“Thanks.”

That slight grin grew a little more as he lifted his gaze to mine. “You know what? Doesn’t matter. You’re here. That’s all that matters to me.”

I wasn’t sure if it did matter who saved me, but there was a part of me that still worried, because what if some random creature came to collect, like the witches had? I didn’t like the idea of someone showing up to demand payment at any given time.

Unless it had been Castiel, because I was totally cool with him rising me up from perdition if that was what happened.

Roth guided my head back and he kissed me, lingering in a way that made my toes curl. “Right now, all I want to think about is the fact that you’re here. That’s all I can focus on.” He caught my lower lip in a quick, delicious little nip. “If someone or something comes knocking one day looking for payback, we’ll face it together.”

Wiggling so our bodies were pressed close, I buried my face against his chest. “Together,” I whispered.

“Together,” he repeated. “Never again will you have to face anything like that alone. No matter what. I’m going to be glued to your freaking hip if need be.”

For the first time since I woke up in the tree house, an acute tension eased out of my muscles and I smiled. Even during all the beautiful, hands-on welcome home Roth had given me, I hadn’t really smiled. I’d done a lot of other things, but now, as he kissed the top of my head, all I could do was beam.

No matter what, we would face anything that came our way together.

Roth rolled me onto my back. Hovering over me with his weight supported on powerful arms, he grinned that one-sided grin that used to infuriate me to no end. But now it was a glimpse of the Roth I fell in love with; the Roth I was going to do my damnedest to spend eternity with.

thirty-one

“SO...WHAT’S IT FEEL like to die and come back to life?”

I shook my head as I frowned down at the cell phone. “You’ve asked me that question, like, three times already.”

Stacey’s snort echoed through the bathroom. “I’m asking every day I talk to you just to make sure nothing has changed and you’re not going to turn into a zombie. I don’t wanna have to go all Rick Grimes on your ass.”

Rolling my eyes, I twisted the length of my hair in a top bun, and then shoved about a hundred pins in to keep it in place. “That’s not going to happen, and I’d be a walker, not a zombie.”

“Semantics,” she replied. “Am I going to see you today?”

I nodded, and then realized, like an idiot, she couldn’t see me. “Yeah, I think Roth and I were planning to swing by this evening. He mentioned something about picking up cheese fries.”

Stacey and her mom, along with her baby brother, were still staying at her mom’s sister’s house. They hoped to be in a new home by spring, but her aunt’s house was as nice as the McMansion Cayman had acquired.

“Have I told you lately how much I like Roth and all his good ideas?” she said.

Laughing, I picked my sweater up off the counter. “You like him because he brings you food.”

“I’d like him even better if he acted like a real demon and turned my brother into a frog or something,” she muttered.

As I dragged the thick sweater on over my head, Robin darted across my shoulder and ended up stretched out along my lower back. “I don’t think Roth has the capability to do that.”

“He could try,” was her response, and I could practically hear the pout in her voice. Picking up the phone, I turned it off Speaker as I headed into the bedroom. I frowned as I spied one of the kittens curled up in a fuzzy little ball atop the scarf I planned on wearing. It was Thor.

Dammit.

A familiar pang of loss hit me in the chest as I cautiously approached the bed. I missed Bambi. After things had settled down a little, I’d remembered that Roth had mentioned seeing her. We’d reached out to the coven and surprisingly they’d allowed us to visit. Seeing Bambi had healed some of the hurting in my chest. I knew she was happy and she was okay, treated like a princess, but still, even though the apocalypse was averted, she no longer belonged to us.

“So...” Stacey drew the word out. “Are you getting ready to go talk to Zayne?”

I stopped a few feet from the bed, my brows knitting. “What? How do you know I’m doing that?”

“Zayne told me he’d texted you yesterday,” she answered.

Thor lifted its head.

“I didn’t know he told you that,” I murmured absently, distracted by wondering how I was supposed to gain access to my scarf without shedding blood.

“It doesn’t...bother you that Zayne and I talk, does it?”

“What?” I ignored the way the kitten’s ears flattened. “No. It doesn’t bother me. Why would it?”

“I don’t know,” Stacey murmured. “I just wanted to make sure.”

I shook my head even though, again, she couldn’t see it. “I think it’s great that you’re spending time with Zayne.” And I really, truly meant that. Stacey had lost Sam, and Zayne had lost his father...and, in a way, he’d lost me. At least that was how it felt sometimes. “You guys are there for each other, and that’s amazing. I just didn’t know he told you about texting me.”

“Good,” she replied. “I’m happy to hear that, because it’s nice... It’s just good to have him around right now.” There was a pause. “Is Roth going with you?”

I snorted. “Uh, no. If Roth went with me, they would spend the entire time trying to outsnark one another.”

Stacey giggled. “You know, if it wasn’t for you, I think they’d have an epic bromance.”

Zayne and Roth bromancing it out? Doubtful.

“Well, I’ll let you go, but call me when you get done and let me know how everything goes with Zayne. Okay?”

“All right. I’ll talk to you soon.” After saying goodbye to Stacey, I slipped the phone in my back pocket, and then took a deep breath. I may be one badass half demon, half Warden, half something else entirely, but these damn kittens terrified me.

Snapping forward, I grabbed the edge of my scarf and yanked hard as I jumped back from the bed. The little demonic ball of fur flopped onto its back, four paws sticking up at the ceiling. It just lay there, swirling its tail back and forth over the comforter.

“Sorry?” I said, backing away.

Thor turned its head toward me and meowed the most pitiful sound known to man. I almost started toward it, to make sure it was okay, but then I caught myself. “I’m not falling for that. You’re fine.”

The kitten’s ears pinned back as it rolled onto its side. Then it popped onto its little paws and strutted across the bed, and I mean, it strutted, tail swaying and all. What an evil little turd.

Looping the scarf around my neck, I headed downstairs. I could hear Cayman talking in the kitchen, something about basting versus brining, and while I wanted to believe he was talking about a turkey, I wasn’t willing to put money on it. I’d taken one step off the stairs when Roth walked through the entryway.

My heart did a cartwheel. The sight of him alone did that to me, and I doubted that would ever change.