Page 38 of Damien’s Mate

Good question. “She didn’t say. I think she’s leaving that part up to me. What do you think I should do?”

Lila frowned, thinking. “What are your talents? Besides stealing and shooting people, I mean.”

Not a lot. “Um. I can cook. I bake the world’s best brownies. And I can carve wood.” He gave it some more thought, and came up with nothing. “That’s about it.”

“You could open a combination bakery and furniture store.”

He laughed. “I’m sure that would be a big hit.”

Lila fell silent, dropping her hand to touch the metal case, as if it reassured her.

Damien said, “I’ll keep your secret, Superkitty. I won’t tell them about the artifacts.”

“Promise me,” she said. Her voice was getting blurry, and he could tell she was slipping into a doze.

“I promise.”

She smiled as she drifted off.

He said softly, “I hope you get what you’re looking for.”

But she was already asleep.

Chapter 15

It was after midnight when they made the turnoff to Farville, Kentucky. Lila was still asleep—Damien had stopped and reclined her seat all the way back so she could get some real rest. He kept the radio low so he could hear her breathing.

It was hard to tell in the dim light if she was better, but he told himself she was.

The road to Farville was a two-lane ribbon of asphalt completely closed in by trees, their naked limbs arching over the road in a shadowy spiderweb. The darkness was absolute—the quarter-moon had dropped behind the trees and there were no other lights.

No houses. No streetlights. No nothing.

Just… nature.

Humans were not meant to live with this much nature.

It seemed like an eternity before they made it to the actual town. Damien was hoping for some bright lights, but Farville was about as big as a postage stamp, and looked like the sidewalks had been fucking rolled up and put away for the night. Even the café was closed; there was one bar open on Main Street but business didn’t exactly seem to be booming.

He followed the GPS out the other side of town into… more nature. “I hate fucking nature,” Damien muttered. Nothing but leaves and bugs and rabid squirrels and shit.

Whatever he decided to do after Lila was better, he wasn’t staying here.

His mind shied away from thinking about that, the way it had this whole trip. Because once she was healed, she was gone.

He understood better about that now. All her dad had ever asked of her was this one thing—for her to return the artifacts. He’d withheld everything—a real home, a family—promising them to her as a reward for giving up her life.

He hoped it was worth it, but even if it wasn’t, she couldn’t turn back now.

What he still didn’t understand was why the thought of her leaving made him feel so empty inside. They barely knew each other. It was an emptiness that even Vic Salzano’s three hundred and twenty large couldn’t fill.

He’d always figured that someday, when he got a big score, he’d have it made. He’d be on top of the world, no more problems, no more worries.

He could maybe find that woman to grow old with, to have all those kids and grandkids with.

And now, after knowing a certain shifter woman for only twenty-four hours, his big score had lost its shine, and so had the dream. Lila had fucked with his head, and even after she left, it was going to stay fucked.

He could feel it.