his slippered feet.
“Enan,” I murmured.
I tried to keep from scaring him, but he jumped anyway. He slapped a hand to his chest as his eyes darted around. When he caught sight of me, he let out a slow breath.
“Always showing up out of nowhere. I swear you're trying to kill me,” Enan grumbled, but the crooked smile was at odds with his tone.
“Not yet,” I quipped. “Remember when I asked you for one more? Well, I'm here for that. What payment do I owe you?”
He began shuffling forward again and waved his hand around. “You don't owe anything. You prepaid with the extra medicine last time. Let me grab it.” His voice trailed off.
He dug through a couple of small boxes on his workbench, shouting when he finally found it. His yell turned into a hacking cough that faded quickly.
He held the bracelet in the air and said, “Here it is. Now, who is the recipient this time?”
I stepped to the side, revealing Grace. Enan gasped, bowing a little at the waist. A grimace crossed his face, and Grace rushed over to him, her wonder forgotten.
“I apologize. I'm not as spry as I once was,” he confessed, gawking at Grace as she helped him to his chair.
Without having any contact with the souls of Hakkon, she wouldn't understand him, so I translated for her. She nodded once, then laid her hands on his bare skin.
Her glow returned, covering her, and he sucked in a sharp breath. With nothing else to do, I wandered around the room, poking at things until Enan snapped, “No touching.”
His voice sounded more energetic, not like the wavering, thin thing he had used. I spun with a smile on my face.
“Seems I brought you a better payment this time.”
He looked much healthier and seemed to sit straighter. The feebleness that clung to him previously had disappeared, leaving an old but strong male in its absence.
“That you did,” he replied, eyeing me suspiciously.
“Now, can we get on with this? I'd like to grab at least a bit of sleep if I can.” I strolled over to them.
He looked to Grace, and a goofy grin appeared before he nodded. “You'll have to tell her what my instructions are,” he warned.
I shrugged. “Fine with me.”
Enan prepared his workspace, cleaning both it and the strip first. When he finished, he glanced up at me and pulled down the lenses that allowed him to view the tiny parts.
“This is so much fun,” Grace practically squealed.
For now. Let's see what you think when he's cutting into you.
“Place your arm—the one with the device—on the cloth,” I instructed.
Enan hummed and sprayed her wrist with what seemed to be more numbing spray than he had given any of us. The rest of the procedure went well, except for Grace's many, many questions. When he finished, she stood, hugged him, and danced over to me.
“Now I have one, too,” she nearly shouted as she shoved her bracelet in my face.
I smiled, pushing her arm down. Then I turned to Enan. Busy cleaning up, he didn't see me, but he still asked in a grumbling voice, “Well, what do you want?”
“Just making sure that you don't need anything else.”
“No,” he said much more softly as he peered up at Grace. “I believe I owe you this time.”
I let it go and bid him a farewell before switching forms. Grace followed suit and disappeared. Being invisible didn't stop her enthusiasm, though. She zipped ahead of me, pausing at an odd monument. After pointing, she hurried towards their version of an eatery. It was little more than a slot in the wall, but she bent over to peer inside. Before we left, she'd darted all over the city, exclaiming over everything.
She waited with me, watching as I retrieved a soul, my excuse for being there. After dropping it off at the soul soup, we traveled back to the unit and readied ourselves for bed.
With all of us having a way to turn off our tracking, a slight weight lifted from my shoulders as I crawled across my mattress. It did little in the grand scheme of things, but it was one less thing that could be used against us later.
You'll still fail.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Axton had given up his room, and he'd slept with me, but that wouldn't be a viable long-term plan. We'd have to figure something out for him. But before that, we still had plenty of work to do. It was finally time to begin finding any