Trail of Lightning

Chapter 25

Kai and I pull the bike through the gates of the All-American, and Freckles, whose name I still don’t properly know, waves us through with a thumbs-up and a goofy grin.

“Guess that means Rissa is still alive,” I say over my shoulder to Kai. He makes a little humming sound against my back, which sounds a lot like “told you so.” I breathe deep through my nose and feel a giddy sense of relief. For all Kai’s assurances to the contrary, part of me was sure we’d come back to a grieving mother and another death to lay at my feet.

I pull the bike up next to its partner, which is parked by the front steps of the trailer. I notice smears of bloodstains on the console. If I didn’t know Rissa was already okay, it would be a sorry omen.

Kai slips his hand into mine and gives it a squeeze. I’m so surprised, I don’t do anything but let him hold on, his palm dry and cool against mine. He gives me a wink before he lets go to open the door and let me enter first. I steel myself for the tongue-lashing I am sure Grace has ready for me, and it’s nothing I don’t deserve. Her twins trusted me. I was their leader, and it was my job to get them in and get them out safely, and I failed.

It occurs to me that Grace may do more than yell at me. She may throw me out, and for all that Rock Springs feels like another world, we’ve only been gone from the All-American a handful of hours. We still need a safehouse for the night, and it looks like I just blew it.

Clive and Grace are seated on the sofa, the lavender one with the flowery print. He’s got his mom’s small hand wrapped up in his big one, and huddled close together like that, they look so much alike that I pause. He may have gotten the red hair from his father, but those apple cheeks and mouth are all Grace. It’s obvious she’s been crying, and she dabs at her face with a tissue that’s replaced her bar rag for now. She looks up when I enter, gives me a look I can’t quite read before she stands up. My eyes shoot to Clive, trying to get a heads-up from him on what to expect, but he’s a blank page.

Grace comes toward me around the coffee table and I tense up. She lifts her arms up and opens them wide, and I brace myself for the blow. But instead, she does the damnedest thing. She wraps her arms around me and gives me a hug.

I stand there, stupefied. Frozen like a deer in the headlights. It sounds pathetic, but I can’t actually remember ever being hugged. I’m sure my nalí did, but that was four years ago if it was a day. Neizghání? That thought makes me laugh. But here is Grace, she of the big talk and the little stature, holding on to me like I mean something.

I let her hug me because it’s the polite thing to do. And I may be in shock. She finally lets go and holds me out at arm’s length, big eyes wet and shimmering. Then she turns to Kai, who has come up beside me, and does the same to him. He’s not an emotional cripple like me, so he relaxes and wraps his arms around her in turn. She holds him for a minute too, before she lets go and straightens up to face us both.

I was expecting the worst, but now I have no clue. Even so, I am stunned at the words that come out of her mouth.

“Your debt is paid to me, Maggie Hoskie. In perpetuity. You and Kai are always welcome in my home for as long as you want.”

My eyebrows shoot up and my jaw drops. Kai murmurs a thank-you for both of us. Grace sniffs and dabs at her eyes before she comes around me, briefly touching my shoulder as she passes, and heads out the door. I hear it firmly shut and then the stairs of the porch creak as she heads back to the bar to finish up the night’s business.

Kai shuffles his feet beside me and I turn. He’s got this bemused look on his face. “I wonder if that means we drink for free?”

Clive’s laughter bursts through the room. Kai flushes and grins along with him and soon they’re both cracking up, but I still can’t get my head around what just happened.

“She’s not mad?” I finally manage to ask.

“No,” Clive says. “By her thinking, you saved both our lives. If you hadn’t been here with the intel on the monsters, the two of us would have gone alone. Tried to shoot those things, and you saw how well that worked. We were figuring that without you, we’d both be dead about now.”

“But Rissa . . . ?”

“She’s hurting, but she’ll be fine. Mom stitched the wound, but she said whatever Kai did for her out there with that field dressing, well, it sped up the healing. She’ll be up and about in no time.”

Kai’s face wrinkles in concern. “I still think she needs a prayer done.”

Clive shakes his head. “Let her rest first. A body needs sleep before you go burning tobacco at them.” He’s on his feet and coming around the coffee table with a goofy grin, ready to drape an arm over Kai and me. I slip out of the way before he can touch me, but Kai lets him wrap a meaty bicep around his shoulders. “And I wouldn’t push it on the drinks, Rabbit. My mom’s grateful you saved my sis’s life and all, but nobody drinks for free. But, tell you what. First round’s on me.”

Kai grins. “You coming, Mags? Being a hero sure works up a thirst.”

I blink. It’s like I can hear them talking, laughing and joking, but there’s a distance between us that I don’t know how to cross. “No. You go. I’m going to get some sleep.”

“C’mon, Maggie,” Clive pleads. “One round. And you can tell me how you got so fast with that badass knife of yours.”

I grimace, and Kai, his eyes on me, tugs Clive toward the door. “Give her some time, Clive,” he says. “She’s not used to being a hero.”

Clive grumbles a little but allows himself to be led off. “I’ll drink one for you, then,” he calls over his shoulder as the two of them head out the door.

I wait until I hear them cross the yard and I catch a brief burst of noise, music and laughter, as they open the back door to the All-American, and then silence. Only when I am sure that I am all alone do I drag myself down the hall to one of the spare rooms. I pass Rissa’s sick room on the way and peek in. She looks like she’s sleeping peacefully, not at all like she was trying to hold her insides together just a short hour ago. Not for the first time today, I marvel at Kai’s skills.

The bed in the guest room is narrow and plain, but the sheets are clean and smell like summer and the pillow is a cloud beneath my head. I don’t even bother to change out of my blood-spattered gear. I just shrug the shotgun holster off my back, slide the Glock under my pillow, and fall into bed. I hear the door creak open and I crack an eye to see Grace’s tabby cat sneak into the room and hop up on the bed before the door swings closed again. I don’t have the energy to remind her that I’m a dog person, and she curls up by my feet, purring contentedly.

For once, I have no problem falling asleep.