Partner. Was she?
Before taking one more step, he needed to think. Much as he hated to admit it, she'd proven herself tonight. And she knew it. Her face glowed with more than discovered secrets. She oozed confidence. And now that damnable shade offered help.
If she felt assured and capable, Prudence wouldn’t be quelled by his orders to stay out of Hell, especially if he wasn’t around to enforce them. His stomach worked as if trying to loosen a rusted bolt. If he left Hell Runners for good, no doubt she'd hunt for Swift on her own with the shade as her half-witted partner. He could eat crow and accept the job in Mission Planning to keep an eye on her. But then they’d both be bound to desks, a punishment greater than second-ring offenders. He also couldn’t deny the intrigue of Niall’s little discovery.
The shade’s words replayed delightfully in his brain.
Avoid the Passion Pit.
Take care of that problem.
Shit. He shouldn’t think about it. He shouldn’t have answered his damn door. An open road waited for him with a thousand uncharted choices. And no problems.
But Jesse prided himself on top-notch problem solving. And any problem that would trap Princess in the Passion Pit was well worth investigating.
Choice made.
He stepped through the Gate with a lighter heart than when he’d entered and ready to learn all he could about his new partner.
Chapter Six
Jesse emerged from the portal to find Prudence standing coatless in the cold wind. With her back to the Gate, she stared down at the reflecting pool, hugging her body for warmth.
Odd. He’d have bet six paychecks she was staring at the night sky, watching for the shaft of light.
“Prudence. Quick.”
She finally swung around in time to see the inevitable rush of Heaven.
The air hummed, and he lifted his chest up, closing his eyes against the piercing fluorescence washing over him. Quicker than a bolt of lightning and soft as a firefly. Most people missed it.
The speed line into Heaven.
In the final nanosecond, the old attorney's bliss at his salvation infused Jesse with a high so potent his head swam, and his knees wobbled. He leaned back against the sculpture of the Gate, solid to his touch only when he couldn’t see it, and sucked the cool night air into his sore chest. He slid down the rough surface to rest on his ass for a few minutes.
He stared up at Prudence, a grin forming on his lips. She’d surprised him tonight in about every way imaginable. In some ways, he needed to forget, but he fared far better with her than drawing blind from the partner pool. Not that a new partner had been an option.
How would he tell her he’d chosen to stay, without it going to her pretty little head?
He got to his feet. “Gotta tell you, Princess, you really—”
“If this is going to work, you need to stop lying to me.” She came at him like she was going to put her fist through his nose.
“What’s wrong with you? You were happy two minutes ago. And when did—?”
“Don’t bother. I know the rules as well as you. We can accept assistance from shades if offered freely. I don’t know why, but Niall is as free as they come. I also don’t like the way you talked to him.”
He almost responded, but her breath was short and her words quick.
“Or sometimes me. You never really intended to give me a chance, did you?”
To his disappointment, the residual high dissipated. “I told you before. You’re not supposed to read the living.” Hurt, he grabbed their coats from the steps near the museum exit.
She chuffed. “If I’d read you, you’d know it. You’d feel it right down to that pool of arrogance you feed from. I don’t need empathetic gifts to understand a simple man such as yourself.”
“Simple man?” He threw her coat at her, and she caught it in the face.
“If you weren’t so pigheaded,” she prattled, ignoring the jibe she’d stabbed into his chest. “You’d see how great we are together. It’s like we could read each other’s minds.”
True. The connection between them had never quite severed, and he liked it more than was wise.
“You know, for a few moments”—she jammed her arms into the jacket— “you started acting like we were more than partners. Like we were—” She cut herself off, biting into her pouty bottom lip.
K-rist. Had she noticed his attraction? He tensed and asked what he wasn’t prepared to hear. “Acting like what?”
“Like we were friends. Real friends. But once you saw the shade, you copped attitude again. Closed off. Forgot everything. Then you took an eon to come through the Gate. Did you think if you waited long enough, I wouldn’t be here when you came out? You’d rather half burn than face me?”
