatening to kill me long before Brandy was dead. If he wants to kill me, he is welcome to step up to bat and give it a swing.
“But I do not want you getting in the middle of any of this. You do remember he took a stab—literally—at Zayvion a few months back? He has technology to pop himself into any room anytime he wants, and he knows where you live.
“So listen to me, love.” I stepped toward her. “You are not to do anything to become a target.”
She shook her head and looked away from me. “I can’t just—”
“You can. Just.” I tipped my head to catch her gaze. “Do you understand how important it is to me that you stay out of this and keep that little godbaby of mine safe?”
“The baby will be fine,” she said.
“We don’t know that. You and Zay don’t know that. The plan of you two not using magic or breaking magic until little Beckstrom-Jones shows up is still the right plan. A couple months and you can be in this fight up to your neck if you want,” I said. “Until then, please, Allie.” I reached over, touched her hand. “Stay far, far away from this.”
Her eyes widened just a little at my touch. At the cold of it, the dead of it.
I pulled my fingers away and gave her half a grin. “Fine,” I said before she could ask. “I’m fine. My magic’s fine. It’s under control.”
She shook her head. “You think you’re good at it, don’t you?” she said as she walked toward the door.