“It’s okay. My ways are different, even if ultimately it all goes back to the same source.”
Brownstone’s face hardened with frustration. He needed to learn this lesson, that no matter how powerful he was, there were some problems he couldn’t solve.
Shay said nothing. As a woman still adjusting to the idea of even having real friends and helping them out, she didn’t know what to say.
The Drow princess placed a gentle hand on the bounty hunter’s shoulder. “I can see that this worries you, but don’t blame yourself. You’ve punished the people who have done this to me, and you saved my daughter. That’s all I could ask or hope for in this horrible situation.”
Brownstone averted his gaze, no quips coming to his mind for once.
Nicole looked at Shay with a sly smile. “I see so much now that I’m using my full abilities once more.”
Shay frowned. “Like?” She didn’t like the sound of that at all.
She smirked. “Even now your heart is choosing, and there isn’t a damn thing you’re going to be able to do about it when it is finished.”
Fuck, like mother like daughter, huh? I’ve got to say something. Brownstone will get the wrong idea. Just because I helped him raid a gangster hideout and kill dozens of people and think he’s pretty badass doesn’t mean much of anything. Not really. Not even because of his abs.
Shay narrowed her eyes. “Not to be rude, but what the hell are you talking about?”
Brownstone shot Shay another glare.
Stay out of this, Brownstone. This is a chick thing.
Nicole stepped toward him, though she kept her focus on Shay. “I’m going to make it easier for you to choose.” A mischievous smile appeared on her face.
The Drow threw her arms around his neck and stuck her tongue down his throat.
Shay blinked hard several times. This time she couldn’t deny the fire flaring inside of her. It was pure jealousy. It didn’t help that Brownstone didn’t push the dying woman off right away.
Fuck you. Is it that I’m not old enough? Oh, Shay, you’re only twenty-seven, and I only date chicks over two hundred.
Shay loudly cleared her throat in irritation.
Nicole’s hold on him slackened, and she collapsed. Brownstone grabbed her before she hit the ground and she shuddered, her eyes unfocused. A seizure wracked her.
Shay’s irritation collapsed under her concern. A woman was about to die in front of her, and she didn’t have it coming.
“Come closer,” Nicole said quietly. “I have something to tell you.”
Brownstone lowered his head near her mouth. “What? Is there anything I can do?”
Nicole whispered something to him.
His eyes narrowed. “What the hell?”
She continued whispering, touching him gently on the chest.
Brownstone furrowed his brow. “You don’t know me. I’m a bad man. The only thing that has ever truly loved me was a dog, and I couldn’t even keep him from getting killed by the Harriken. I’m a monster, and the only reason I’m tolerated is because people need me to fight bigger monsters. You can’t trust me, and you shouldn’t trust me.”
She weakly patted him on the chest and continued whispering.
Nicole coughed up blood and said something else Shay couldn’t make out.
“You can’t…”
Brownstone stopped as a black mist began to rise from Nicole’s body, as it slowly grew lighter and less substantial as the mist continued to rise. He held onto her until there was nothing left of the woman except a torn and bloody hospital gown.
The black mist slowly floated into the sky. From afar a person could easily mistake it for the plume of smoke from the burning house.
It was over. Shay could ask Brownstone what Nicole had said… later.
Shay walked over and touched his arm. “Brownstone let’s get the fuck out of here. We’ve done what we can, and at least everyone involved has been punished. Sometimes vengeance is all you can achieve.”
He nodded slowly, still staring after the black mist as it rose to the heavens.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Shay glanced at Brownstone as she drove to her place. They’d stopped over at Alison’s house to take care of her father. She’d not been so satisfied with a kill in a while.
Brownstone had been quiet after that other than explaining that the kiss was about transferring the wish to him. He was now the custodian of the legacy of a Drow princess. So much for his simple life.
He then drove to church before they headed back to get her car and head to her place. Shay almost snorted at the thought.
She wasn’t sure what she believed about God. In a world with so much magic, it was hard to deny anymore there could be a supernatural creator of everything. She also doubted he’d have an issue with Walt Anderson checking out early to chill with the man downstairs or reincarnate as a dung beetle.
Shay didn’t know what the priest told Brownstone inside the church, but she didn’t like the brooding regret on the bounty hunter’s face.
She glanced over at him. “I don’t know what crawled up your super-armored butt, but shit happens, you know, Brownstone. You have to shake it off. This can’t be the first time something’s gone south for you.”
“My life went south from the beginning.”
“I mean, look, we both have our issues, but you did the right thing back there, and you’re doing the right thing with the girl. And you got revenge for both the Anderson women.”
“I wasn’t supposed to get revenge. I was supposed to bring Nicole back to her daughter.”
Regret. Shay understood that far too well, but she also understood the way it could grow and strangle you until nothing but the regret remained.
Shay shook her head. “We were both supposed to bring her back, but we didn’t make it in time. That’s the cold reality. You got some time magic in your warehouse, Brownstone? Otherwise it doesn’t matter, and beating yourself up over it isn’t going
