to secure it.
Correction: I would probably have to do something I desperately did want to do but was afraid to do to get his help.
But I was out of options. And almost out of time.
The rain had started up in earnest, the wind plucking several of the newly turned leaves to the ground. I’d called the impound lot and found out that Bill had somehow sprung his ride. He was out there on the streets tonight, unaware of what would happen. Was my echo self with him?
The hourglass was still in my pocket. For a moment I considered using another trip to go back a few hours and hogtie my teenage self until the crisis passed. But that would mean one less trip for me to right a great wrong.
“Meow.”
I looked down to see Puck sauntering up the steps. She rubbed up against my ankles, tail sticking straight up, back arched. “Have you seen young Joey, Clara?”
“She can’t answer you, lamb.” Robin appeared as though pulled from the darkness itself. “This version of her can only speak with me. And I have stronger control over her actions. Her autonomy grows by leaps and bounds after the turn of the century. She can understand you though.”
I recalled the way he’d closed his eyes, the way the cat had come streaking into the cabin to fight the copperhead. “You summoned her earlier, didn’t you?”
He nodded. “The same way you just summoned me. The bargains we make bind us to each other mystically. What’s wrong?”
I petted the cat, unable to look him in the eye. “Everything. I’ve gone missing again. My echo self I mean. And I haven’t a clue where I would be.”
Robin leaned against the porch railing. “Don’t you?”
I let out a breath. “Maybe. I just don’t want to admit that my, the other me, is so desperate that she would go after Bill Tucker even after what happened earlier.”
“Humans always think they know themselves better than they actually do. You pushed and now she’s pushing back.” For once he didn’t sound condescending, more resigned.
I was silent for a moment, letting that sink in.
“What can I do?” He prompted.
A slow breath escaped. “I need your help to find me.”
“You know the price for my help.” Sapphire eyes glowed in the darkness. “Ask and we’ll strike a bargain.”
I swallowed. “I don’t want to bargain.”
At his raised brow I added. “I want to kiss you because I want to. And I want you to help me because you want to. No tricks, no trade, no price. Just basic caring and human decency.”
“An oxymoron if ever I heard one,” he scoffed.
A growl escaped my lips and I muttered, “Don’t be a jerk. I have had my fill of them today.”
“So, you admit you want to kiss me then?”
I didn’t see any point in denying it. “Yes.”
He unfurled from his casual pose and stalked closer. “And what makes you think I want to help you?”
“Because you could have been curb-boosting me all day. You gave me little trips around town and stayed with me, even when I lashed out at you. And you defended young Joey when I would have made verbal mincemeat out of her. I think you are invested in the outcome of my journey. I think you want me to succeed.”
He shook his head. “Lamb, you are delusional. I live only for the bargain, whether it succeeds or fails.”
“Then why do you want me to kiss you so badly?” I held my breath, waiting for his answer.
His eyes glowed in the dim light. “I couldn’t say.”
I wondered if that meant he didn’t know. At first, I thought he just wanted to push my buttons, to make me squirm since that was the fae prince’s MO. But I was beginning to believe that Robin was hanging around with me, not because I was one of his bargain biddies, but because he actually liked me.
As much as I liked him. While I’d paced and fretted and thought over all that had occurred, I’d come to the conclusion that yes, I did harbor feelings for Robin. Friendship and the first tinge of heat that came with sexual interest. He was beautiful and interesting and he made me laugh, made me feel desired.
Those budding emotions had gotten hurt when I found out that he was planning to move on to Ursula. That I would be cast aside like dirty laundry when all this was over. The understanding didn’t change the fact that I craved his kiss,