“For someone claiming to be an Empath you sure make some of the most dumbass observations. Ever.”
She opened her mouth, and he moved in, cupping his hand over her lips.
“One. I didn’t cop an attitude with you. I copped it with Niall. And I’ve got good reasons. Reasons that are none of your damn business.”
She stepped back, but he moved with her, keeping them close, his hand never leaving her mouth.
“Two. Don’t try to understand, analyze, or judge me. It’s irritating and pointless. I am not a simple man.”
Her back hit the wall, and he bore his gaze into her wide eyes.
“Three. Learn to keep your own counsel. Simply put, don’t talk so much, especially on the steps of the office. It’s not private. Save your bitching about our missions until after we leave.”
He took his hand off her mouth, and she stood there, still as a statue and shocked into silence.
For all of five seconds.
Her lips curved into a smile so bright it almost overpowered the mischievous light in her eyes. “You want to be my partner.”
He did, and in more ways than one. “I agree to let you be my partner. There’s a difference.”
Jesse backed off and shrugged into his worn, leather motorcycle jacket, the one she'd tugged tonight bumming a ride on the back of his 1995 Harley. The one she'd used to cloak the naked shade. He liked that, knowing he'd been her go-to guy. Something in his chest kicked his sternum. Something should kick his ass for the thoughts he was entertaining.
“So, you’re serious?” She chuckled and whooped. “I knew I could impress you.”
Prudence hadn’t buttoned her coat, and the open flaps exposed her thin T-shirt. Without meaning to, his sights dropped to the deep neckline. Sweat had stretched the material a little lower and adhered to her luscious curves. He could have counted each curlicue of lace in her pretty bra if he'd had the mind. He knew better and met her serious gaze instead.
“Hold on. For a first run, we did all right. At least for now. But—”
“But when we find Swift, I’m gone.” Her smile faded a tad, but she nodded. “It’s only right.”
“No. We’re not going to find Swift.” Jesse trotted down the stairs and headed for the front gate of the museum grounds.
She fell into step with him, her shorter legs pumping to match his stride. “What do you mean not find Swift? We can’t leave him behind.”
Stopping at the property’s entrance, he turned and grabbed her by the shoulders. “The only thing you need to do is work the job like it means everything.”
“It does mean everything.” The veracity of her reply glowed in her eyes.
“Then you don’t need more. Searching for Swift is a waste of time.”
“Finding a lost friend is never a waste of time.” She pulled away from him.
“Hey, don’t get pissy with me. I had to choke it down first. If for any reason Swift’s still in Hell, he's in so deep we won't be able to find him. The search party couldn't.”
“We’re better than them.” Eyes blazing, she stood on the toes of his boots. “If you won't do it with me, I'll do it on my own. I’m sure Niall will help.”
Exactly what he feared.
&n
bsp; She turned on her heel and beelined up the walk to the Gate.
Jesse chased after her. Catching her by the arm, he pulled her to a stop in front of the reflecting pool. “Do you have a death wish? Niall’s a smooth talker, not a protector.”
“You know what your problem is, Thorne?” She poked him in the chest. “You got trust issues. You don’t trust anyone.”
“And you trust everyone. You want to see this job in black and white. The good get saved. The bad don’t. That’s not the whole truth, and you know it. You’re in denial.”
“Hah.” She pointed at her own chest. “I’m not the one in denial here. But I am the one that believes in redemption. For everyone.”
“The demons will eat you whole.”
“Then save me from myself.” Her eyes hardened to granite. “Join me in the hunt.”
She backed up and widened her stance. Total fighter. Too bad for her, so was he. Her mouth puckered, her lips swollen from pursing them too long.
God, how he wanted to make her forget about all this, and he could think of a few choice ways to do it, starting with those plump, expressive lips. The temptation to kiss her senseless never left his thoughts, but there'd be no kissing. Not now. Not ever.
