Page 42 of Urzra

“It’s one of our names for a toilet,” she said in amusement.

He nodded, then ambled to the kitchen.Bria found a half-bath just down the hallway and used it, then washed her hands.Urzra had taken everything edible out of the pantry and was stuffing them into the canvas bags.“Ew, not prunes,” she said, snagging a can of the horrible things out of the bag.“Only old people eat these,” she told him, then smirked.“I’d give them to you if you needed to eat, since you’re so incredibly ancient.”

Urzra grinned rather than taking offense.“I’d be grateful for any gifts you gave me, female,” he said silkily.

Snickering at him, she sorted through the bags, but there was nothing else she wanted to reject.They split the bags between them, then she ate a hasty meal.Urzra had perused the map while she’d been eating.“Have you worked out which roads we’ll be taking?”she asked.

“I have a tentative route planned,” he said, opening the front door for her.“We’ll need to be on the lookout for bandits, so we can steal their vehicle.”

“I’ll keep my fingers crossed,” she said, then preceded him outside.It was cloudy, so she hopefully wouldn’t get sunburnt today.She always healed overnight, thanks to her freaky genes.

Urzra kept his pace to a speed she could keep up with, rather than making her run alongside him.She was walking as quickly as she could without wearing herself out.“Tell me about the female who took you in,” the warrior requested.

“Ethel?”Bria asked, startled by the question.“What do you want to know about her?”

“Why did she take in a stranger?”he asked.

“She was lonely, I guess,” Bria said.“I was kind to her when she needed some help and she could see I was in trouble.We needed each other and she opened her home to me.Ethel never got married or had kids, so she didn’t have anyone to look after her in her old age.I told her my story about my mom kicking me out.She decided then and there that I’d live with her instead.”

“It worked out well for you both?”he figured.

Bria smiled in fond remembrance.“Ethel was a lovely person who didn’t hate a single human being.It was peaceful living with her because she was always in a good mood.”

“What happened to her?”he asked next.

“Ethel passed away painlessly in her sleep,” Bria said.“I didn’t realize she’d left everything to me until her lawyer told me,” she added.“The police were suspicious, but the autopsy proved she died of natural causes.I’d just turned eighteen and was suddenly a homeowner.It was weird staying in her house without her, so I searched for somewhere I’d feel safe that didn’t have any close neighbors.The house on Block Island was available, so I sold Ethel’s place, bought my new home and moved there as soon as everything was settled.”

“You lived there all alone the whole time?”he asked.

“It was heaven,” Bria said wistfully.“It was a bit lonely at first, but every time I had to go to town, or one of my idiotic neighbors disturbed me, it made me remember why I wanted to be isolated from everyone.”

“Their emotions annoyed you that much?”Urzra asked skeptically.

“None of them were nice people,” she said defensively.“No one can hide their true personalities from me,” she reminded him.“Someone could be smiling to my face and saying really nice things, but I can feel what they’re feeling.”

“What amIfeeling, cambion?”the knight challenged her.

Bria cast a look at him and rolled her eyes.“You’re perpetually horny, Urzra,” she said.

He grinned and didn’t deny it.“Only when I’m around you, female,” he said smoothly.“No other woman has ever affected me like this before.”

“Blame Fate,” she joked.“I’m fairly ordinary, so there’s no reason for a hot guy like you to be so enamored with me.”

He gave her a heated look for calling him hot, which she ignored.“How can you possibly think you’re ordinary?”he demanded.“You have gorgeous dark blonde hair, amazing gray-green eyes, a perfect complexion and a body that keeps me awake at night.”

Bria rolled her eyes.“Fate really did a number on you,” she teased him.“You can’t see me clearly, thanks to her putting the whammy on you.”

“I see you, Bria Janke,” Urzra said solemnly and she could feel his sincerity.“Fate isn’t clouding my eyes or my thoughts.I see you for who and what you are.”

“And what’s that?”she asked uneasily.

“My perfect match,” was his response.

“Remember when I told you how Kale was obsessed with me?”she reminded him wryly.“He wasn’t even crazy enough to make that claim.”

“What sort of males are you usually attracted to?”he asked.

Bria split off when they reached a bunch of vehicles that were blocking the road.She had time to think of a response as they navigated their way around it from opposite sides.Long dead corpses were trapped inside two of the cars.They’d burned to death after their vehicles had caught on fire.