of this sorrow or grief again, but the thought of what Corb had wanted from me was gone, washed away. I could put him behind me, once and for all.
“Sorry.” I grimaced and tried to pull away from Crash, wiping ineffectually at the wet spots on his shirt. I wasn’t embarrassed, but I teetered on the edge of it. “I didn’t mean to slobber all over you.”
“Don’t go.” He tightened his hold on me as I tried to pull back, his gold-flecked blue eyes staring hard into mine. “Don’t go, Bree. Please.”
Well, who was I to deny a plea like that? I leaned back into him, letting myself sink into his warmth again. Letting my arms sneak around him. He gave a satisfied rumble that I could hear through his chest.
“Nemeth was helpful,” I said and yawned. “Thank you. Is Kinkly okay?”
“Kink is fine. She is an excellent spy, which is what she is doing now.” He paused, then added, “You asked for help?” The surprise in Crash’s voice was not lost on me.
“Am I that bad?”
I looked up, and he shook his head. “No, you aren’t. I’m just surprised you let him take you to Homer. He’s a scummy little pawnshop broker on the east side of the city.” Crash’s hands trailed up and down my back in gentle circles.
The motion of his hands was distracting me from his words. “No, he took me to Homer and Marge.”
His hands stopped quite suddenly. “He took you to the voodoo priestess?”
I looked up. “Yeah, but she was super helpful. She likes me, I think.”
“What did you give her?”
Crash’s worry infecting me, I sat up straighter and shook my head. “Nothing. I gave her nothing. I mean, I gave Homer a fifty-dollar-bill for his time. Why?”
He puffed up his cheeks and then blew out a slow breath. “You get away with things that would get the rest of us hung up by our toes. You were very lucky if you didn’t have to give her anything else. Like a lock of hair. She can make a voodoo doll out of anything, even a single hair would be enough.”
I gave him a dry look and once more made an attempt to raise a single eyebrow. Nope, it wasn’t happening. “Um, you do remember that I’m being accused of a murder I didn’t commit? I wouldn’t call that getting away with anything.”
He gave me a quick smile. “I know. I meant your luck with the rest of the shadow world. If I’d gone there, at the very least, she’d have tried to take something to make a voodoo doll of me.” His face paled rapidly as he looked me over, but I shook my head.
“I didn’t touch anything, and with the exception of Alan pissing her off—shocker, I know—it went fine. We man bashed and she warmed up to me real quick.” I shrugged. “I have a knack with pissed-off, disgruntled women. What can I say?”
Crash cupped my face with his hands, and I thought for a brief and giddy moment he was going to kiss me, but all he did was press his forehead to mine. “I won’t get in your way, but please be careful. I don’t want to say goodbye to you.”
I pulled back a little and summoned some of my new self-confidence. “You mean you want all the crazy I got going on?”
His lips twitched. “Are you saying that you forgive me for being an idiot?”
Hmm. I narrowed my eyes. “You told me why you turned away from me after your fight with the goblin king. What has changed?”
Crash didn’t let me go, didn’t back away from what had to be an uncomfortable question. “The reason is still there. I just realized that I would have to take the chance if I want you in my life. It really is that simple. No matter how much it makes me want to follow you around with bubble wrap, that isn’t going to happen.”
“Yeah, no.” I bobbed my head in agreement. “And the note you left? I probably have a screen shot of it in my head.”
He cleared his throat and gave a slow shake of his head. “That was the work of someone else. Who unfortunately you are going to have to talk to at some point.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want to talk to Karissa.”
“Wasn’t her,” he said. “But I think that should be a discussion for another day. Right now, I can feel the exhaustion in you and