Her little crusade had to be destroyed.
“The council has forbidden any further activity, and so do I. It’s one of the conditions of our partnership.”
“Conditions?”
“All relationships are conditional. This condition is mine. And non-negotiable,” he added quickly. “Forget all about finding Swift, and I stay. We can be partners forever, saving souls every day if you like. But if you even breathe his name, I'm out.”
“That’s not like you.”
“It is now.”
“Well, it’s not like me.”
“So you’re ready to go back to the research desk?”
“You are so unfair. I’ve proven myself tonight.” She stomped her foot, a little of the spoiled princess left in her. He’d clean the rest of that attitude out of her, given time.
“Fair is subjective,” he said, holding his ground.
She jammed her hands into the pockets of her coat and closed her eyes.
Two full minutes passed in silence while he stared at the obsidian surface of the reflecting pool. He hated the damn thing. It reminded him of a giant liquid grave from which no one could return.
He ribbed her with an elbow. “Come on, Prudence. What's it gonna be? Me and a thousand needy souls, or the asshole that ran out on us?”
She raised a single eyebrow and then opened her eyes, and for a split second, he harbored some doubt about her decision. “So he did run away. I knew you weren’t careless enough to lose anyone. Why did he do it?”
Shit. It was another small slip, and Prudence zeroed in on it like an owl hunting a field mouse. “Luckett.” He said her name with enough steel to convey his last warning.
“Never mind. I choose you.” She shone, too bright a star for such a sorrowful place as Hell. Shame it was where good Runners belonged. Her hand jutted out. “Deal.”
He reached out, and then paused inches from hers. “No changing your mind. I can't stand a quitter.”
“Never been a quitter.”
After five years trapped with her in the training warehouse, he knew that already.
“No backing out when it gets tough and it's gonna get tough. Guaranteed.”
“I know.”
“You shake, and I'm holding you to it.” He stared into her somber eyes. Had any eyes ever been more trustworthy?
“Hold me to anything you like. You won't have a better partner. Ever.”
He could think of lots of places he'd like to hold her, but those thoughts would have to desist the second their understanding was made final.
“Deal.” He closed his fingers around her small, dry hand.
She gripped his hand the same way she spoke, without hesitation, without fear, and with more confidence than most veteran Runners. “You couldn't get rid of me now, Thorne, even if you tried.”
Bold and too damn honest. Every day with her would be torment and pleasure, but for the first time in months, Jesse regained a sense of the one thing he hadn’t realized he sorely missed.
Friendship.
∙•∙
A deal. Jesse said they had a deal, and though she didn’t and wouldn’t ever read him, Prudence knew down to her toes he was a man of his word. Her hand all but burned from his overpowering grip. His heat radiated through her flesh and bone and spirit, strengthening her newfound sense of hope.
And her newfound awareness. Her partner was profoundly sexy in that brooding, rebel-with-a-lot-of-causes kind of way. A way that could prove irresistible to someone weaker than a rookie Hell Runner with a reputation to prove.
Why hadn’t she noticed it before? Why the hell was she noticing it now? Any why the hell did she keep thinking about it? The obvious explanation was transference.
The shade had slit open her innermost desires, and she simply applied them to the nearest available male. Understanding was the first step toward control. The second was deliberate action.
She wiggled her wrist. “I’m not a bear, Thorne.” The words rolled out with a healthy balance of buddy humor and irritation.
“Sorry.” He eyed the museum and started backing down the sidewalk. “I don’t know how much the cameras taped of us, but we’d better get outta here before someone notices. We want to be the ones to approach the council, not the other way around.”
An expensive SUV blew past them, the damp asphalt licking at its tires, its exhaust polluting the rain-cleansed air. Not likely one of the Hell Runners Council, this time, but she recognized cosmic warnings.
“Agreed.” She fell into step beside him, shoving both hands into her pockets and flipping the front of her unbuttoned coat wide.
