Page 176 of Everdoll

She was right next to me. Walking in lockstep. Her hand was close enough for me to hold. Her waist close enough to wrap my arm around. Her lips close enough to kiss…

I turned my head forward again, trying to savor the moment. Because I knew it wouldn’t last.

CHAPTER 10

Raymond

When we finally reached the avenue, Mina ducked into a shop as though she knew where she was going, but it wasn’t the place. Still, of course, I followed her.

The watchmaker’s shop.

Mina had frequented this place over the past two years; I had been watching. Yet, they sold nothing here aside from antique timepieces imported from Earth. The interior was bright, blinding me with bursts of pink and gold light.

“Sweetpea! It’s been ages!”

Sweetpea?

I turned toward the counter, brow furrowed, just as an elderly woman warmly beckoned Mina over. She looked to be about her mother’s age, so I relaxed and let my gaze wander around the shop.

“How are you, ma’am? I hope health hasn’t been treating you too poorly.” Mina leaned over the counter, throwing her arms around the woman’s neck.

“Surviving, thankfully. Those tomatoes you gave me worked wonders.”

“Eat organic, ma’am, organic!” Mina chuckled, then cast her eyes about the room. “Is Reila not around?”

“Out buying feed for Vivi. What wind blew you in?”

“My watch broke.” She unclasped the bracelet from her wrist. Was she calling her necro-bracelet a watch? She slipped it off and handed it to the woman, then switched on the TV perched in the corner as if I weren’t even there.

“Any fresh news, ma’am?”

“Nothing special, dear. Just the White Soldiers threw the president into prison!”

The woman said it in a sing-song tone, then burst into hearty laughter. Mina let out a soft snort, too. Her eyes flicked toward me before quickly darting back to the old woman.

“So he finally got what was coming to him, then?”

“And he was still in denial! Claiming that kid planned the whole thing. The nerve of that bloke.”

I tensed. Mina offered a nervous laugh of her own.

“Who?”

“That Kern kid, of course.”

“Does no one call him the ‘Loxton heir’ anymore?” Mina ambled back toward the counter casually. The woman was busily buffing the watch with an orange towel.

“Is there any of that left, child? That prick surely pulled the wool over even that demon Sebastian’s eyes. I tell you, those Kerns are trouble through and through.”

Mina inclined her head. “Devils in disguise, ma’am.”

“Even their dead were a plague upon us, and now we’ve got one who won’t stay dead. Oh my goodness, what a farce!”

“But I’m kind of glad that the kid is the immortal one…” Mina chimed in merrily. “Imagine if Krivan had turned out to be immortal.”

“Oh, Mina. Nobody in this planet would bat an eye at that. That man’s been around since I was born. He’s not kicking the bucket anytime soon.”

A quiet chuckle escaped my lips. I instantly feigned a cough and dipped my head, but all eyes were already fixed on me.