Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
If you get in my car, then you’ve just
won a free ticket to see me live and in concert.
—True story
“It’s a coffee shop. Talk to Charley. She’ll get you across.”
“Thank you,” Dora said to Amber. Quentin watched them, but they were sitting in front of a window with a large, orange sun behind them. It was so bright he could only see their silhouettes. “I’d like to say goodbye to my family. Would that be possible?”
“She’ll help you with that, too.”
“Thank you for everything, Amber. I wish I could hug you.”
Amber clasped her hands at her chest. “I do, too.”
“Take care of him.” Dora gestured toward Quentin just as he saw the IV and realized where he was.
He bolted upright. He could not be in a hospital. Not with how fast he healed.
“Quentin!” Amber said. Dora disappeared, and Amber lunged at him. “What are you doing? Lay back.”
“I can’t be here,” he said, pushing at the blankets.
“Relax. We’re in my apartment. We have a lovely doctor who’s…friendly to our cause. She came over and got some blood into you since you decided to ditch what you had in Madrid. And now, she’s just trying to rehydrate you.”
He sank back onto the pillows.
“You good, boss?” Kyle asked from the doorway.
“I am. Thank you, Kyle.”
When the man glanced at him, Quentin nodded a greeting. Kyle offered him a sheepish smile and disappeared. The nerd had come through. If not for him, the day could’ve ended badly. Or, well, worse.
“So,” Amber said, tugging her Betty Boop comforter tight again, “the Vatican is looking into the website. They’ve already taken it down and are searching for the person who started it.”
“And you know this because…?”
“I contacted them. Using your phone, of course. I told them what happened with the demon and gave them your two-weeks’ notice, starting two weeks ago.” She sat beside him on the bed and felt his forehead, her fingers cool against his blistering skin. She’d braided her long hair and wore a T-shirt and boxers as if she were just getting ready for bed. Or waking up. She looked as fresh as morning dew either way.
“How long have I been here?”
“Only a few hours. You weren’t kidding. You heal fast. I was just getting ready to get some sleep when my mom called. She’s bringing over soup.”
He winced. “Does she hate me?”
Amber cupped his face. Ran her thumb over his unshaven jaw. Looked at him like he’d hung the moon. If she only knew how wrong she was. He could only imagine how bad he looked. She didn’t seem to care. “She could never hate you. My stepdad, however, is a little miffed.”
“Great.”
She laughed softly. “They love you, Quentin. Nothing will change that.”
“And you?”
She swung her legs up onto the bed and sat cross-legged. “What about me?”
He chuckled, then asked in alarm, “Wait, how did you get me here?”
The grin she flashed him stole his breath. “Remember Hawaii? Steve?”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope. We owe that man dinner. Or possibly a small island. He helped me get you to the truck and then drove my car while I drove you.”
He shook his head. “Why?”
“Apparently, he is a fan of the supernatural.”
“Nice. What about the Tavern?”
“I’m still waiting to hear. We got out of there pretty fast, but the whole town heard the commotion. We’ll probably get a bill any day now. Or arrested. It’s hard to say.”
His gaze traveled the length of her. “It’ll be worth it.”
Amber watched as he took her in, giddy about the fact that he even wanted to. After all this time, Quentin Rutherford was back in her life. But she didn’t want to make a big deal about it, to pressure him, so she changed the subject. “I can’t get over how well you know English now.”
“Rune. Yammering in my head ad nauseam.”
“Was it just me, or were you embarrassed to speak to me at first?”
“I was, yes.” He looked away. “I don’t sound right.”
She brushed a lock of hair off his brow. “You sound perfect.”
“But you can still tell I’m Deaf.”
“You can still tell you have hearing loss. Is that bad? I mean, you used to speak a word here and there all the time. You were never embarrassed before.”
“I’d never heard my voice before.”
In her head, she said, You mean the panty-melting, bone-dissolving, orgasm-inducing voice that she would never grow tired of hearing ? Out loud, she said, “Oh, I see.”
“You called it Q&A Investigations.”
“What?” She was still on the panty-melting portion of the program.
“Your business. You named it after the business we started in high school.”
“I did. It seemed appropriate.”
“Amber.” He took her hand. “You could’ve become anything. Why are you a PI?”
“What’s wrong with being a PI?”
“Nothing. It’s just… You’re so smart.”
“You thought I would become a doctor or a lawyer or something.”
“Something like that.”
“I had a calling. What can I say? I wanted to follow in Aunt Charley’s footsteps.”
His gaze landed on her mouth and stayed there. “When is your mom going to be here?”
“Probably any minute.”
“How much time do you think we have?”
“Probably not much.”
He nodded in disappointment.
“No,” she said, snuggling beside him, “I mean, we should hurry.”
“Oh. Right. Okay, then.” He sent a hand under the waistband of her boxers.
“Wait,” she said, stopping it from reaching the motherland. “What does Rune do when you…when we…you know?”
“Shouldn’t you have thought of that before?”
“Hardly the point.”
He filled his lungs. “I won’t lie to you, Amber. He’s kind of a part of it.” When she only stared at him, he sank back onto the pillows. “I don’t even know where I stop and he starts anymore.”
She couldn’t imagine how he felt. To have something inside you that could take control like that. And she’d sicced Rune on him. Forced Quentin to stand down.
“I don’t blame you if you don’t want to have sex ever again.”
“Please.” She propped herself up, gazed into his eyes, and then delved into his mind. “Rune, look away.”
Hundreds of thousands of Rune-ians—Rune-ites?—turned away from her in unison. “Wow, did you know the citizens of Rune all have these long, curved spikes on their backs?”
“Yeah, I don’t care,” Quentin said, right before attacking.
He really did recover fast.