Cold air cut through her like a baptism washing away sin, but the invasion of the shade could not be undone. As much as her instincts demanded the opposite, she refused to lament Niall’s uninvited liberty with her most personal information. Jesse hadn’t commented on the shade’s telling remarks, and she found relative safety in that knowledge. He’d been too wrapped up in his anger and the burn from the soul he carried.
She needed to turn his anger around, though. Deep down, she knew the shade would become useful.
Jesse’s arm brushed against her shoulder, and a thrill rocketed up her spine.
“Stop looking like a cat with a mouthful of mouse.”
“I refuse to fight my nature.”
“A couple of years in and I bet you’re singing a different tune.”
She doubted it with all her heart. Pride swelled her chest more painfully than the cool night air.
Dang, she'd landed Jesse with her own grit and ingenuity. It was a wonder. The moment back at Timothy’s house where she read him for a second could have destroyed her future. From this moment forward, she would approach her new partner with a detached attitude. She would think more like her father.
Holy shit. What about Dad?
She stopped dead. How was her father going to react? She’d almost forgotten the reason that set her on this unusual course. An unwelcome sense of dread drowned her joy.
“What’s the matter, Luckett? I know you didn’t lose your keys, you keep jingling them.”
Embarrassed, she balled them in her fist. “Dad. What am I going to tell him? He intentionally benched both of us with squint jobs. Now I’ve gone behind his back.”
“Shit, Princess. It took more piss and vinegar to get me here than standing up to your old man. And he’s not your old man anymore. He’s your boss. If you want to grind an ax, make it about something worth your while.”
A little bit of a grin creased his face. She’d bet Jesse had no idea he looked happy.
In that moment, Prudence realized she done exactly the right thing in exactly the right way. She’d trusted her inner compass, got what she wanted, and what was best for Jesse to boot. There
was no reason to doubt her decisions.
“You’re right, Thorne.” Her confidence returned full throttle. “He won’t agree, but he’ll respect my actions. I’ll break the news to him, in person, when he comes back from his scouting trip. Jack Luckett will have to deal with matters out of his control.”
“Atta girl.” He patted her on the back and bolted ahead to his motorcycle. City lights struck the used bike from every conceivable angle. Clean chrome and the metallic-blue engine cover glistened brilliant, shining like a hot star ready to speed them home. She watched him wipe off the wet seats and helmets with a rag he took out of the bag strapped above the license plate.
Two weeks. She had two weeks to enjoy uninterrupted soul saving. By then, she’d have accumulated enough evidence to forestall any fatherly argument.
“Heads up.” Jesse tossed her a safety helmet. “Don’t know about you, but I’m starved. We…” He hesitated and autocorrected, “I usually stop at McDevitt’s for something to eat and unwind before heading back to the compound. You up for it?”
We. Swift lingered like a ghost. Whether Jesse liked it or not, ghosts had to be dealt with as much as irate fathers.
Why did Swift run away? And why did he choose Hell as his new home? If Jesse knew the answers, he made it clear he wasn’t about to share them with her. She’d have to bide her time, but she wasn’t about to give up on finding the wayward runner or fixing Jesse’s reputation.
“McDevitt’s? Never heard of it. Is it any good?”
“It doesn’t have to be good. It’s out of the way.”
She nodded. Privacy, the one thing in short supply for a Hell Runner. “I’m in.”
Rotating the helmet between her hands, she turned it until the back faced her. The amber topaz hue nearly matched the color of her hair and though she'd only worn it once before, it felt like it belonged to her. She plunked the protective gear down on her head and adjusted the chin strap the way Jesse had shown her.
He donned his own helmet, straddled the bike, and then started it with a hard jump and a heavy hand on the gas.
“You need an invitation?” He cocked his head to the small space behind him.
She eyed the little bit of saddle for the second time that night. Talk about being up someone’s ass. The first time, she hopped on to prove a point. Point proven, she felt more exposed this time around.
Rule Breakers, Soul Takers (Hell Runners Book 1) Page 7
