Heart's Redemption (MxM)

Chapter 33 ~ Ian

On the return to the lodge, Toni rides with me and Sam in my truck while Carlos goes with Jack and Elliot. It's a tense, uncomfortable trip, with Sam squeezed as close to me and as far from Toni as he can get.

For her part, Toni looks out the window, chin resting on her hand, not saying much except to comment on the landscape and the weather. We've almost reached our destination when Sam voices what's been bothering him since she showed up.

"Are you still in contact with Karin?" he asks. "Did you tell him where I am?"

She looks surprised by the question. "No, and no," she says. "Since...that day at my shop...all I've cared about is finding Carlos. I wasn't 'in contact' with Karin in the first place—I don't truck with necromancers. I'd just picked up word he was after you, and that he'd pay good to get you back. I saw an opportunity and tried to take advantage of it. Now that I understand a little better, I'm sorry I did."

Sam is quiet a moment, his hand unconsciously sliding up and down my thigh, and I cover it with my own to make him stop.

I'd prefer not to crash my truck, even if I do have a mechanic riding in the cab.

"Did you really think Karin could help you find the demon that killed your sister?" he asks.

She glances at him, the lines around her mouth deepening slightly. "To be honest, I don't know. I just..." She lets out the rest of her breath in a huff and stares out the window. "I'm not getting any younger, and I'm worried about Carlos. His...ability...didn't used to be so strong, or so dangerous. In the last few years, it's become harder to control. I'm afraid that if the thing that killed Sonja ever comes back..."

Sam's brow crinkles. "You don't look that old," he says. "Why worry so much?"

She gives him a wry, half smile. "Forty-five is old for a Slayer," she says. "Even for one who doesn't Slay. My grandma made it to eighty-three—died in her sleep—but just about everyone else on that side of the family didn't live past fifty. When you're out to get things, things try to get you back."

"Can you blame them?" Sam returns with a slight edge on his tone.

Toni doesn't seem offended. "I suppose not," she says. "I was raised to view demons and the like as 'the enemy'—as intruders in our world who don't belong. I guess my perspective needs some updating."

My truck bumps and jolts as I turn on to the unpaved road leading to the lodge.

"My dad once told me the definition of a weed," I say. "He said a weed is simply a plant growing somewhere you don't want it to grow. By that logic, even roses could be weeds, if they popped up where you don't think they belong. Your opinion doesn't make 'em any less pretty, though."

"You're right," Toni admits. "My family spent generations making enemies. Maybe they'd've lived longer if they'd tried making some friends."

As we pull up in front of the lodge, I check my phone and see a missed call that must have come in while I was out of the service range. It's Dane Hunter's number, and as the others get out I stay in the cab and call him back.

He answers on the second ring.

After exchanging perfunctory greetings, he gets to the point.

"I did some digging on Inez Walker," he begins.

"Actually, I have good news about that," I interject, and tell him about Inez's unexpected reappearance, as well as finding the burned car and the possible human remains inside.

"Well, that's something, I suppose," he says, "but I still think you're going to want to hear what I found."

"Okay, shoot," I say when he doesn't go on.