Indigo(102)

“—and then I’ll bring in some state and federal contacts. Not only is this story going to be big, it’s going to lead to a ton of arrests and save lives.” Sam coughed and winced at the pain it caused him. “Are you … I mean, this story is really yours, Nora. You sure you want to give me all of this?”

She dragged a blanket off the arm of the sofa and draped it over her legs. “You take the parts that you were already investigating. I’ll cover the cult and the core story about the kids they murdered. I owe that to those kids—to Maidali Ortiz and the others. If I’d gotten my memories untangled sooner…”

Averting her eyes from him, she leaned over and picked up her coffee mug again. The open window let in the crisp, refreshing air of fall, and the chill felt cozy and good, but still she wanted the warmth of the coffee and the blanket and being here with Sam. Maybe she didn’t deserve it, but she wanted it nevertheless.

“You did all you could,” Sam said quietly. He nudged her with his elbow so that she would meet his gaze, then he held her with his frown. “Don’t be like that, Nora. You went deeper into darkness than anyone ever has, and you found light there. You’ve done so much good.”

She let the gaze linger a moment longer than was comfortable, even for them, then she looked away.

“Good news about Symes,” she said.

“Yeah? The dash-cam video exonerated him?”

“That and street-surveillance video. The footage clearly shows him being attacked by Angela Mayhew and having to fight back to protect himself and a civilian—”

“Who is you—”

“Who is me, yes. Fortunately anything that looks particularly … shadowy … has been blurred so much you can’t tell what’s going on there.”

Sam raised his coffee mug in a toast. “Here’s to Indigo, then. How’d you pull that off?”

“Just the way it is. There are surveillance cameras all over this city. Indigo never shows up as anything more than a dark blur or a bit of smoke.”

“I’m sure that’s come in handy more than once.”

Nora nodded slowly. “The important thing is that Symes will get off. There will be questions for me, no doubt. Symes tells me one of the investigators is already trying to tie me to Indigo, since I was in the car, but we’ve got our story together. Indigo saved me, whisked me away through the shadows, the same way she brought him to the hospital.”

“It’s weird that you keep talking about her like she’s not you. I mean, you told me already. Why keep doing that third-person thing?”

Nora glanced out the window, smiling softly. “It’s a beautiful, sunny day, Sam. Peaceful. Your hula girl’s dancing in the kitchen window. There’s a time for me to be Indigo, but this isn’t it, and when I put her away, I like her to stay there, at least for a while.”

“Fair enough. But speaking of putting things away…”

She held her coffee mug in front of her like a shield. Took a sip. Stared at him over the rim. “You want to talk about Damastes.”

“We don’t have to.”

“I don’t mind, I guess. Not much to say. I put him in a box and hid him away where he won’t be found, and I feel lighter for it.”

The coffee seemed to have revived Sam a bit. He shifted on the sofa and didn’t look quite so pained this time. “So you put the genie back in his bottle, but how long does that last?”

“Forever, if I can help it. And I think I can.”

“And while he’s there, you still have access to his power.”

Nora nodded. “To the darkness, yeah. I’m still Indigo. Stronger and more controlled than ever, learning new skills, understanding how all of this magic works. Xanthe is helping.”

Sam studied her thoughtfully, then reached out for her hand. Nora held her coffee mug in one hand so that she could take the comfort he offered. Their fingers laced together, solid and familiar.

She didn’t tell him that sometimes she could still feel Damastes in the shadows within her. Why worry him unnecessarily? Nora didn’t want to tell Sam because then she would have had to explain. She couldn’t hear Damastes voice, and it wasn’t as if he might influence her or break free, only that she could sense him there. What she sensed was his fury. Fury and despair. And it made her smile.

Sam tugged gently on her hand. “Hey. So, I’m in pain and it hurts if I move a lot, but otherwise I’d be putting the moves on you right now. Y’know, turning up the charm, blasting that seduction wattage.”

“Excuse me, ‘seduction wattage’?”

“Oh, yeah. Fifty thousand volts.”

Nora snickered. “And somehow electricity metaphors are sexy?”

“Wait, they’re not?” Sam looked stricken.

Nora finished the last of her coffee. She moved to put the mug back onto the coffee table, but Sam didn’t let go of her hand. Nora felt her heart quicken a bit and turned to look at him.

“What I’m saying, in my incredibly sexy way, is that if you promised to be careful not to hurt me any more than necessary, I might be persuaded to let you kiss me.”

Nora’s mouth had gone dry. She wetted her lips, lifted his hand, and kissed the big bruise on the back of it. Then she extricated herself from his grasp and pushed aside the blanket, stood and faced the sofa.