Page 126 of Grim Tidings

“Darcy—” Gabriel warns.

Gideon looks at me, really looks, his chin tilted down as he peers at me from behind his glasses. Curiosity lightens his features. Makes him look younger.

“My magic,” I blurt. “You can have my magic.”

“Darling.” Gideon’s smile is conciliatory. “I have quite enough of that.”

He takes another step toward Nate, and I stumble, trying to stay between them.

“My—my memories,” I offer. “From when I was human. I know they’re valuable to the Department of Déjà Vu. You could use them to barter for something.”

Gideon doesn’t so much as falter, walking with purpose toward Nate. “What would I barter for?”

“I don’t know. A corner office. A fiddle-leaf fig.” I dart around a gravestone. “Some soft lighting. You said the fluorescents wash you out.”

A shadow of a smile flirts across his face. “You were listening, were you?”

“Take my memories,” I beg. “Let Nate go.”

Nate, who is trying to scale the wall with limited success. I cut in front of Gideon and block him with my body.

He sighs, unamused. “They’ll want more than your human memories. They’ll want them all. It’s so rare for an immortal to grant access to their mind.” He closes the space between us, lightly touching my temple with his fingertips. His hands are cold, his touch unnatural. It sends shivers down my spine. “Perhaps I could even get two fiddle-leaf figs.”

Gabriel’s arm loops around my waist with a growl.

“Don’t touch her,” he warns, fury in every syllable.

I try to fight my way out of his grip, but Gabriel tucks me tighter against his chest. “Stop it,” he says against my ear. “Stop what you’re doing, Darcy.”

I ignore him and keep my eyes on Gideon. “Take them. Take whatever memories I have. I don’t care.”

But it’s another lie stacked on top of all the rest. I do care. I care very much. Before, when I made my peace with sacrificing myself, I had the comfort of knowing I could think of Gabriel whenever I wanted. How his eyes squeeze shut when he laughs. The way his curls look when he has his face buried in my pillows. The brush of his fingertips against the curve of my hip and the way he’s always so warm.

The olive branch on the inside of his elbow that is somehow a perfect match to the stained-glass window in the church I went to as a girl.

All these pieces of him I thought I’d get to keep. All of them, gone.

Gabriel’s arm tightens around me.

“No,” he whispers.

“Gabriel, I have to—”

“No,” he says again. Gideon is watching us carefully. Like we’re a carefully tended to experiment, behaving outside the lines of his carefully constructed hypothesis. “If you need something to call it even,” Gabriel says, tipping his chin up at Gideon, “you can take my wings.”

My face crumples and I go limp in Gabriel’s hold. “You can’t,” I whisper.

“Just fucking did,” he whispers back. His nose nuzzles against the back of my head. “You still don’t get it. I’d let them take it all if it meant I got to keep you.”

A sob hitches in the back of my throat and I furiously try to stop it from leeching out. This isn’t how it’s supposed to work. I’m supposed to give what I have and Gabriel is supposed to keep what he’s earned. Nate will live a long and beautiful life, and I’ll finally have done something redeemable. Something good, to make up for all the bad.

“I have some Kit Kats if it sweetens the pot,” Aelia offers, tossing her bag of candy at Gideon. He catches it against his chest with a wince. “Also, I’m happy to go hunting through town for whatever bag of bones looks like they’re on the edge of death. Spare my girl Darcy over there.”

Tater Tot gives an enthusiastic bark in agreement. I glance at Aelia in admonishment, but her baby blues are wide and fearful. She inches closer, reaching for my hand with hers. For the first time in all the years I’ve known her, she looks her age.

“While it seems I am spoiled with choice…” Gideon holds up the pillowcase between thumb and forefinger, frowning at it. He sets it down by his feet and brushes his palms against his thighs. “I’m afraid we are right where we began. You need to claim a human soul, Darcy. These are the rules I am meant to enforce.”

“You don’t want my memories?”