There was a hesitation, an indrawn breath. “Then?”
“Then I’m coming after yours.”
I yanked the door wide, and the blast that came, slamming it shut, was not a killing blow, but one meant only to shock, to stun. It didn’t even do that.
He’d pulled his punch, I thought, and smiled to myself. And that was all the power I needed for now.
“Later, Pops,” I said, and walked right out of the Gauntlet, and Valhalla. Into a new day. Into the morning. Into the light.
Hunter stood on the Boulevard, waiting as I cleaned myself up at the bottom of the long, ornate fountain leading up to the casino’s entrance. Vanessa had followed us to the hotel despite Hunter’s warnings, and he’d given Warren over to her care. They were now, presumably, someplace safe and undetectable until dusk and the time of crossing came again.
I sensed no one around us, neither Shadow nor Light, and after Hunter assured me again that the security cameras didn’t reach this far, I pulled the shield from my head and handed it to him. I ran my other fingers through my damp hair.
“Joaquin got away,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
I lifted my face to the sky, breathing deeply of the morning air. “It’s all right. I’ll find him again. I have his scent locked in my brain now.”
“And vice versa,” he reminded me as we turned away from the hotel.
I shrugged, feeling a residual ache echo through my right shoulder. “Either way. Next time I’ll be ready.”
“Yes.” His voice sounded almost tender. “I believe you will.”
I glanced over at the man who was so dutiful he’d been willing to sacrifice himself for us all. His appearance hadn’t altered, but now that we’d shared the aureole, and tasted of one another’s souls, I was seeing him differently. For one, I knew his single-mindedness was a fear-induced response, as was his frightening composure. And while I didn’t know what a man as capable as Hunter had to fear, at least now I knew he felt something beneath that calculating facade. Maybe I’d learn more in time.
“Sorry about your head,” I said, after a moment.
“You apologized before you hit me, remember?” He rubbed at his skull. The swelling was already gone, however, so I didn’t feel that bad. “I guess you were expecting someone from the hotel to find me knocked out at the bottom of that elevator before I ever came around, right?”
“That was the plan.”
“Lousy plan.”
How was I supposed to know he’d already taken care of the security tapes? “Well, I couldn’t let you give up your entire life for me. Besides, we need someone on the inside.” I paused. “My mother would have wanted it.”
He didn’t answer for a moment. We both knew I hadn’t done it for my mother.
“Well,” he finally said, shuffling his feet. For the first time since I’d known him, he looked uncomfortable. Not quite at ease in his gorgeous skin. “Thank you.”
I looked down the street, smiled to myself, and asked softly, “Your daughter. What’s her name?”
“Lola,” he said, just as quietly. I had a feeling he rarely spoke of her at all.
“Ah, that’s Lola,” I said. For some reason, I’d assumed the woman he’d first spoken of in the dojo—the one no one else knew about—was his lover.
“Yours?”
I looked at him. The light from the morning sun set his dark hair to glow from behind, and he almost looked haloed. “I don’t have a daughter.”
“You do.”
I shook my head. “I don’t. I—”
He cut off my protest with one simple, jarring thought. “Our lineage is matriarchal.”
My blood pooled in my feet, and my thoughts drained from me on an escaped breath. “Oh, shit…”
I’d had a girl child. She was now in her first life cycle. “Oh, shit,” I said again.
“Don’t worry about it now. We’ll figure it out—”
I panicked at that, shaking my head hard, then harder. “No one can know. No one does know! And you can’t—”
“Shh,” Hunter put a steadying hand on my shoulder, and I fell silent. “I said we’ll figure it out.”
I swallowed hard, then nodded as I stared at my feet. He was right. There was time yet. I’d figure out what to do—Hunter would help—and I’d find a way to keep my secret as well. I looked back up at him, gave another small nod, and when he smiled back it was almost as if I were seeing him for the first time. A tendril of hair had come loose from his back knot, and after a moment I reached up to tuck it behind his ear. My fingertips skimmed his warm cheek, the delicate folds of his left ear, trailing down his neck. I remembered the softness of his lips, the way they’d yielded beneath mine; and I recalled the memories that were a part of this fierce, complicated man. And, I thought, were now a part of me as well.
“Thank you again,” he said, covering my hand with his own.
“You’re still welcome,” I said softly.
“And don’t ever do it again.”
I peered up at him. “Can we go back to the thank-you part?”
We both smiled at that, momentarily at peace with the hand life had dealt. We were like cats bathing in the morning light, reveling in the freshness of the day as we took inventory of our body and limbs, each of us genuinely surprised, and nearly giddy, at being alive.
That was how Ben Traina found us. Stretching, smiling, happy. I sobered quickly when I saw him. “What are you doing here?”
“Whatever happened to ‘Hello’?” Ben said, looking amused. He looked better than when I’d last seen him. Still too thin, but not reeking of desperation, and no longer quite as wild-eyed. I tried to read his aura, but I was too spent from my time in the Gauntlet, and all I saw was Ben.
“Hello,” I said. “What are you doing here?”
My voice was too sharp, the query inappropriate, but he was too close to Valhalla and its still-fresh horrors for my liking. Certainly too close to me. I shuttered my expression and emotions before anything telling could leak out.
“You must be Ben,” Hunter said, covering for me in the ensuing silence. Ben looked down at the hand stretched before him.
“That’s right,” he said after a moment. “Traina.”
“Hunter. Lorenzo.” They shook, civilized-like, sizing each other up. Hunter inhaled deeply. I cleared my throat in warning, which merely amused him.
“In answer to your question,” Ben said, turning back to me, “I heard reports of something strange happening here this morning. Some sort of power outage or explosion or something. Thought I’d come down and check it out.”
“Back on the force, then?”
He shook his head, one quick jerk. “One of the guys called me in. They know I’ve been…interested in this place for the last few months.”
So he was still looking into my death. Looking for answers he didn’t even have the right questions to. I didn’t know whether to be alarmed or gratified.
“Anyway, I don’t want to keep you guys. You’ve obviously been up all night. Just come from a concert or something?”
“Or something,” Hunter said with a smile.
Ben nodded absently, then leaned in to politely kiss my cheek. “Olivia.”
The air sparked, crackling between us. We both jerked back.
I shook my head. “Whew. Lots of static electricity. Must have been some explosion in there.”
“Yeah.” Ben rubbed at his mouth before backing away, frowning. “Well. See you later.”
I bit my lip and watched him walk away.
“Static electricity?” Hunter said after a moment. I smiled, as he meant me to. “More like chemistry, I’d say.”
“It’s merely sensory-evoked nostalgia,” I told him, turning away. “Micah explained it to me. Ben’s scent is connected to pleasant memories, and my brain’s limbic system is reacting to those memories. That’s all.”
“Uh-huh.”
“It is,” I said, but glanced up to hold his eyes with my own. “The only chemistry Ben Traina ever felt was with and for my sister. Joanna.”
Hunter trailed his eyes over my face, his eyes hooded again, his expression unreadable. “Well,” he finally said. “She must have been quite a woman too.”