Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World #1)(59)

“But Rissa . . . ?”

“She’s hurting, but she’ll be fine. Mom stitched the wound, but she said whatever Kai did for her out there with that field dressing, well, it sped up the healing. She’ll be up and about in no time.”

Kai’s face wrinkles in concern. “I still think she needs a prayer done.”

Clive shakes his head. “Let her rest first. A body needs sleep before you go burning tobacco at them.” He’s on his feet and coming around the coffee table with a goofy grin, ready to drape an arm over Kai and me. I slip out of the way before he can touch me, but Kai lets him wrap a meaty bicep around his shoulders. “And I wouldn’t push it on the drinks, Rabbit. My mom’s grateful you saved my sis’s life and all, but nobody drinks for free. But, tell you what. First round’s on me.”

Kai grins. “You coming, Mags? Being a hero sure works up a thirst.”

I blink. It’s like I can hear them talking, laughing and joking, but there’s a distance between us that I don’t know how to cross. “No. You go. I’m going to get some sleep.”

“C’mon, Maggie,” Clive pleads. “One round. And you can tell me how you got so fast with that badass knife of yours.”

I grimace, and Kai, his eyes on me, tugs Clive toward the door. “Give her some time, Clive,” he says. “She’s not used to being a hero.”

Clive grumbles a little but allows himself to be led off. “I’ll drink one for you, then,” he calls over his shoulder as the two of them head out the door.

I wait until I hear them cross the yard and I catch a brief burst of noise, music and laughter, as they open the back door to the All-American, and then silence. Only when I am sure that I am all alone do I drag myself down the hall to one of the spare rooms. I pass Rissa’s sick room on the way and peek in. She looks like she’s sleeping peacefully, not at all like she was trying to hold her insides together just a short hour ago. Not for the first time today, I marvel at Kai’s skills.

The bed in the guest room is narrow and plain, but the sheets are clean and smell like summer and the pillow is a cloud beneath my head. I don’t even bother to change out of my blood-spattered gear. I just shrug the shotgun holster off my back, slide the Glock under my pillow, and fall into bed. I hear the door creak open and I crack an eye to see Grace’s tabby cat sneak into the room and hop up on the bed before the door swings closed again. I don’t have the energy to remind her that I’m a dog person, and she curls up by my feet, purring contentedly.

For once, I have no problem falling asleep.





Chapter 26


I wake up just in time for dinner the next day.

“Dinner?” I ask incredulously as Grace pokes her head in the door to call me to the table.

She chuckles. “You aren’t the only one. Clive’s only been up half a minute, but then he and your boy closed down the bar with the sunrise. Didn’t stop him from doing those morning prayers for my baby, though.” She’s got that rag back in her hand and she slaps it against her hands, shoulders shaking with mirth. “That fella of yours is something. A real charmer.”

I sit up and rub the sleep from my eyes. “Yeah? You’re not the first one to think so.”

“And a dancer.” She lifts her arms like she’s got a partner and does a turn around my room. I’ve never seen her like this and I’m forced to reconsider everything I know about the woman.

“Kai danced with you?”

“And everyone else in the place last night,” she confirms. “Such a charmer.”

“Yeah, you said that.”

She can tell I’m not as amused as she thinks I should be, and she drops her arms to her hips. “Well, come to dinner. The least I can do is feed you after all you did for my twins.”

Kai, Clive, and Rissa are gathered at the eat-in kitchen table, loud and laughing and heaping food onto their plates. My stomach rumbles at the smell of carne adovada. I wonder where Grace got the meat, but then she’s probably one of the richest people in eastern Dinétah, with the gun running and the liquor business.

“Monsterslayer!” Clive calls good-naturedly. “Come join us. You missed a hell of a party last night.”

“So I hear.” I slide into the free chair next to Rissa. I notice she’s got a bowl of clear broth, not any of the red chilé-coated pork that smells so amazing. I give her a nod, and she nods back.

“Your boy here is a beast!” Clive says, boisterous as a puppy.

“Oh?” I reach for the serving spoon to serve myself. There’s yeast bread too, and I take a chunk and run it through the chilé sauce, sopping up the goodness.

“Yeah, you should have seen—”

But I’m saved from what I should have seen as the front door flies open, slamming against the wall with a boom. Clive is halfway out of his seat and reaching for the gun strapped to his hip when Freckles’s head pops through the front door. “You guys still chowing down?”

“Come in and eat,” Grace calls to her youngest son. “I made something special for our guests.”

Freckles tilts his head to the side. “There’s someone here to see Maggie.”

I freeze with my food halfway to my mouth. My eyes dart to Kai. Who would be here to see me?