Dark Champion (Flirting with Monsters #4) - Eva Chase Page 0,19
gave me another of those unreadable looks he kept a collection of. “I’d imagine you’re shadowkind enough to survive the trip, but I wasn’t planning on making an experiment of it just yet. There may be something about your hybrid energies that would alert the Highest if you ventured into their realm. I was thinking you’d fly over the traditional way, with the incubus to smooth over matters of tickets and passports, and we’ll meet up on that side. That way we’ll have our living space and transport wherever we have to go rather than starting over from scratch.”
That made sense. Before the unicorn shifter and centaur who owned the Everymobile had lent it to us, we’d been going through vehicles like a squirrel went through nuts. Although generally those nuts didn’t get blown up. It was awfully handy having a place to crash—if you needed to sleep, like I did—and to hold meetings in and so on that could be on the road at the same time.
And I wasn’t in any hurry to make my first foray, however brief, into the world of shadows.
“I approve of that plan,” I said, and nudged Ruse. “Can you hook us up with first-class seats?”
He grinned. “Hooking up is my specialty.”
Even though that sounded delightful all around, Thorn’s frown had deepened. “Perhaps I should also accompany Sorsha, to ensure…” He trailed off with unusual reluctance.
“I’ll be fine,” I said, and hugged Snap to me once more before easing away from him, since I knew the devourer was even more likely to worry about letting me out of his sight. “They’ll need you to toss the Everymobile through the rift. It’s not as if the Company of Light will be searching every airplane to Paris for me. Omen’s friend isn’t going to expect his people to be traveling the human way.”
“Again,” Omen started. “She isn’t—"
I waved him off. “I know, I know, she’s not your friend. Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.” But Thorn didn’t appear to be at all reassured. I cocked my head. “Is something else bothering you? You know I look after myself pretty well.”
Who would have thought his frown could get even deeper? For a second, he looked adorably awkward—at least, as adorable as a musclebound giant of a man could look. “It’s no matter, m’lady,” he said, starting to turn away.
Oh, no, he wasn’t getting away with that non-answer. Thankfully, I’d been around Thorn enough to know exactly how to break through his stoicism. I marched over to him and tucked my hand around his elbow. “A word with you in private, my good sir?”
Even though I was teasing him a little, he couldn’t resist the formal politeness of the request. “As the lady wishes,” he said, and for once strode off with me to the edge of the parking lot without glancing at Omen to confirm the boss was all right with the delay. Interesting. Maybe their skirmish back in my prison room had left more fault lines in our alliance than I’d realized. I didn’t think that was necessarily a good thing.
When we were far enough from the others that they wouldn’t overhear us, I turned to Thorn. “All right. What’s the matter? And don’t tell me nothing—I can tell something’s eating at you.”
He grimaced and looked at the ground. “It doesn’t need to concern you.”
“Sure it doesn’t, but I’m concerned anyway. And I’m not letting it go until you spill the beans, so you might as well speed things along by getting right to that part.”
He gave me a glower that was as fond as it was exasperated. Then any trace of humor in his face faded. “In the canyon. You forced an end to our fight—you gave yourself up.”
“Well, seeing as it was either that or watching you two tear each other to pieces…”
His jaw clenched. “I would have managed to get you free. I struck out at the one I swore to serve to ensure it. But you… you were willing to stay caged? To let the Highest do with you what they will?”
Ah. I could see how that idea might not sit well with him.
I rested my hand on his arm. “I didn’t like the idea of facing the Highest. I just liked the idea of you or Omen—or both of you—dying instead because neither of you would back down even less. They’re not going to stop looking for me, and I’ve made myself a hell of a lot more visible in the last few weeks, so