Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Stupid stupid stupid stupidstupidstupidstupid!
Amara shot out of the cave, through the double doors, and galloped up the stairs like there was a horde of zombies behind her. Which would have been preferable to the horde of Gray behind her.
La Croix jumped when she burst into the kitchen, then closed the fridge and beamed. “Just the avatar I was looking for. If you don’t mind terribly, I should like to watch you eat something delicious.”
“Private chat now.”
“I am, as ever, at your serv—ouch.”
“A long-overdue private chat. C’mon, you.”
“I am delighted, despite the fact that your nails are sunk into my tricep like claws.”
“Crybaby.”
She leaned in and . . .
She leaned in and . . .
Stupid! She leaned in and did something really, really stupid!
She pulled La Croix into the wine cellar off the kitchen, all but slamming the door as he sighed, his gaze sweeping over dozens and dozens of bottles, everything from a Markus Huber Reisling Eiswein, made by harvesting and pressing frozen grapes at night, to (urgh) frosé.
“I will not deny I find your urgency intriguing and worrisome.”
“Why were you late to breakfast? And why’d you leave after breakfast?” she demanded. “And where did you go? And why are you back now?”
La Croix paused before answering. “Such behavior is not unusual for me. I am often late—everyone will wait, after all—and I rarely linger. You have loudly commented on those habits.”
“Really? Because when you intrude into my life, you often linger. It’s one of your more aggravating traits.”
“What can I say? I live for the company of your family. The compassion, the generosity of spirit, the vast—”
“Stop it.”
La Croix snickered. “In this case, I wished to visit some of my people. Brave souls who left the love and light of their homeland to live on the tundra.”
“Sometimes people move, La Croix. Live with it.”
For that she got an ostentatious shudder. “Their choice, of course. But I refuse to live anywhere ‘wind chill’ is a factor in my day-to-day life. That was not my only task, however; I was also needed to assuage some concerns. Apparently some of my people have gone missing.”
“So you left to chat with your worshippers?”
“I prefer ‘followers.’”
“Not better, La Croix.”
“Why the interrogation? And where is friend Gray?”
She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his mouth . . .
A stupid stupid stupid stupid kiss!
And then he . . .
And then he . . .
“He’s busy,” she replied shortly. “I needed to talk to you in private.”
“Wonderful to hear. Dare I inquire if you finally have tender feelings for me? Or anyone?”
“What? No.” She’d ruined what she had with the only person she had tender feelings for, and there was only so much tenderness to go around. “Why do people keep assuming that? So you hung out with your followers and just now came back?”
“Yes, to check on your father and see if your dear mother needs anything. Again: Why the interrogation?”
“Never mind, I’ve got everything I—”
“Amara Morrigan.” The wiseass grin disappeared as his tone dropped at least ten degrees, and though he hadn’t moved, he loomed over her, a good trick since he was three feet away. “Answer my question.”
Amara took a few seconds to respond. I’m so used to dismissing him as a jackass, I forget he can be a formidable jackass.
“Something’s not right,” she admitted. “And not just with my father. I think a person or persons might be doing this to him.”
La Croix frowned. “That is . . . an extraordinary accusation. For what purpose?”
“That’s where I keep getting stuck.”
“And who could do such a thing?”
“Same problem. I’d think only Death can kill Death, but I might have that wrong.”
La Croix studied her for a few seconds, opened his mouth, paused to consider, then said, “I was late because I did not get the invitation in a timely manner.”
“Understandable, since you’re the worst.” Bitchery aside, Amara didn’t like the sound of that at all. Why wouldn’t her mother want all the support she could get? “My mother’s under immense pressure. I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt—”
“As did I.”
“—and put it down to stress. I mean, you drive me nuts, but my folks always liked you. No reason to cut you out.”
For that, she got another one of his mocking bows.