Page 97 of Secondhand Soul

I flex my fingers and warmth starts to seep back into them. “People are helping. They’re protecting. I’ll protect you, too,” I whisper.

Lazarus nods.

Nods again, not speaking.

“Baby? Say something.”

“I... I think it’s good that they’re coming now, while Manny and Rhea are out of town. While the baby isn’t here yet,” he rasps. “Vic. Vic, maybe you should leave town for a couple of weeks?”

“Nope.” The response is instant.

“Babe, listen—”

“I’m willing to listen. My answer isn’t going to change. You need someone to watch your back. I will be that person.”

“You could get shot. Killed. You’re not like me.”

I cup Lazarus’ face and turn it towards me. “Okay. Listen. If I get shot... I want you to... I want to be with you. If you have to stitch me back together, or you have to borrow a vampire to bite me, or a witch to curse me, or whatever—that’s fine. Okay? Because we’d be together.”

“No, that’s not okay! And I don’t even know if it would work, and—”

“Then I did the right thing. I didn’t leave you. I love you. I’m staying, and I’m fighting, and we’re going to make it out alive.” I wink at him, forcing myself to smile. “Or at least, not any deader.”

Chapter Twenty-Six: Battle

The shop closes early. McAllister gets his car. Work trickles and slows, but the shopping center nearby is busy as hell with people preparing to ring in the new year at midnight.

I hope I see midnight.

What if Pazcuso is already here? Who did he bring with him? Inner circle? What’s that even mean?

“It’s the not knowing that’s making me nuts. If I knew when he was arriving and where he was, or when he was going to strike...”

Victoria suddenly sits up straight behind the desk. She was hunched over, scribbling on a clipboard, and now she looks like a wide-eyed puppet, almost like a dummy. “Vic?”

“I know how to get him here. I know how to get him here!” Victoria hisses. “But it’s a super crazy idea. A bad idea, maybe. People would need to help us, probably.”

“What kind of idea?”

“What’s the thing Pazcuso wants most?”

“Money?” I shrug.

“Power. He wants money because he can pay for things that give him power; he wants henchmen and hitmen because we remove threats to his power. He wants you because you are the ultimate, unstoppable tool to ensure he keeps his power. He wants you, Lazarus, or someone like you. He wanted your body back, to put a new head on it,” Victoria looks sickened by the thought. “He wants a revenant who will obey orders. A hitman who can’t be killed.”

“I want to point out that he literally sent someone to kill me,” I snap, crossing my arms. “Idiot.”

“Who can’t be killed without a ton of effort and special tools and knowledge.” Victoria opens her phone’s camera and starts peering at her face. She picks up a photo of Manny and Rhea and examines it. “I think I could do it.”

“I’m so lost right now.”

“I’m dead, right?”

“Well, I’m trying to keep you alive!” I squawk.

“No, no. I’m ‘dead.’ Pazcuso thinks I’m dead. But didn’t he even offer to bring me back to life if you wanted me?” Victoria pulls her purse out and dumps it on the desk.

“He says all kinds of shit.” I don’t like where this is going. I don’t know what my girl is thinking, but I know wheels are spinning in her head, and she’s smart, and that’s scary, too.