Page 73 of What We Bury

“What would you prefer? Sage the Slayer? Lady Carve? The Notorious C-O-G?”

“C-O-G?” I ask, almost afraid of the answer.

“Cutter of Genitals.”

“Milo!”

“Stabby McQueen Face?”

“No.”

“Piñata Princess?”

“Milo!”

“Cherry Bomb.” He gestures at the pie case with the fork, taking in the whole tableau like a man unveiling a monument. “This is destiny, Sage, you can feel it, I can feel it, the pie can feel it.”

I am laughing so hard now that I have to turn my back on him entirely and brace both hands on the counter behind me, breathing slowly through a laugh I don’t know how to stop. My ribs hurt. My face hurts.

“Please don’t call me Cherry Bomb.”

“Okay. Murder Kitten it is, then. Kitten for short, of course.”

I roll my eyes, but I’m smiling. It feels like he just spun me in circles to convince me I was traveling when I never went anywhere at all.

Kitten, it is.

“Why are you really here, Milo?”

He waves his fork as he shrugs. “I’m on shift.”

“I know you’re on shift.”

“Then you know why I’m here.”

“Why are youinside?” I gesture at the road. “Normally you all skulk about outside looking like wannabe stalkers.”

He points his fork at his plate. “Pie.”

I shake my head. “Be serious.”

“I am being serious. I’ve stood in alleys and shadows for the better part of a week. I came in because I was tired of being the only one you hadn’t met yet.” He bats his eyelashes at me. “Aren’t you glad I did?”

“You’re definitely a lot,” I say, mostly to buy myself a second.

“I am a great quantity, yes.”

I snort, turning back to the pies to cut the other pieces he ordered. “I don’t know what to make of you.”

“Most people don’t.”

TWENTY

SAGE

Milo orders coffee. I bring him chamomile tea. He arches his brow at me then doctors it with three sugars and two creamers in a way that makes me physically uncomfortable.

When Frank pays his tab and slides off his stool to leave, Milo slides a five-dollar bill across the counter to him with a wink. Frank accepts this development without comment, pockets it, nods once at me on his way out, and is gone.