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“Oh?”
Cade smiled as he pulled out his wallet, leaving enough cash on the table to cover both our meals. I almost protested, wondering if him paying for my meal made this an unintentional date, but then thought better of refusing a free meal.
“I want you to help me destroy a hotel.”
Chapter Four
I wasn’t above doing some property damage.
I often left a little wreckage in my wake, whether I intended to or not. Such was the case with blowing through towns on the tail of the weather.
But wreaking some havoc for kicks? That was a distinct pleasure I didn’t often get to indulge in.
We dropped my car off at the motel, and I paused to check on Fen. A bored fennec could do a lot of damage in an hour’s time, and I didn’t feel like paying off a pricey repair bill. Instead of a disaster, though, I found the tiny fox dozing placidly between the hotel pillows. He didn’t stir when I poked my head through the door, so I left my purse behind and let him be.
“I can drive,” I offered again. When I’d first made this suggestion back at the restaurant, Cade had laughed at me.
This time he smiled and said, “I’ve seen you drive. No thank you.”
Was he implying I wasn’t a good driver? “Rude.”
“What can I say, Sparky, I like my body parts all where they are. And more importantly, I like all my car’s parts where they are.”
“I’d be more likely to hurt you than the car. I like your car.”
I didn’t argue about driving anymore though. He held the passenger door open for me, a surprisingly chivalrous gesture. His coat sleeve hiked up on his arm, showing the faintest glimpse of tattoos at the wrist.
All chosen cleric had birthmarks. They were symbols of the gods that looked a bit like black-ink tattoos.
Mine was small and easily hidden under my hair. Cade’s were a different story. I’d only once seen him without a jacket, and even then he’d been wearing long sleeves, so I didn’t know how covered he was, but I knew he had tattoos on both forearms that I suspected went all the way up.
Anything else I’d need to leave up to my imagination.
Seeing the sliver of orange, blue, and green on his skin was like accidentally stumbling onto
a secret. It was also strangely intoxicating, tugging at my curiosity and making me want to take the jacket off so I could see what he was hiding.
He was a puzzle I’d never been interested in assembling before, and now that I wanted to, I was missing the cover.
Cade cleared his throat, and I realized I’d been staring. I climbed into the Charger’s passenger seat and buckled up.
Silence swelled in the car as we drove out of town and back onto the winding mountain roads I’d so recently navigated at high speed. I’d like to see Cade call my driving skills into question once he’d witnessed that Formula One-level control.
Or perhaps he’d heard about said skills from someone else and that was why he didn’t trust me.
I sank back into the seat, trying to relax, and used the quiet time to glance over at him. In profile he had a warrior’s presence. His jaw was firm and square, dusted with stubble. From this angle, his broken nose had a striking intensity, making him look like a warlord king.
Chewing on my thumbnail, I decided it might be best if I looked out the window instead.
“I saw Prescott at the hospital,” Cade said, breaking the tension with his quiet, gravelly voice.
Husky. That was the word for it.
“What did Living Dead Boy have to say for himself?”
Cade exhaled sharply through his nose, in what I could only assume was a stifled laugh. He composed himself quickly and said, “He told me about your altercation.”
I cast a sideways glance at him, attempting to read his expression. Inscrutable as always. “Did he call it an altercation?”
