The Thief (Black Dagger Brotherhood #16)(77)

“Anything?” Ehric asked as he went over and sat at the table.

“Not yet.”

“Your grandmother is still sleeping,” he said as he rubbed his face. “We were very quiet.”

“I’m glad.” Sola paused by the stove. “I worry she’s on her feet too much, although good luck trying to get her to lie down.”

“We will ensure her list of groceries is filled,” Ehric murmured. “At nightfall, and not before.”

“Good plan.”

As Sola resumed pacing in her socks, Evale started going through the cupboards.

“Can I help you?” she offered, even though it wasn’t her kitchen. And she wasn’t a cook. And she didn’t know shit about anything at the moment.

“I am looking for the peppers.”

“The stuffed ones? They’re in the fridge.”

“No, the little ones—ah, yes. Here.”

The guy took a package over to the counter, and she didn’t pay much attention until he started to put something in his mouth— “No!” she barked, throwing her hands out. “Stop!”

Assail’s cousin froze with a ghost pepper just about to drop in a piehole that would never be the same. “What’s wrong?”

“Put that down and wash your hands! That’ll make you sick!”

He frowned and regarded the shriveled piece of hotter-than-evil. “Are you certain?”

“It’s a ghost pepper—you want to handle them carefully. They’ll burn you from the inside out.”

“I had them last night.” He popped the thing into his mouth and started chewing. “I like them.”

Sola couldn’t move for a moment. But then she exploded for the refrigerator, grabbing a carton of whole milk and diving for a glass in the cabinet. There was a delay between when the peppers were taken on a oner like that, and if she could just get him to spit the stuff out and start rinsing with the milk, they might not give Doc Jane another patient to treat— Sola wheeled around only to go statue.

Evale was looking at her with pleasant curiosity as he chewed—like he couldn’t understand what she was getting on about, but he liked and respected her enough to give her space to be weird. And then he put a second into his hopper.

“Hit me,” Ehric said from where he was sitting.

In response, Evale pivoted and tossed a ghost pepper across the room, tagging his brother right in the mouth.

Sola stood there with the glass of milk and played an ocular tennis match between the pair of apparently-indestructibles.

“Let me see those,” she said, holding her hand out. “No, I don’t want to touch one, I want to see the package.”

Maybe she was confused—nope. As she got a close look at the label on the cellophane bag, it had all the appropriate warnings on it. Except maybe they were duds, like ammo that had failed or something?

A quick sniff and she found they smelled as awful as they should. Still, she took one out with her fingertips and extended her tongue. She knew better than to do a test with a full-on chew—and if she hadn’t needed a distraction, she wouldn’t have bothered with the verifying.

She took a lick. And waited— “Oh, my God!” Bending down, she coughed. “How in the world—”

“Are you finished with them?”

As Evale put out his hand, she gave the package back and hit the milk. And while she was trying to calm down all the HOLYSHIT on the tip of her tongue, he and Ehric proceeded to dust the peppers one by one.

And then they snagged the other package in the cupboard.

“I do not understand how you guys can—”

Doc Jane and Assail came into the kitchen, and Sola tried to read their expressions.

“Cousin,” Ehric said, “would you care for a—”

“No, no.” Sola stepped in between the two. “He’s good without the ghost peppers. Right? You’re good. Yup, maybe later, thanks.”

“What are you guys eating?” Doc Jane asked offhandedly.

“These?” Evale showed the package. “They’re quite delightful.”

Doc Jane nodded. “Vishous loves those. Eats them like candy.”

Sola could only shake her head. “You guys are amazing.”

Then she refocused and met Assail’s eyes, searching for an answer. When he gave her a wink, she wasn’t sure what that meant.

“Well, I’ll head out now.” The doctor put a backpack on. “Manny will be here after nightfall, and I think we’ll have Ghisele come out to—ah, help my partner with the exam.”

Abruptly, a pounding anxiety rumbled through Sola, the storm of bad energy rattling her so badly, she forgot the burn that was still on her tongue.

“I’ll walk you out, Doc Jane,” she said as she headed for the rear door.

“No—”

“Not that way—”

“Garage—”

The three men all spoke at the same time, with greater urgency than she’d thrown at the Great Ghost Pepper Non-Incident.

“Sorry,” she said. Security concerns, of course.

Doc Jane put an arm around her. “Let’s go this way.”

As they headed off, Sola was aware of Assail staring after them, his moonlight eyes intense. But then his cousins were talking to him, and he stayed back in the kitchen.