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“What is it, Sev? I’m not reconsidering ending our partnership,” she warned.
“Okay, okay…we don’t have to talk about that then. But…” Sev ran a hand over his horns, trying to think what to say. “I have…a lot of questions about the last day we were in the PPP Dome,” he said at last. “About what happened after…after I got shot.”
“Oh…” Mia’s voice softened. “Yeah, that was pretty traumatic,” she admitted.
“For you as much as me, I’m sure,” Sev said. “Look, can’t I just come in for a minute and talk? Please, Mia…”
“Well…” She seemed to be hesitating. But at last she said, “Give me just a minute.”
The door slid closed and stayed closed for so long Sev was just beginning to think she wasn’t coming back when it finally opened again with a soft hiss.
Mia was standing there in the doorway, wearing a truly enormous bathrobe. It was made of some thick, fluffy green material and looked like it would fit a person twice her size. She tugged the collar of the robe close around her neck and crossed her arms over her chest protectively as she stared up at Sev.
“You can come in, but just for a few minutes,” she told him. “And I’mnotprepared to talk about our partnership.”
“All right…okay…” He held up his hands in a gesture of truce. “Can we sit down?”
“Come into the living room.”
Mia ushered him into the living area of the suite where there was a big puffy overstuffed couch that looked like it was made for three of four people to share. Sev wondered if they’d put her in a Twin Kindred suite by accident, which was made for two huge warriors and their female mate.
There was a fire in the fireplace, its gold and blue and green flames licking upwards and the glows in the corner were all muted. Also, it smelled to Sev like someone had sprayed what the humans called “air freshener” all over the place—a horrible, artificial scent pervaded the room, making him wrinkle his nose with distaste.
Mia padded barefoot through the dim room and wedged herself securely in the far corner of the couch.
“You can sit over there,” she said, indicating the opposite corner. “Not too close.”
Sev frowned. What in the Seven Hells was going on here? What was she trying to hide with the dim lighting and the stinking air spray and the thick bathrobe? He didn’t know but he was sure thatsomethingwas going on—he just had to find out what it was.
“So…you wanted to know about when you were shot,” Mia reminded him. Clearly she wanted to get the conversation over with.
“Oh, yeah…what happened?” Sev shook his head. “I don’t remember anything.”
Mia pinched the bridge of her nose, as though she was trying to drive back a headache.
“It happened so fast. The Prophet pointed his blaster at me but you…” She swallowed hard and Sev heard a dry click in her throat. “You pushed me out of the way and took the blaster shot in my place.” She looked up at him with haunted eyes. “Youdied,Sev! You were gone for at least ten minutes!”
“But what happened while I was gone? And what brought me back?” Sev asked her. “You never told me.”
There were a lot of things his partner hadn’t told him, he thought—things he needed to find out quickly or he was going to lose her.
“Well…” Mia recounted the sequence of events that had happened while he was “dead”—Sev still thought of it as the time in the dark tunnel.
“So the Prophet really was brought down by his own Concubines?” Sev asked. “I thought you were joking about that.”
She shook her head.
“No joke—they were pretty pissed off at him after hearing that he’d murdered most of their husbands and kept them from their children. It will all be in my official report. You can read it later if you want.”
“I don’t want to wait until later,” Sev told her. “I want to talk about itnow. What brought me back?”
“Not what…who.”Mia’s voice had dropped to a whisper. “It was the Goddess herself, Sev. The Kindred Goddess—she spoke to me and told me to put my hand on your chest. And then I felt this…” She swallowed and he heard the dry click in her throat again. “I felt thisrushof power.” She shook her head. “I’ve never felt anything like it in my life. And then you opened your eyes and started asking questions.” She shrugged. “And that was that.”
“No, that’s not that. I can’t believe it was the Goddess who healed me! She’s the one who told me to come to you, you know that? She told me you were in danger,” Sev said.
“She did?” Mia’s eyes widened and she gave a dry little laugh. “You know, after I left the sect, I decided I was agnostic—maybe even an atheist. Because believing there was no God was the only way I could deal with all the shit they put on me there. But now…” She shook her head. “I guess I can’t think like that anymore.”
“The Goddess is real—she used us to help each other, tohealeach other,” Sev said softly. “Don’t you think there must be a reason for that, Mia? Don’t you think we belong together? Not just as partners—asmorethan partners,” he added, hoping he wasn’t pushing too far.
