He touched my hand again, gently stroking my skin. “We’re finished with the forensic exams on Sophie’s body. Do you know what sort of arrangements she’d want?”
I closed my eyes again, reaching out for her with my mind, wishing she could tell me what she wanted. Wishing she was still here so that we wouldn’t have to make this decision at all.
“She didn’t have any family,” I said. “Just me.”
“There’s no ‘just’ about it, Gray. Sophie was very lucky to have you.”
I didn’t really know what to say to that. I used to think Sophie and I were both lucky that our paths had crossed, that we’d become such inseparable friends. But if Sophie had never met me, she might still be alive. Twerking in someone else’s living room, my life all the poorer for never having known her light, but she’d still be here.
Yanking myself back from the precipice of those pointless thoughts, I said, “I’m not sure what the rules are when someone isn’t a relative.”
“Don’t worry about the rules,” Emilio said. “I’ll take care of that.”
Despite the heaviness of the moment, I laughed. “I never thought I’d hear you say that, Detective Alvarez.”
“Don’t tell anyone. Especially not Ronan. I’ll never hear the end of it.”
My smile faded. “Sophie never talked about her wishes. I mean, there are always risks living in the Bay, working late nights in the warehouse district. But we’d always taken care of ourselves. Until that night in the alley with Bean, I’d never had any real problems.”
But when I finally did, they’d followed me home to Sophie. To the other witches in the Bay. Now that I knew Jonathan was behind the murders, how could I not blame myself? He wouldn’t have ended up in the Bay if not for his vendetta against me.
The hole in my heart started to burn as the Sophie-sized ache turned to anger. Grieving for her was like walking on a knife’s edge—despair at her death on one side, raw fury at her murder on the other. I never knew where I’d end up on any given day—only that it cut deep either way.
I didn’t want to think about the murder right now. About the hunter and his vampire bitch who’d poisoned her. I wanted to think about her life. What she stood for. What she would have wanted, and what kind of place was beautiful enough to serve as her final resting place.
“Sophie always wanted to see the mountains,” I said, grateful for the warmth of Emilio’s touch. For his understanding. “She used to talk about planning a big hiking trip for us to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. I’d like to take her there one day, when all this is over. I think she’d like that.”
As if to confirm, the card in my pocket warmed again.
“That sounds like a beautiful tribute, Gray.” Emilio laced his fingers through mine.
“How do you… I mean, I guess we need to have her cremated, right? God, then I need to figure out how to cancel her cell phone and close her bank accounts and stop her mail and make sure her bills are paid and… I don’t even know where to start with all this.”
“You just did, Gray,” Emilio said. “I’ll make the arrangements with the funeral home. After that, we’ll just take things one day at a time. What else can we do,querida?”
I sat up on the blanket, wrapping my arms around myself. Emilio was right. We were never promised more than that—one day was all we ever had. What elsecouldwe do?
Emilio sat up next to me, placing a comforting hand on my back and offering a deep smile that swept the gloom from the corners of my heart.
I returned it, already feeling lighter.
“Should we save some brownies for the demons?” he asked, his eyes twinkling with mischief.
Now it was my turn for the mask of abject horror. I leaned across his lap and grabbed the pan from his other side, my spoon at the ready once again.
“Just because I don’t want Asher to suffer doesnotmean I’m interested in sharing my brownies.”
Emilio winked. “I didn’t think so.”
“As far as I’m concerned, those demons are on their own tonight.”
Emilio didn’t even hesitate before picking up his spoon. “Fair enough,querida. Fair enough.”
Fifteen
RONAN
“Get out.”
